Life as We Know It: A Treasure Key Novel

by Sarah Bates

  Logan opened his mouth, an angry look on his face, but instead of responding, he simply closed his mouth again, shook his head, and pushed by us to stalk into the school.

  Levi watched him go while Hayden simply stared out over the parking lot, an unhappy look on his face. When I lifted my eyebrows in silent inquiry, Levi sighed and shifted. “It’s just a phase, HQ. He’ll figure it out, eventually,” he said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

  Hayden grunted, not looking entirely sure of this. “I just hope he does before he does something he can’t take back,” he muttered.

  “I hear you.” Levi took a deep breath and let it out on a gusty sigh. “And with that said, I’d better go look for my own idiot brother before he does something stupid. Catch up later, man.” They bumped fists, then Levi smiled at me. “I’m glad I finally got the chance to meet you, Coco. And I’m not going to lie, I’m even more glad to find out you’re actually real.”

  Before I even thought about it, I patted my legs, stomach, and arms. “Yep, I’m real.” I grinned when he did. “It was nice to meet you, too,” I told him, then he was heading back toward the parking lot, while Hayden tugged me against his side again and watched him go.

  “He seems nice,” I said as we turned to go inside a moment later.

  “He is,” he said as he led me to my locker. “He’s a good friend. I owe him a lot. Long story,” he added when I frowned softly. “Short version of it is, I went through my own phase of stupidity a while back, and he helped me work my way out of it.”

  Though I was curious about what the long version of that story entailed, I simply nodded and let him leave it at that.

  When we reached my locker, he let me go, and sighed as he leaned back against another locker. “I owe you an apology,” he said when I looked at him. “My brother and I are currently going through a bit of a rough time of it, and I shouldn’t have let him get me riled up that way, especially with you literally standing between us. Logan’s not exactly known for thinking with his head these days, and it’s altogether possible he could have thrown a punch without taking into consideration it might land on you instead of me.”

  I frowned again and shifted as I finished switching my books out. “Does it have to do with what happened the other day?” I asked. Though I didn’t want to pry, I had to admit, I was curious about what had happened the other day.

  “Partly. He showed up to his PE class stoned and eating a plate of mozzarella sticks that he took from Pasta and Pie, which, to be honest, isn’t all that surprising, given his attitude of late. But then he proceeded to make several inappropriate overtures toward the teacher when she began to question him about it.”

  “Oh dear.” I grimaced when he nodded.

  “Exactly.” He shook his head wearily. “He’s lucky they didn’t suspend him, let alone expel him, and that the restaurant was willing not to press charges after he left without paying his check, and stole the plate. Though, to be fair, he is now banned from the premises for the foreseeable future.” His brow furrowed in a look of concern. “I’m still not sure the teacher isn’t going to file some kind of formal complaint against him with the police.”

  “Can she do that?” I asked, closing my locker. I had honestly never heard of such a thing, but I suppose anything was possible, depending on how bad the situation had been.

  “In this day and age, absolutely. And honestly, I couldn’t blame her if she did. She has every right to a safe working environment,” he said when I lifted my eyebrows, “and my brother was way over the line with some of the things he said. Honestly, if I knew it wouldn’t affect the rest of his life, there’s a part of me that would be all for it if she did. It might help him learn a lesson. But,”

  “He’s your brother, and you want the best for him,” I finished when he didn’t continue.

  “I do, even when he’s being stupid.” He hooked an arm around my shoulders and turned us toward my homeroom class. “If he doesn’t get his act together soon, I’m thinking a good come to Jesus talk from your uncle might be in order.” When I looked up at him, he shrugged. “It worked for me. Mostly.”

  I hummed, genuinely curious now about this mysterious, misspent past he alluded to sometimes. But as we were in the middle of a crowded hall, I decided I’d ask him about it some other time, when it was just the two of us.

  “On a much happier note,” he said, snuggling me closer as we wove our way through the crowd, “I was wondering if you have any plans for tonight.”

  I paused – really, I just sort of froze mid-step – then my heart began to race in equal parts excitement and disappointment as I lifted my gaze to him. Up until this morning, my evening had been all clear. But that wasn’t the case now. “Um, actually, I do. With my mom,” I added quickly when his expression filled with disappointment. “We haven’t really spent much time together since we got here last week, and she thought that maybe we should do something this evening, just the two of us. Plus, she wants to show me some of the houses she’s thinking about looking at.” I cleared my throat as I lifted a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. “Why do you ask?”

  His lips twitched up at the corner into that lopsided smirk of his – which caused a swarm of butterflies to flutter wildly in my belly – and leaned close enough that I could feel his warm breath brush against my cheek. “Well, it is Friday,” he said, his gaze holding mine steadily. “I thought that we might try this social experiment that I’ve, you know, heard about. It’s called a date.”

  “Oh. Yeah. You know, I’ve heard something about those before, too.” My breath hitched a little and my cheeks warmed with a blush as my lips spread into a bright grin when he shifted a little closer.

  “Yeah?” He lifted a hand and twirled a lock of my hair around his finger when I nodded. “And what are your thoughts on it?” he asked.

  I couldn’t help but drop my gaze to his mouth, and felt my heart skip a couple of giddy beats. “Well,” I said, my voice sounding breathy even to my own ears as I lifted my gaze back up to his, “I’m always up for a little scientific experimentation.”

  As soon as the words left my mouth my cheeks began to burn with another blush, and Hayden dropped his head back and laughed.

  “Oh, jeez.” He shook his head, still chuckling. “I like you, Coco. I like you a lot.” Sighing, his lips curved in a grin, he took my hand and laced our fingers together. “How about tomorrow night?”

  I hummed as I considered this, enjoying the sensation of his palm pressed against mine. It was rough with callouses, but not at all unpleasant. “Actually, my whole family is getting together for dinner tomorrow night,” I replied. “But, you know,” I added when he sighed again, this time looking disappointed, “we’re doing it cookout style, at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Nora’s place. And I know that Jamie, Kat, and Zach all have a couple of friends coming, including all the Butlers. So, if you want, you can come, too.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked as we started toward my classroom again. “I don’t want to intrude,”

  “You wouldn’t be,” I said, shaking my head. “And maybe after dinner we could go to the Courtyard and get some ice cream or something. You know, like a dessert date.”

  “Dessert date?” He smirked when I grinned. “Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. Dessert date it is.” He paused when we reached the door to my classroom and lifted his free hand to tuck that stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Until then, I’ll see you at lunch.” He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to my cheek, then leaned back. “See you later.”

  “Mmmhmm,” I managed, my brain too mushy for a moment to think of anything more coherent to say. Then I cleared my throat. “Later.”

  He chuckled and started walking backward down the hallway, then after reaching the turn he needed to take, he waved and disappeared around the corner.

  Groaning, wondering if I’d ever get the hang of not totally spazzing out whenever he got close, I turned and stepped into the classroom, just as the final bell rang, and ignored
the cheeky smirks Kat and Aly were both giving me as I made my way to my desk and our teacher gave that day’s announcements.

  ☼

  “So, you’re going on a date with him?” Kat asked as we walked along with the masses toward the cafeteria later.

  We’d been busy throughout the morning, rushing from class to class, and helping Jenny and Aly keep Margo out of sight of Demi – apparently, Margo and Wes were already off again, and it hadn’t ended well – so this was the first chance I had gotten to tell her about the plans Hayden and I had made for tomorrow night.

  “Well, sort of,” I replied, sidestepping a group of freshmen as they whizzed by on skateboards – distantly, I could hear a teacher shouting at them to get off their boards, though anything else he might have said was drowned out by the thunderous sounds of starving teenagers rushing to the cafeteria. “It’s a dessert date,” I explained when she gave me a curious look. “Kind of like a precursor to an actual date-date.”

  “I see.” She scowled as she was jostled about by the throng, and shook her head. “I freaking hate Fridays,” she muttered, shoving a manically laughing, long-haired, stoner surfer guy – of which there were, in fact, a large number within the student body – away from her when he rammed into her as one of his buddies shoved him out of the way of his locker.

  “Why?” I asked, though even as I asked this, I decided the answer was self-explanatory, given the unruly crowds. “Never mind,” I said when she gave me a harassed look, and I nearly sighed in relief when we finally entered the cafeteria. Then I saw the line at the lunch counter, and felt my eyes widen. In the week since I had been attending the school, I’d never seen the line so packed. “Wow.”

  “Yep.” She nudged me and we started moving toward our usual table. “That’s why I said we should bring lunch today. Fridays are always crazy here.” She dragged her usual chair out and sat down, heaving a world-weary sigh. “I think it’s because the monsters are all chomping at the bit to get their weekends started.”

  “Well, who can blame them?” Margo said as she plopped down in her seat, on Kat’s other side. She heaved an equally heavy sigh, though hers had a bit more drama to it. “After this hellish week, who wouldn’t want to let loose for a couple of days and recharge?”

  “It hasn’t been that bad,” Kat said, giving her a bland look as I sat down as well.

  “It’s been downright awful,” Margo countered. “My boyfriend broke up with me.”

  “Again,” Jamie said as he dropped into his chair across the table from us and dropped his insulated lunch bag on the table in front of him. “Your boyfriend broke up with you again.” When Margo narrowed her eyes at him, he merely stretched his legs out and started pulling his lunch out of his bag. “Don’t look at me like that. The fact that you and Wes are off again is hardly breaking news,” he said around a mouthful of his sandwich.

  “You know, you could be more sympathetic,” Margo muttered, opening her carton of yogurt. “I’m in an emotionally delicate state.” She pouted and sniffled as she added some granola to her yogurt.

  “Oh, please,” Jamie said, laughing. “You’re just pissed that he pulled the plug before you did. Again.” He took a hefty bite out of his sandwich and reached for his can of pineapple soda, then gestured across the cafeteria to where Wes and Demi were sitting with some of their other friends, staying away from our group today. “He’s not an out of season skirt that you take out of your closet every-once-in-a-while and try out. He’s a person, and he’s probably tired of being jerked around so much.”

  Margo narrowed her eyes, but refrained from commenting, and simply ignored him as she ate her yogurt.

  Kat shook her head at her brother, but likewise kept her mouth shut, and ate her sandwich as the others all joined us at the table.

  When Delaney and Esme joined us, they were holding hands and smiling. Which wasn’t anything new, as over the past week I had come to learn that they had been together since junior high and were considered the old married couple of the group (Jamie’s words, not mine). Because of this, I was already used to always seeing them together, and witnessing their habitual public displays of affection – which ranged from sweet kisses on the cheek, to full on passionate lip-locks worthy of being featured on the cover of trashy paperback romance novels – and didn’t think twice about it.

  Margo, on the other hand, apparently took it as a personal slight, and upon seeing their easy joy in each other, burst into tears, shoved up from the table, and hurried out of the cafeteria.

  Delaney watched her go with a bland look on his face and shook his head. “Overplayed,” he said, setting his lunch bag on the table.

  “Oh, come on, be nice,” Kat said, lowering her sandwich before she took a bite.

  “I’m not going to be made to feel guilty over the fact that my girlfriend and I are capable of maintaining a healthy and happy relationship,” he said as he pulled Esme’s chair out for her. “We all love Margo, but you’ve got to admit, her flare for drama is reaching a point of ridiculousness.”

  “It’s true,” Jamie, Leo, and Jenny all said at once as they nodded in agreement.

  Since I’d only been there for a week, I didn’t think I had much of a right to express an opinion on the matter. But, for the record, I agreed with them.

  Kat grudgingly nodded, though she still stood up. “Be that as it may, her feelings are still tender right now.” She grabbed her book bag, and Margo’s as well, along with both of their lunches. “See you guys later.”

  I watched her go, then grimaced and looked at the others. “Should I,”

  “No,” Jamie said firmly as he shook his head. “Going after her is only going to reinforce her behavior, and she needs to learn that she can’t act like that.”

  “But Kat,”

  “Is Kat, and has a guilt complex. It’s true,” he said, annoyed when Leo poked at him. “And the bad thing is, Margo knows it, too. So, it’s a cycle of her going off in a huff, knowing full-well that Kat will follow, which will validate her dramatic exit in her mind.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so I simply hummed instead, and took a bite of my sandwich.

  I was just beginning to wonder where Hayden was – he should have gotten there when Jamie and Margo had – when someone dropped down into the seat that Kat had vacated and draped their arm around my shoulders. Despite the familiarity of the gesture, I knew even before I lifted my gaze that it wasn’t Hayden.

  Neal Humphrey smiled his best charming, smug smile, and gave a lock of my hair a tug. “Hey, you.”

  “Um…hey,” I said, and I shifted in my chair, easing forward a bit in the hopes that he’d get the hint and would pull his arm away from me.

  He didn’t. Instead, he shifted even closer, further violating my personal space. “So, about the party,” he said conversationally, and he reached out and plucked a potato chip from the small bag I had packed to go with my sandwich, “there’s been a change in venue,” he added, even though no one had responded. “Instead of at my father’s beach house at the resort, it’ll be at my mother’s place over in South Shore.”

  “Why the change?” Jamie asked, even as he narrowed his eyes as he watched Neal’s overly familiar closeness.

  Neal made a face and ate another one of my chips. “Step-monster-mommy-dearest’s parents decided that they’re coming down for the weekend, and Amber decided she wanted them to stay at the family’s house instead of setting them up in a suite at the resort. Because, you know, they’re family, blah, blah, blah.” He rolled his eyes, then heaved a dramatic sigh. “So, anyway, it’ll be at my other parental unit’s house, same time, et cetera.” He grinned and tugged on that lock of my hair again. “Sure hope you’ll be there, Chloe Courtland.”

  I know it was probably stupid, but I thought it was weird, the way he always said my full name like that.

  Before I had a chance to respond, however, I felt a thud vibrate through my chair, and suddenly it was moving. Not far, but enough th
at Neal jerked his arm away from me.

  I gasped in surprise by the sudden movement, and dropped my sandwich to the table, then I lifted my gaze, and smiled when I saw Hayden standing beside me. He had hooked one of his feet around one of the legs of my chair and had pulled me closer. But he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at Neal, his eyes narrowed.

  “Thanks for the invite, but we already have plans,” he told him. Though he kept his voice level, there was no hiding the temper in it.

  Neal narrowed his eyes as well, then after a long, admittedly uncomfortable moment, he flashed his bright, charming smile. “Of course you do.” He stood and upped the wattage of charm in his smile even more as he lowered his gaze back to me. “If you get bored with your plans, I’m sure we could find a way to liven things up for you.” Then he winked at me and snitched another chip before he turned and swaggered off to go join his friends.

  Hayden watched him go, then finally seemed to relax, and lifted one of his hands to gently brush his fingers through my hair. Without even realizing I was doing it, I leaned in closer to him.

  “I’m telling you now, Griffin, he puts his hands on her again, I won’t be responsible for what happens next,” he said, turning his gaze to Jamie.

  Jamie lifted his eyebrows as he reached for his can of pineapple soda. “Thanks for the heads up. But maybe you should tell him that, not me,” he replied easily.

  Hayden narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly and I could tell from the way they darkened a little with temper that he was not in any way impressed by Jamie’s easy nonchalance. “Oh, don’t worry, I will. But I’m telling you now, because both times he has, you’ve done nothing to stop him, and that doesn’t sit right with me. He makes her uncomfortable, and as her cousin, you shouldn’t allow him to put her in that kind of situation. So, keep him away from her for now on. Because I won’t be as diplomatic about it as you would be the next time.”

  Jamie arched an eyebrow as he settled back in his chair and studied him, then he hummed, and nodded once. “Coco’s a big girl and perfectly capable of telling Humphrey off if he’s bothering her. But your message is received,” he added when Hayden narrowed his eyes again, even as Leo and Delaney both looked warily between them, and Esme nudged Delaney not-so-subtly. Then Jamie narrowed his eyes as he set his can of soda back on the table. “Received clearly, in fact. However, I don’t need you telling me how to take care of my family. I’m perfectly capable of reading a situation on my own, and if you hadn’t shown up, I’d have dealt with him my own way. And trust me, yours was far more diplomatic than what I had in mind.”