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It was still raining when we headed out. Coop took his own car, while I rode with Archie. I’d be riding with Coop on the way home. Likely Jake the next day. Apparently, we were going to rotate who drove me where the same way we rotated who slept in the bed.
The closer we got to the school, the more my stomach tightened. With the exceptions of Coop’s sister and mom once, Jeremy a few times, and Rachel’s drop by visit, I hadn’t really spoken to anyone but the guys since leaving the hospital.
Chills raced up my spine as we pulled into the lot. Archie slanted a look at me. I’d been fine until we stopped for coffee. Unlike the last couple of times, when Archie just took me out for a drive or when Coop took me to the park, we were going to walk into the high school.
I had to turn my phone back on, and I hadn’t done that yet. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was ready for any more messages. But I couldn’t turn the other students off if I was standing in front of them.
It wasn’t until he parked and put a hand on mine that I even realized I was shaking.
“We can blow this shit off right now,” Archie said without an ounce of hesitation. “I’ll text the guys, and we’re gone. Just say the word.”
“I can’t.” Not even if I wanted to, which right now, I really kind of did. “I have to be up front about everything. I gotta prove I can take care of myself and handle my responsibilities.”
“You don’t have to proveshit.”
I cut a look at him and smiled. The fierceness in his dark brown eyes offered me a lifeline. “I do though, a little bit to me, but also because of the emancipation.”
Archie sighed and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “Fuck.”
“It’s okay, I can do this.”
“You don’t have to make yourself.” But even he didn’t press that argument. There were other cars in the lot and kids on the way. It was still raining, chances were football practice had been moved inside, or maybe Coach made them play anyway. They usually could if there was no lightning.
“Yeah I do,” I told him and squeezed his hand. “You getting my backpack?”
“Yep, stay there till I get around with the umbrella.”
I didn’t roll my eyes, even if I really didn’t want them fussing. I could take the backpack, but that was another fight I just wanted to avoid right now.
Coop opened my door before Archie made it all the way around. “I got the coffee.”
I passed him the drink carrier, but kept possession of my own. Then Archie was there with his umbrella. He slipped into his own backpack before he snagged mine.
One perk of their hands being full? I got out of the car on my own. The walk across the lot turned chilly, and I suppressed a shiver. The ripped jeans I wore seemed like an even better idea than they were my favorites.
Inside, I waited while they shook out their umbrellas before we headed to the cafeteria. We ran into a few kids in the hall, but most of them barely glanced at me. It was going better than I hoped.
Unfortunately, that relief proved very short-lived. One step into the cafeteria, and the weight of a dozen gazes landed on me. Archie took point heading for our table, but that meant crossing a good chunk of the open floor space to get there. Despite the spirit stuff emblazoned on the walls and the purple flags here and there, it was almost painfully white and bright in here. Had it always been this way? The railings along the edge were the only other spots of gray.
The bruising on my cheek had gone down, but it was still visible. The stitches there had at least dissolved, so they didn’t stand out. I could have tried to do cosmetics or called Rachel to help, but I hadn’t really thought about it until right this moment.
The rolling hush gave way to a sweep of whispers across the room, and Archie dropped our bags before he nudged out a chair for me. One that put my back to the majority of the room, and in this case, I took the escape. Archie settled in the chair next to me while Coop shifted to move opposite us.
My hand was shaking a little as I set my coffee down.
“You good?” Coop asked, and I gave him a little smile. I wasn’t, but I would be. I couldn’t even put my finger on the source of my unease. It would hardly be the first time I was the butt of gossip. The last few weeks had been a crash course in public humiliation.
I could totally do this, even if the ice on my skin and the rapid race of my heart tried to make a liar out of me. “I’m good. I have my coffee, and I’m back on routine. That’s pretty cool.”
I didn’t even have to drop the doctor’s note off at the attendance office, the guys had made sure to deliver it last week. So really, we were just back to normal.
Coop slid a breakfast burrito over to me. “Fair, but say something if that changes, okay?”
Sure. I’d get right on that. Faking it until I could make it.
“Right on time,” Coop said, but even as he skipped his gaze past me, Archie’s remained fixed on me.
Glancing at him sideways, I raised my brows, and the corners of his lips tipped upwards. Not a real smile. The worry on his face pulled at me, and I bumped his knee with mine.
