by Emma Doherty
“What do you want?” I ask her. “Everything is five bucks.”
She glances briefly at the remaining items, which we’ve already had to restock a couple of times. “I can’t eat any of that.”
I know exactly what she means. We’ve both spent the last couple of years watching everything we eat, and even though I baked most of this stuff, I’m only going to allow myself one slice of cheesecake to celebrate.
She sighs. “I just want to contribute to your charity.”
That does make me pause.
She shrugs. “I know you need to raise as much as possible.”
I do. I need to pull up my grades and raise as much money as I can to have any chance of graduating.
She waves the bill at me again. “Take it.”
I do, because I’m not about to say no to charity money. I almost expect her to follow it up with something else, an apology or something, but she doesn’t. Just gives me a tight smile then walks into school, me left watching her go and wondering if we’ll ever have a normal conversation again.
“You know, five bucks per item is daylight robbery.”
I turn back to see Brett standing in front of me. “Actually, it’s good math. The higher the number when you multiply it, the higher the end figure. Even I know that.”
He barks out a laugh, his eyes lighting up for a second before he remembers it’s me he’s talking to and straightens his face. “I’ll take a slice of cheesecake and a brownie please.”
I raise my eyebrows, surprised he’s willing to inadvertently help me by buying from the bake sale, even if they are pretty damn good desserts, if I do say so myself.
I make my way behind the table, avoiding Livy and Sasha, who are still serving, while Sophie and Jennifer start to tidy up, getting rid of empty trays and wiping up crumbs. I grab what he wants along with a couple of napkins.
I hold them out to him, and he goes to take them before I pull them back. “First of all, prove to me that you know why you’re doing this.”
His jaw falls open as he realizes I’m playing him at his own game and repeating the exact same thing back to him that he always says to me in our tutoring sessions.
“I need to know that you understand.”
He doesn’t say anything, and I can’t help smirking.
“Can’t let you have them without the proof that you get it.”
He rolls his eyes, but a small smile plays on his lips. “You are such a smartass, Baker.”
I grin back at him.
He decides to humor me. “I’m doing this because it’s 7:30am, I’m about to start school, and I need the sugar rush.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“And I skipped breakfast.”
That’s all he’s giving me. “And?”
“And it’s for charity so it’s for a good cause.”
“Really?”
“And it helps you,” he finally mutters, his face blushing slightly, like the thought of admitting that goes against everything he believes in. “This ten dollars goes toward your charity.”
I grin wide, passing over his purchases and accepting his money.
“Why thank you, Brett Sanderson. That’s very kind of you.”
He shakes his head, but he looks amused.
“Make sure you study tonight. I’m testing you on your progress tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him off as he walks past me into school and turn back to the group of students behind me who are scrambling for the last of what’s left.
My eyes flit to the tray that’s holding the money, and I grin once again.
I would say this morning’s bake sale has definitely been a success.
15
“Are you studying at night too? Separately from this?”
I nod at Brett. We’re in one of our morning sessions, and while I definitely hated waking up so early at the start of our arrangement, I can’t argue with the fact that my brain feels more alert and it’s nice to feel like I’ve actually achieved something before classes start.
“I can tell. You’re starting to make progress.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, I honestly think you’re going to be okay in chemistry. It’s just math that’s tougher for you.”
His words offer slight relief. I’ve always kinda liked science. I’m not the best at it or anything, but for the most part it does interest me, so when I can actually understand what’s going on in class, it does help that I don’t hate the subject, unlike Calculus, where I feel like it’s a foreign language.
“How about your other subjects?”
“I think I’ve managed to pull up my grades enough.” I’ve finally caught up on everything I was behind on, and my teachers have been really positive. I think it really was a case of me just checking out and not bothering to stay on track. Now that my homework and classwork is up to date, those classes have become a lot easier to manage. If I do fail, it’ll be down to math and chemistry, not any other subject, which I guess is a good thing because it means I only need to focus on those.
“Don’t work yourself too hard,” Brett warns. “Just do a couple of hours in the evening, especially if we’ve had a tutoring session before school, or else you’ll just burn yourself out.”
“Careful, Brett—you almost sound concerned about me.”
He rolls his eyes but doesn’t bother to argue with me, which honestly makes a nice change.
“Abigail.”
I look up to see Ms. Sallinson standing over our desk in the library.
The sight of her makes my stomach sink through the floor. What now?
“Oh don’t worry,” she says immediately, like she can read my mind. “I’m just here to congratulate you on the success of your bake sale yesterday. From what I can see, it was a huge success, and you must have raised a lot of money.”
“It’s because she charged an arm and a leg,” Brett tells her, rather unnecessarily. I narrow my eyes at him but don’t bother replying. I did charge a lot, but it worked.
“You have a savvy business mind, Ms. Baker.”
Well I certainly don’t have an academic one, so at least that’s something.
“And your auction is still taking place on Saturday?”
I nod. “Are you coming to that?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not going to cramp your style. I’ll just need you to record a video on your phone so I can see what happened, but I trust you’ll be heavily involved.”
That might be a stretch since Chase tells me he doesn’t need my help every time I ask him about it, but it’s a relief that she’s not going to be there because I’m pretty certain there’ll be plenty of underage drinking. Everyone will be able to relax without her.
“I actually just bumped into Coach Dyson, too, and she told me to remind you that you have cheer practice after school.”
I nod again, my head swimming. When did my life get so busy? Between studying, fundraising, cheerleading, and just living, it’s hard to fit everything in.
She smiles, sending me one last wave, and I let out a sigh as I watch her leave. It’s all just a lot.
“You’re still cheerleading? Isn’t that over now?”
I look back at Brett. “It’s for the goodbye senior pep rally next month.”
He nods, shifting in his seat, but he doesn’t comment. I tilt my head, examining him. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would enjoy a pep rally.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He narrows his eyes on me. “What are you thinking?”
“Just that I can’t see you ever getting into the school spirit and enjoying a pep rally.”
“Just because I’m not athletic I’m not going to like those things?”
“I would have thought you’d think they were below you.”
“Well maybe if you put more thought into your senior year, we wouldn’t be here now.”
I scowl at him. That seems unnecessary. “Don’t be a dick.”
&
nbsp; He huffs in response. It would seem I’ve touched on a sore point.
There an awkward silence as he stares at the desk.
Okay then. “So do you, like, work out or do sports in your own time?” I ask. He’s actually got a fairly decent body, I suppose, if you’re into that sort of thing. He’s tall and lean, not exactly muscly, but still, there’s not an inch of fat on him, but he’s not too skinny either. He doesn’t say anything, and I shrug. “Sorry, I was just asking.”
“I play basketball with my cousin and his friends,” he mutters. “I’m terrible, but it’s kinda fun.”
“Are you close to your cousin?”
He nods. “He goes to Liberty. That’s who I was with when I saw you at that party.”
That’s right. That guy did look just like him.
“I don’t have any siblings so he’s the closest thing I’ve got to a brother.”
“That’s cool.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?”
I’m surprised. I wouldn’t have thought he’d be remotely interested in my life. “One older sister. She’s great.”
He nods, looking like his mind is elsewhere.
“So your cousin plays basketball?”
“Yeah, he’s pretty good actually. He got a scholarship to play in college.”
“Wow, that’s great.”
He looks irritated at that.
“What? What did I do?”
“Nothing.” He lets out a long sigh. “I just think it’s shitty that high schools put all their worth in sports. Like, there are other things out there that people enjoy.”
Is that what he thinks I’m doing? Judging him because he’s not athletic?
“There’s a lot more out there in the world,” he says emphatically.
“Like what?”
“Anime,” he says immediately. “Do you have any idea how cool that is? Way better than sweating and running around in the sun.”
I bark out a laugh at that. It’s definitely not a good look when the Florida sun is beaming down on us during practice.
“You like anime?”
He shrugs, like he’s embarrassed about revealing that part of himself. “Yeah, I guess. I was in a club for a while. I like a lot of things, though.”
“Like what?”
“Anime, European soccer, thriller books, action movies. I just don’t think people should be pigeonholed.”
He’s the smartest kid in school.
That’s all I’ve heard when it comes to Brett. I guess it would suck when people only see one side of you…and I can definitely relate to that.
“Anyway, you don’t seem like the preppy type to even want to be a cheerleader.” He snickers. “There I go judging you.”
It doesn’t feel like he’s judging me, more like an observation.
He’s right, too—I don’t particularly care about being a cheerleader. It’s just something I tried out for as a freshman because I thought it would lead to friends and popularity, but I’m really not passionate about it—that’s all Sasha. I’m not sure I’ll miss it after I stop.
“I guess you’re right.”
“I just sometimes…I think that at times…” I look at him as he shifts in his seat, seemingly trying to get something off his chest. “People just have all these opinions about others, and it’s bullshit. No one needs to judge anyone else and decide what they are.”
I blink at him. I’ve never really thought about it before, but I couldn’t agree more.
“Like look at you—you’re pulling it together and studying your ass off and raising money for charity.,” He clears his throat. “Proving everyone who had preconceived ideas about you wrong.”
Proving everyone wrong or proving him wrong?
“My point is that we get too caught up in what other people think about us. You get to decide who you are, no one else.”
He’s right. I’ve spent my whole time caring what other people think about me when really, apart from those who are closest to me, I shouldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks.
“I just think we should do what we want as individuals and screw everyone else.”
This topic has gotten deep fast, but I completely agree with him. “You’re right.”
We sit there in silence for a couple of minutes, both of us lost in our own thoughts. After a while, it starts to feel awkward, so I chuckle to try to break the tension and take it back to studying, which we were doing before Ms. Sallinson interrupted us and we started actually being real with each other. “Well, at least I won’t be able to burn out on studying this week. I have practice after school and I have a date tomorrow night, so that’s two nights where I won’t be cramming for hours on end.”
“You have a date?” He looks surprised at this news. “I thought you were hung up on Mitchell?”
It really is shitty when the whole school knows your business. “I am not.” I scowl. “I’ve moved on.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” Well, if you count making out with Dan a couple of times a week because the conversation is so dull there really isn’t much more to do.
He doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t press me on it any more. “So, who will be at practice tonight?”
Practice? “Uh, the cheerleaders?” He blushes slightly, and a smirk covers my face as I realize why he asked the question. “Yes, your girl will be there, and yes she will be wearing very little to work out in.”
He throws a pen at me.
“We’ll be in the gym, not outside, but she might even sweat a little.” I snigger as he rolls his eyes. “Does that turn you on?”
“Shut it, Baker.”
I grin back at him. It’s fun making him uncomfortable for once.
“There’s no shame in it. Sasha’s awesome. All in good time.”
He’s bright red now and I take pity on him, starting to pack up my books in anticipation of the bell ringing.
He stretches his arms over his head, trying to stifle a yawn as he watches me. “So when are you introducing me to your dad? It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’ve kept up my end of the bargain.”
I freeze momentarily in my task. I might tease him about Sasha a little, but I haven’t mentioned my dad since we made this agreement. I was hoping he’d forget about it.
“Huh? Abigail?”
“I wasn’t lying when I said he was working out of town,” I tell him. That part at least is true, but I’m not about to tell him he was recently home. “He’s been in New York for months.”
He pulls a face at that. “But surely he’ll be coming back soon, right?”
“Um, yeah, I guess, at some point. I honestly never know.”
He looks at me skeptically, like he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying, but luckily for me the first bell rings and I make my escape before he can question me further.
There is no way I’m ever introducing him to my dad. I’m going to have to find a different solution to that particular part of our deal.
16
My brain feels like it’s bleeding after a day of studying in my bedroom.
I’ve been going over the same equations again and again with the hope that if I do them enough times then they’ll stick in my mind. It’s only in the last hour that I’ve felt like this might actually be working, and I guess I’ll find out when Brett tests me on Monday. My mom was of no help whatsoever; she kept coming in and asking me mundane questions about what I thought about her outfit or her plans for tonight and basically reinforced my view that she doesn’t particularly care if I graduate or not, as she certainly didn’t care about interrupting me when I was clearly busy. My sister did appear at one point. She must have popped in to see my mom, and she brought me a kale smoothie, which tasted disgusting, but she assured me it was brain food.
I forced myself to drink it all because I need all the help I can get.
Now I’m in an Uber on the way to Chase’s house, to help him set up for this charity auction, which I’m hoping is a suc
cess and which, in all honesty, I’ve had very little to do with. I pull up outside his house and, to my horror, see that it’s already heaving with students, people lining up with cash in their hands to get into his house while Jackson and another guy from the soccer team collect their entrance fee. There’s already music blasting from the speakers inside the house, and the sounds of a busy party ring out.
Crap. Did I get the time wrong?
I check his last message and see that he specifically told me to arrive at nine to help. I did think that seemed a little late but figured he had his reasons. Now it looks like that was a typo because everyone else obviously got the memo to show up at the same time, if not earlier.
I skip the line, dropping my money for the cover fee into Jackson’s hands, and enter the house with barely a nod in anyone’s direction, but when I walk through the hallway, I pull up short.
This is not one of Chase’s standard parties.
He’s definitely gone all out.
Fairy lights have been strung up in the main hallway, making it feel like it’s a special runway, and then, taking a right into the huge open plan living room, a microphone and some sort of platform he’s gotten from somewhere are set up at the far end. Around the room, huge posters have been tacked up on the walls with the various prizes that are available for the auction.
I stare in amazement as groups of students work their way around the posters, taking in what’s available: a date with Brendon, a date with Jenna, a makeover by me, a day to use one of Aaron’s dad’s cars, a weekend to use Chase’s family home at the beach, a free lunch at Livy’s mom’s bakery every day for a month, the chance to be trained by Jennifer…the list goes on and on. There’s stuff there I didn’t even know about, and I can’t believe he’s managed to put all this together.
I scan the room to try to find him, but he’s not in here, so I turn around and head to his kitchen. I immediately see Aaron handing out drinks while Sasha and Jennifer help him, and I’m momentarily stunned into no longer looking for Chase because I see actual waiters in black aprons carrying around trays of food to hand out to people.
