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“I can’t listen to this,” Trinity grumbled and sped walked through the tables in the food court as soon as we got off the elevator.
“So…you two are girlfriends now?” Ryan asked when Trinity was far enough away that she wouldn’t overhear us.
“I guess so?” The words came out as a question, but I was sure. We were friends now. Maybe not besties, but she was trying to do better, and I wanted to help her. Now that I’d gotten to know her, it was for Trinity instead of Thatcher.
“I admit, she’s not as bad as I first thought. At Beck’s she had the pinched face of a spoiled bitch. Whatever happened since then, she’s mellowed out a ton. Good job, Ass.” He patted me on the shoulder. His attempt was a far sight less awkward than mine had been with Trinity.
“It’s not me. She’s just been dealt a shitty hand in life and she’s trying to get past it. You know, kind of like me and all my guys.” I’d never told him their stories, but he knew enough about us all that he knew we wanted to leave Silver Ranch behind us with a need that bordered on desperation.
“Me too, girl. Me too. I want to leave small town mindsets for bigger and better things. Don’t get me wrong, my family has been great, it’s everyone else that can suck a dick.”
We laughed, heading toward the Cajun place where Trinity was in line. Her small bit of ire had melted by the time we joined her. “You all good to eat here, or should I find us a table while you order something else?”
“I want a burger, so I’ll meet you. Ass?”
“I’m good for here. It looks like they have some fried rice and some kind of chicken. Smells good.” I stepped up to Trinity as Ryan nodded and left.
That sour group of kids had congregated to a set of tables over by the fireplace. It was too much to ask for us to be invisible to them. Once again, they watched us with dark, amused expressions. They reminded me of a grungier version of the twitch bitches.
If Trinity noticed them, she didn’t say. Instead, we stood in silence and ordered our food. By the time we met Ryan at a table on the other side of the food court, my stomach was grumbling.
Ryan and Trinity picked up a shallow conversation about the stores and shoes, but my mind kept turning back to the people from Trinity’s school.
I’d really been blessed to land at Silver Ranch, some of the more devastating life events aside. Even now, with Rhys’ dad getting ready to go on trial, I couldn’t muster any regret for meeting them.
Trinity hadn’t built a friend group like I had. Maybe if she had found some solid friends, she wouldn’t be in the situation she was now, with literally her future in the hands of some stuffy, overambitious judge.
If she was convicted, it would change her life dramatically. I didn’t want that for her. I also didn’t want that for Thatcher. How could he go on to find his own happiness if he had to watch someone he loved lose all the best opportunities to make something of herself?
Rhys at least hated his dad, and his feelings toward his mom were lukewarm confusion at best. He also had the option of walking away from them and disappearing if he needed to.
More than ever, I needed to work out a way for us to get out of this hellish suburbia. Now that Beck was back on a good track and Jonah was setting up a time for us to check out DU, there was hope on the horizon.
But time was growing short, and we still had a growing stack of issues standing in our way. No, I wouldn’t let any of that stop us from getting out of here.
I couldn’t. Not when we were so close to getting what we wanted.
After dropping Trinity off at their apartment, I cranked up Good Charlotte through the stereo. Something about punk rock music from the earlyish 2000’s put everything into perspective.
It was angsty and loud, something I could bang my head along to as I drove Freda back to the cottage. I almost snorted. Being one of the typical dramatic teenagers, I could only imagine what the guys and I looked like to anyone on the outside looking in. To the uncaring eye, we all had pretty decent lives.
We had food, a roof over our heads, and good friends. In hindsight, we had a lot to be thankful for. Only, the general population never saw the dirt beneath the surface, or in this case, the wretched parents we were born to.
Between all of us, including Ryan and Trinity, we wanted better for ourselves, and making that desire manifest into reality was on my mind constantly. Especially with the end of the year less than six months away.
We were so freaking close, but the next several months were also so daunting.
The trick, at least as I’d half convinced myself, was to tackle one issue at a time, taking life one day at a time and hoping we were making the right decisions.
The music cut out as my phone rang. I’d just come to a red light, so I had the opportunity to check my screen.
Dad.
What the hell did he want?
His attempts to contact me had dwindled to almost nothing. If I had to guess, the congregation was probably slowly forgetting he had a daughter. His need to have a supportive family behind him fizzled out with their expectations. Or who knew, maybe he played up the fact that his wife had left him, and his daughter was living in sin with her friends?
As much as I’d always wanted his approval and more than not got his neglect, I knew him. Playing up on public opinion to his advantage was something he’d absolutely do.
