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Seth:Toby, if you try to leave school, I’ll tell Aunt Laura.
Toby:Shit. No, don’t tell her. She’ll kick my ass.
Paxon:Doubt it. Aunt Laura adores you.
I giggled and shook my head at their antics. With just a few texts, they were making me feel better. They definitely would have chatted my ear away if I went to school. Warm shivers hummed through my body with that knowledge.
Seth:Cadence, are you feeling okay? Do you want me to bring you anything? Medicine? Food? I haven’t taken my lunch break yet, so I can swing by if you need me to.
Me:No, I’m fine. You don’t need to.
Seth:Is this because of your fall yesterday? You looked like you were in a lot of pain.
My fingers froze on the buttons, my mind blank, unable to come up with a response. Cold dread filtered through my skin and delved deep into my bones. All the excitement of texting them flew out the window, and I just wanted to pretend my phone died or I got distracted so I didn’t have to text them back.
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Double shit.
That was going to bring on a whole slew of questions. Who missed school because a dog pushed them down?
Paxon:You’re hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?
Toby:Did anything break? If you have a cast on, I call dibs on first signature.
I sighed, trying to rack my brain for an excuse.
Me:I’m fine. The stress of the move and all that made me decide to take the day off from school to catch up on work instead. I promise, Bebe didn’t hurt me. He’s a big sweetie.
Bryan:You work?
I let Bryan’s question drag me out of the swirling fear forming in my stomach. I practically latched on the opportunity to feel anything else but my anxiety.
Me:Should I feel offended that you think I just lie around on my ass all day?
Bryan:No!
Bryan:No, not at all. I’m just surprised.
I released a sigh.
Me:Yes, Bryan, I work. And yes, I’m not at school because I’m a little swamped right now. I was stupid and took on more than I could handle at the moment because of the move.
Paxon:The school isn’t throwing a fit. Won’t your parents be angry?
And once again, that apprehension rose back up. I didn’t want to lie, but I also wasn’t going to get into the specifics of my life with them. It felt too personal, and I didn’t want them looking at me differently.
Me:Missing a couple of days won’t fail me.
Seth:Do you think you will be free for dinner tonight?
Me:Don’t know yet.
Toby:Hey, hey! What is your job? What do you do?
I frowned at my phone and looked at the time.
Me:Isn’t lunch over? Shouldn’t you guys be in class or something?
