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“Don’t tell me about what Reese wanted.” I let the chair fall onto four legs and lean my elbows onto the table. “Tell me whyyouwould steal someone’s property.”
“I’m trying to explain, but you keep interrupting me.”
“Because I don’t want to hear an excuse, Noah. You’re caught. Own up to it.”
“Maybe I’ll own up to it when you’re ready to actually listen to me.”
“Go ahead.” I scoop a giant forkful of scrambled eggs into my mouth and mumble around it. “I’m listening.”
Noah plays with the edge of her napkin. “It was Reese’s idea to take the candy—not an excuse, just stating the facts. She was making fun of me to the other girls, saying that I wouldn’t do it because I was too scared. She always calls me a goodie.”
I hold up my hand to stop her. “I’m not interrupting, but I want to know what a goodie is.”
“It’s the opposite of a baddie.”
“And what the hell is a baddie?”
“It’s another word for abadass.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Doing the wrong thing doesn’t make you a badass.”
“Well, I had to show her that I wasn’t scared. I had to prove myself to her.”
“You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, Noah. You—”
“You said you wouldn’t interrupt!”
I stifle a groan. “Sorry.”
“I was planning on returning the bowl. But then Reese tossed it into the street and it broke.” She hikes a shoulder and I almost feel bad for her because she looks like the helpless little girl I used to know before the hormonal teenager took up residence in her body. “I’ve been trying to glue it back together all morning, but it won’t hold.”
My eyebrows jump. “You have the bowl?”
She nods, her messy brown hair falling in her eyes. “I felt bad for stealing it. That lady looked really upset.”
Blonde Black Widow flashes through my mind. I haven’t been able to shake her from my thoughts since she showed up on my porch dressed in head-to-toe spandex.
I rub the back of my neck. “She said it belonged to her grandmother.”
“Shesaid? Wait, how do you know about the bowl in the first place?”
“Because she told me.”
Noah’s mouth drops open.
“She stopped by to ask for her bowl back. She said she saw you and your friends running off with it.”
“What did you say?”
I snap a strip of bacon in half and toss a piece into my mouth. “I told her she was wrong to come over to my house accusingmydaughter of stealing something, becausemydaughter wouldn’t do something like that. I told hermydaughter has a strong backbone, and she wouldn’t let her dumbass friends peer pressure her into doing something so stupid—not to mention illegal. I told her—”
“Okay, okay.” She covers her face with her hands. “I get it. I’m a horrible person.”
“You’re not a horrible person. But you will be if you keep hanging out with people like Reese.”
“What do you want me to do? The girls are, like, obsessed with her ever since she moved here. It’s like she took over, and now everything we do is whatever Reese wants to do.”
I drop my bacon onto the plate. “You need to talk to your friends. Tell them how you’re feeling. I guarantee they’re feeling the same way you do. And stand up to Reese. Don’t let her push you around. You’re an alpha. Don’t let someone else boss you around or peer pressure you. Stand up to her.”
