Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One

by Long, Heather

  After school, Coop didn’t need a ride on Wednesday, so I drove home, changed, fed the cats and headed in to work. I hadn’t actually seen Mom since Monday morning, a fact that didn’t dawn on me until I was heading to work. The chicken I’d gotten out for Tuesday’s dinner hadn’t been cooked—I’d put it in the fridge, but if I didn’t cook it after work on Wednesday, it would go bad. Hopefully Mom came home and did that.

  I kind of wondered if she’d come home at all when I’d filled the water reservoir for the cats and changed out the litter box. My bet was no, so I skipped looking. I took all the trash out with me and threw it in the dumpster before I headed off to work.

  Archie showed up at Mason’s fifteen minutes after my shift started. He parked at the soda counter and did his homework in and around chatting at me. Jake showed up with Bubba in tow ninety minutes later. They were freshly showered and still hot from football practice. I brought them their Big and Thicks, along with a smirk, when requested.

  Thursday shifted things, though. The guys all still showed up—sans Coop—and Archie was in a terrible mood. His phone was right in front of him, and when I carried an order out to one of the window tables, I saw Coop’s name on the screen and a single message: I said I’d take care of it.

  The fierce scowl on Archie’s face when he saw the message made me give him a fairly wide berth the rest of the night. Archie didn’t have Coop’s zen or even Jake’s bluntness, but he did have a kind of manic energy that scooped you up and tugged you along. So, when he got mad, it pretty much spilled over to the people around him. Except for Bubba. Bubba could usually cajole him out of the mood. In a pinch, I could—or at least, I could give him someone to vent to and I’d listen. I could count on the fingers of one hand the few times I’d truly had to pull him aside to do that.

  As much as I liked Archie, I didn’t like his temper and I didn’t like where it came from—correction, where I thought it came from. Remember, he called his parents by their first names. Him and his father? They made Mom and me look warm and fuzzy.

  That was bad enough, but Mathieu showed up while all three guys were still there.

  I didn’t want to ignore him, but I sure as hell didn’t want to draw their attention to him. He came in with a girl I vaguely recognized as a sophomore and a couple of adults—maybe his host family? When I dropped by their table, I kept it as friendly as I did any customers, including offering recommendations.

  Mathieu seemed surprised to find out I worked there, then he introduced me to his—yep, I called it—host family. Sophomore girl’s name was Bethany and she was also new to the school. Excellent. Maybe she hadn’t gotten the memo. That would be awesome.

  “I would love to stay and chat,” I said after I had their order. “But it’s a little busy tonight.”

  “Go,” Mathieu told me with a grin. “Maybe another time.”

  “That sounds great.”

  Scooting to the back, I dropped their orders, then went to make their shakes. My feet were ready to fall off, but I still had another thirty minutes to go. Thankfully, I got off an hour before closing tonight.

  And the customers kept coming. We had full tables and most of the counter. Archie and company had set up camp, which I didn’t mind mostly because they were easy to take care of. Zabra, the other waitress, had her half of the store and I had the other half. We juggled well between the two of us. Fortunately, most of the customers knew Mason’s and came here for the Big and Thicks. They didn’t mind waiting.

  Marsha, our manager, came out from the back to start handling take out orders and get us caught up. She ended up serving Mathieu’s table. I felt a sliver of guilt for that because I really did want to go back and see him, but between Archie’s sour mood and the fact all three of them—never mind all four were there, apparently Coop showed up—it was better to keep my distance.

  We still had a date on Sunday, and I promised myself I’d text Mathieu right after work.

  “Coop doesn’t want anything,” Archie said when I stopped to check on them before I could even ask. If I wasn’t imagining things, there was a warning in his voice. Bubba let out a sigh and gave me a quick headshake.

  Okay, he was right. I wanted no part of this disagreement.

  “Actually,” Coop said, catching my arm before I could hustle off. “When do you get off?”

  I glanced at the clock. “Fifteen minutes, if it slows down.” I wouldn’t leave Marsha and Zabra in a lurch.

  “Mind if I hitch a ride home?”

  “I’ll drive you home,” Archie said. “It’ll give us time to talk.”

  “Frankie and I are going in the same direction…”

  “Not hardly,” Jake muttered, then shook his head and waved me off. “Go on, Frankie, we’ll figure this out. I know you’re busy and some assholes can just be patient.”

  Coop glared at him.

  Yep. I did not want a piece of that.

  “Let me know,” I said with a fast smile and hauled ass. Thirty-five minutes later, twenty minutes after my shift I clocked out. I had three tables left but they’d park my tips and I could get those on Saturday—if there were any. Thursdays weren’t usually so busy, maybe it was a full moon. Part of the reason I liked having Fridays off. The others liked the extra money they got on Friday nights, and I didn’t like the headaches.

  I made pretty good money on Saturdays and Sundays to make up for it.

  The guys were out front arguing when I made it to the parking lot. Well, it looked like arguing. I’d counted out my tips in the back and turned the small bills into larger ones so I could fit them in my wallet. Seventy for a Thursday was pretty frigging great. No arguments here.

  But now, feet sore and head aching, I really didn’t want to deal with the guys as Archie glared at Coop and the two argued back in forth in tones that carried but with words that didn’t. Instead of participating, Jake leaned against his own SUV arms folded while Bubba stood a foot away from the guys as if ready to wade in and separate them.

  And fine, they could do whatever they wanted, but they’d parked right next to my car. So… I sucked it up and put two fingers to my lips and let out a shrill whistle as I approached.

  That shut them up.

  “Fuck,” Archie swore and shook his head. “You could cut glass with the tone you can hit.”

  “Thanks,” I said, all smiles. “I’m done and going home. Is Coop riding with me or have you not given him his note yet?”

  For his part, Coop’s smirk turned sour and he flipped me off. No Coop, I wasn’t on your side at the moment, I just wanted to go home.

  “If you want to take him,” Archie said, almost reluctantly. “But you don’t have to.”

  “No kidding,” I retorted, and Archie frowned.

  “Wait,” he said glancing at me. “Why are you mad at me?”

  “I don’t know,” I said considering them each in turn. Jake straightened abruptly with a frown. “Did you guys not give me permission to have an opinion?”

  “Nope,” Bubba said abruptly, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “They didn’t, and they wouldn’t because that would be stupid. Ignore them, Frankie, they’re all cranky tonight.”

  “Uh huh.” But the quiet request in Bubba’s eyes shut me up. Whatever it was they’d been arguing about, he wanted it over. Fine. I gave him a sideways hug and he smiled.

  “Fine, I’m tired, so I’m going. Good night, boys. Coop, you want to go with me, get in the car or I’m leaving you.”

  He was already circling the car when I hit unlock.

  “Frankie,” Archie said. “I didn’t mean anything…”

  “You never do. I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow, okay? Everyone go get some sleep. Especially you two—you have a game tomorrow.”

  As much as they didn’t deserve it, I kind of wanted to cheer Archie up now. He’d had a crappy evening, and Jake looked from me to Bubba and back again twice. Finally, he gave me a small smile and tugged my ponytail lightly. “Night, Frankie.”

 
“Night, Frankie,” Archie echoed him.

  Bubba winked. “Night, Frankie.”

  God, we were like some twenty-first century Waltons. “Good night, John Boy.”

  I was in the car with the engine started with Jake went, “Who the hell is John Boy?”

  I don’t know why, maybe because I was tired, but that made me laugh. Coop was quiet as I backed out of the spot, and he didn’t say a word until after I’d pulled out onto the street and the lights of Mason’s faded behind us.

  “You aren’t going to ask?” he said into the quiet dark of the car.

  “Do you want to tell me?” I shot a look at him, but he was staring out the passenger window.

  “Not really,” he admitted.

  “Then I won’t ask.”

  “Just like that?” Coop frowned and glanced at me, but I had to keep my attention on the road.

  “Just like that,” I confirmed.

  He lasted two blocks. “I’d ask you.”

  “So, you do want me to ask?”

  “No,” he said, then sighed and banged his head back against the seat. “I want a do over.”

  “Well, sorry, time-turner is broken. We got what we got.” Then because it was Coop and he was usually better at not letting things rattle him, I said, “Show up at lunch tomorrow and Archie will get over it. You’re blowing the guys off for a girl and they don’t deal with that well.”

  “Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”

  It was what I knew he’d been doing, but all I said was, “That’s what they think, and that’s what matters, right?”

  He didn’t say another word until I’d parked at the apartments. “I’ll walk you to your door.”

  “It’s right…”

  “I’m walking you to your door. Let’s go.” The snap in his voice was as annoyed as Archie earlier.

  Ugh, sometimes…

  Mom’s car wasn’t in the carport.

  Coop paused as I got the door unlocked. Then he glanced inside the darkened apartment. “Mom out again?”

  “Yep,” I told him. “Probably be home in an hour. See you in the morning?”

  He nodded. “Thanks for the ride, Frankie.”

  “Anytime.”

  I closed the door and leaned against it tiredly, and then locked it before grabbing a glass of water. When I checked on the cats, they were all obnoxious in letting me know they’d been home alone all evening. The chicken was still in the fridge. I usually ate at work the nights I did because I got a free meal when I had a shift.

  It was Thursday.

  Closing the door, I shook my head. I’d throw it in the dumpster in the morning. After I showered and got in pajamas, I checked my phone.

  Messages from Archie about Friday, a couple from Bubba with song suggestions, one from Jake asking if I was okay.

  None from my mom.

  None from Coop.

  Throwing myself on the bed, I told Archie we were still on, but I had to feed the cats before we grabbed dinner. He said he’d pick me up at the apartment so I could leave my car here. That was cool.

  I told Bubba I’d listen to the songs and get back to him. I queued one up to play and then texted Jake that I was just tired. Then I sent a message to Mathieu apologizing I couldn’t really hang out, but it was great to see him.

  Jake: You sure? You seemed pretty pissed at us tonight.

  I sighed. Not pissed. Just tired. Archie bad mood. You guys fighting with Coop. I work there.

  There was a long pause, and I concentrated on the song. The first one was kind of sad. The second one was melancholy but had more chord changes—it sounded more complicated. To Bubba I wrote, Close but either make them sob or make them feel real good. You don’t want that middling feeling at all.

  Bubba: Good point. Thanks, Frankie. You’re the best.

  I smiled.

  Jake: You’re right. We were asses. I’ll take care of it. Night, Frankie.

  I blinked for a moment, then wrote Thx Jake. Cu2mrw.

  I was half-asleep when I remembered I still had some reading left to for Government in the morning, I hadn’t quite finished it in study hall. With a groan, I dragged the book out and cracked it open.

  My phone buzzed.

  Mathieu: I enjoyed seeing you tonight as well. I am looking forward to cooking with you this weekend.

  I grinned. So was I.

  Buoyed, I looked back at the work.

  Ten pages.

  I could handle it.

  Definitely.

  * * *

  Friday started off exhausting. I had a flat tire. Not a little flat, but deader than a doornail flat. Coop waited at my car, shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal tanned arms and sunglasses in place to keep the glare out of his eyes. “Your spare have air in it?” he asked by way of good morning.

  It better have air in it. I unlocked the car and tossed my backpack inside before popping the trunk. He pulled out the jack and went to work loosening the lugnuts before getting the car up while I pulled out the donut.

  It wasn’t the best tire in the world, but it would do. Maybe if I swung by the discount tire place on lunch? Careful not to smear my pale blue t-shirt, I rolled it over. Between us, we got the tire off and the donut on. Coop put the flat tire into the trunk after he’d stored the jack.

  We both stared at the donut for a minute.

  “That’s a piece of crap,” he said, almost conversationally but took the wet wipe I offered him to clean his hands.

  “Yeah, I’m not a fan,” I admitted. “But I’ll go over to the place at lunch. All it has to do is get us there.”

  He gave me a skeptical look. “I’ll go with you if you want.”

  “I can handle it,” I said, waving him off. “You should eat with the guys. You and Archie need to make peace.”

  He answered my comment with a quiet snort. “Archie will get over it. Besides, I’d rather have lunch with you.” My skepticism must have shown because he spread his hands. “What? I’m not allowed to want to eat with you?”

  “Do you want the counter argument alphabetically or numerically?”

  He opened his mouth, then closed it and finally went quiet until we got to school. We were later than normal and my phone, which had started buzzing while we were changing the tire, continued to buzz as I hunted for a spot. My favorite one had already been claimed. I snoozed, I lost.

  Dammit.

  The corner wasn’t the best spot, but I would get a chance for a new space at lunch.

  “You know, I get it. I was busy this week,” Coop said as we took the long walk toward the building. I’d fished out my phone and found messages from Archie, Jake, Bubba and… Cheryl. Huh. I hadn’t heard from her via text in a while.

  Long enough, I kind of forgot I had her number.

  The message wasn’t a message but a picture.

  It was from Bubba’s birthday, all of the guys with their various girlfriends and a message that said, Fair warning, homecoming info goes live next week, and these girls are ticked that they haven’t been asked yet.

  “What the hell is that?” Coop said, leaning over my shoulder. I had to pull my phone away before he could take it and I closed the message. “Why is she sending you that?”

  “A picture from the party?” I shrugged. “No idea.” Yes, that was a lie. Cheryl was a pretty decent sort. Rachel had been kind of bitchy—more harsh than bitchy— about it, but Sharon, Patty, and Maria were a lot bitchier. If they hadn’t been asked out, they were probably going to start making noise in the guys’ direction. The warning could have been for them or for me.

  Sharon hated me. While the feeling wasn’t mutual; I wouldn’t be in a hurry to cross the street to put her out if she was on fire. Maria wasn’t much better. We had been friends PJ—pre-Jake. AJ—after Jake—she turned into someone I didn’t know. Which made no sense. I got it, the guys were cute, and they were my friends, but Sharon and Maria were supposed to have been my friends, too.

  Oddly enough, Rachel and I had been bala
nced on a knife’s edge of love/hate for years, so we got along exactly the same. Where the doors had once been open to me, wandering from group to group, they’d begun to close. I didn’t know why and, sometimes, I wasn’t sure I cared.

  We were down to 176 school days left to getting out of this joint and I had enough on my plate.

  “Yeah, but why send it to you?” Coop frowned at me.

  Okay. I paused and faced him. “Don’t play dumb.”

  He blinked.

  “I mean it. Don’t play dumb. It’s insulting to both of us. The picture wasn’t a news flash. I actually showed up at that party—remember?”

  At his slow nod, I switched the Instagram app and opened it. First picture on the list, and I didn’t have to look, was Coop with Laura. I didn’t know where it was taken, and I didn’t much care about the tags. I didn’t follow Laura on IG, I followed Coop.

  At the image, Coop compressed his lips then looked up at me. I tabbed to the next one, it was Archie looking pretty sharp as he walked in with a stack of coffees and Patty had tagged him. She’d even added #boyfriendMaterial.

  There were more, and the guys were always there. All of them, tagged by other people. Oh, I got tagged, too. Usually in a group photo with the guys and always #TheBoys. Again. It was fine. At least I showed up in pictures now. In the past, I’d always been a faint presence in the background, but I excelled at not standing out. Preferred it.

  Coop sighed. “For what it’s worth, that’s an old picture.”

  “For what it’s worth, I don’t care—except that you seem to want to lie to me about it for some reason. Coop, date Laura, don’t date her. But don’t date her and then pretend you aren’t. That’s…rude as fuck.” The harsh language dragged his attention up. I cussed. When appropriate. Working at Mason’s, I’d had to school myself to watch my language. “Don’t treat her shitty or like a thing.” That would make me lose respect for him faster than anything.