She pouts. “It wobbles.”
I sigh. “Fine. You win.” I grab my things and move to the wobbly table. She stares at me. “What?”
“Why are you here of all places?” she asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Do you really think my schedules are stupid?” she finally asks.
I look up at the ceiling. There are weird stains and patterns. Some look like someone took coffee and poured it all over.
Adaline is waiting for my response. Problem is, I don’t know what to say. I have to remember that she’s happy with Greg. I have to remember that she’s mad at me for a lot of things.
I finally look over at her. “I don’t think anything you do is stupid, Ads. I get this grade means a lot to you. But work means a lot to me. I need you to understand I’m not bailing on you. I just can’t be there to help until Sunday. If we could figure out how we can put all this together using that one day that would be amazing.”
“No one is showing up, though. What makes Sunday any different from all the other days? You ditched me last Sunday.”
“Yeah. I know. But I got materials. So it’s not like I totally wasn’t working on the project.”
She rolls her eyes. “Right. Whatever. You know most of the groups are almost finished. Juliet and Jared have hardly any time to spare with practice and whatever, and do you know their project is almost finished. Tyler and Layla, same thing. You know the only thing we have done is a barely thought out plan.”
I want to argue with her, but she’s right. Most of my friends are near complete on their projects, and shit, our group hasn’t started anything.
“All right, Ads, what do you need me to do?”
Adaline opens her mouth then snaps it shut with a deep scowl. I’m about to ask what the heck is up with her face, but a soft voice says, “Hey, Austin. Mind if I share this table with you?” Before I can even answer the freshman from the party, Adaline slaps all her things together and leaves. I swear I can’t win.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Adaline
I’ve been home for nearly an hour, and all I think about is school. Austin’s pleading face. Ugh! I slam the meat mallet against the already flattened chicken breast. My mom grabs the mallet from me and smiles. “It’s not always good to take your bad days out on your dinner. It won’t be as tender and delicious.”
I sigh. She’s got a point. Dry chicken sucks. Still, using the mallet as a metaphorical device on an imaginary image of Austin’s face makes me feel better. I shouldn’t even care that he is so up and down and, well, all over the place. He frustrates me to no end. He seriously thinks we’ll get a lot done in one day? He’s dreaming! Then the brunette from the party has to come strolling into the library. She’s tall, gorgeous, and dresses like all the girls he’s ever dated before. So of course, I wouldn’t stick around to hear him agree to share a table with her. I tried a new look following winter break after visiting my relatives and taking some pointers from my cousin, Sophie. I was uncomfortable in dresses, low cut shirts, and Uggs. All the effort didn’t land me the guy I wanted anyway. Therefore I went back to my comf-zone of jeans and t-shirts.
“I think we’re good here. Why don’t you go see what your father is up to?” my mom says.
My dad usually hangs out in his study, reading books. He catches my eyes when I approach. “Whatcha reading?”
“It’s about a man stuck in a different time period and trying to find his way back. It’s interesting.” He sticks a bookmark in the thick novel and sets it aside. “Why the frown?”
“I’m not … I don’t know. I feel so behind on this one thing, and I don’t think I am going to catch up.”
“Sit down. Tell me what it is, and maybe we can come up with a solution to help your time management skills.”
This is why I love my dad, but I also didn’t want to come in here. See, this nerdy time-tables scheduling I get from him. Call it an OCD-like trait if you will. However, it’s not a favorite trait of others, more like an annoyance. “I got it mapped out. I um … just have to stick to it.”
I will never tell him how I’m in a group project, and my team has disappeared on me. I will never tell him that my grade is relying on them. He would totally flip and get my mom involved, and I’ve had enough of her butting into my life as it is. The last thing I want is her coming to my school and raising all kinds of drama.
“If you’re sure, okay.”
I plaster on a fake smile and nod. That’s what good daughters do. They always look happy and bright even if their entire world around them is falling apart. The anxiety of losing my place in the advanced program as well as disappointing them is eating away at me bit by bit, and there is nothing I can do about it.
“I’m going to go help Mom set the table,” I say.
My dad picks up his book again and says, “Sounds good.”
As I am leaving his study, my phone rings. I stare at the caller ID.
“Hey Juls, what’s up?”
“I’ve never had to ask you this before, so please don’t get mad. Are you coming to the party I have set up for you on Saturday? I mean, it is one of the best friend’s jobs, you know. To throw an epic birthday party for her bestie. If you aren’t down with video games and chilling, though, I can totally do something else.”
I head up to my room instead of in the dining area where I told my father I would be. I sigh into the receiver. “Can it just be us? Like, I know you are dating Jared. And I know you might want to hang out with your sister, too, but I don’t want to have a party with all of them. In fact, I don’t want a party at all.” This is the thing about being super stressed out about everything around me. I tend to say things I don’t mean. In truth, I like hanging out with people and having a good time. I’m just usually with people I want to hang out with. For example, Juliet and Chase. Now that Chase no longer wants to be my friend, it’s rather depressing to just chill with Juliet. Especially since she’ll more than likely bring up dating Jared and how awesome it is.
Call me selfish or even cowardly, but I do not want to have my celebrated day if her new love will overshadow me. Maybe I should try to get a boyfriend. Not Greg. But someone.
“Okay,” Juliet says. “Are you still up for bowling then later in the evening?”
“On Saturday? I guess.” I walk over to my desk and check out my reflection in my mini mirror. Gosh, I look like crap. Baggy eyes. Is that a zit on my forehead?
“It’ll be fun. I promise. Girls versus boys.”
A loud voice overtakes Juliet’s, “That’s right, girls rock! Wahooo!!!” I pull the phone back to give my ears a rest for a second.
I place it back and cringe. “Wait, is Rachel coming?”
Juliet laughs. “Uh. No. She has some crap to do, thank goodness.”
“Well, who’s all going again?”
“Jared, Tyler, Layla, Me duh, and Au … in.”
“Who?”
She shouts, “What was that? Oh, okay. Hey, dinner is ready. Gotta go.”
“Wait, what?”
The line is silent. I stare at the screen and scowl. Really? She thinks I’m stupid. She knows darn well I know she cooks all the meals in that house. If it’s their mom, well it’s not exactly edible. No, offense to Angela Valentine, but the first time I had a sleepover at Juliet’s house after their dad died, I thought Ms. Valentine was trying to kill me. I asked Juliet later, “What was that we were supposed to be eating?” I remember she shrugged and told me she thought it was beef, but at this point, she wasn’t sure.
Shortly after this Juliet started cooking most of the meals. Occasionally there were pizza nights, but mostly her in the kitchen. So unless they ordered pizza, she’s full of crap, and I can’t believe she would do this to me.
I set my phone on my charger and hurry downstairs. It’s not like anyone else will be calling me. I make my way into the dining room and start setting up the table. My mom comes into the room and says, “I think we should visit Paris
again for spring break.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Austin
“I need the car in the morning. You’re just going to have to take a bus,” my mom says.
She could not have sprung worse news on me. I’m trying to keep up my status of not living on the shitball side of town. I had to divert Jared from dropping off my stack of video games he had in his room. I told him I’d come by later and get them.
Now this. I can’t avoid this. I could lie about my wheels and say my last car got into an accident, and the car I have now was cheap enough to buy with the insurance claim money. I could easily lie about not being home so people didn’t randomly drop by my old house expecting me. But this? This I can’t lie about. I can’t sit in front of my old house waiting for a ride. My mom is going in for an early shift at the diner which means she has to clock in at four in the morning. No offense to anyone who gets up at that time, but I sure as heck am not. I’m sleeping to my usual wake-up time, six.
I chew on my lower lip trying to think of how the hell I might pull this off. My mind is blank on ideas. I don’t want to tell my mom the buses here don’t run to the north side. The north side buses have their own schedule, and I would need to walk almost thirteen blocks to catch the one bus that goes to my school.
I simply agree and go directly into my room with a deep ache in my stomach. I never ever wanted my friends to know about this, but shit, it’s time to face the music. Pulling out my cell from my back pocket, I call Jared. He’s the only person I trust with this news. I know he won’t say anything or make jokes about it. Tyler, on the other hand, has helped me out in a jam but might slip up to Layla about why they might be late or something.
Jared answers after two rings. Panting. “S’up?”
“Er … Did I interrupt something?”
“Nah. Juliet and I were running laps at the track. Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s kicking my ass.”
I snort laugh. “Really? Is it worse than when coach makes us do that one training exercise challenge with the cross country team every year?”
“It’s close. Real close. So what’s up? I thought you were at work or something?”
I lean back against my bed. “Nope. Just got off early. My boss had to leave for some important meeting out of town. Closed up shop early, but tomorrow I’ll be right back at it.”
“Oh, cool. Want me to swing by then and drop those games off?”
I sigh. “About that. Look, I uh … I don’t live there anymore.”
“Um okay, since when?”
“Since about a few weeks ago.”
He mutters something then says to me, “Really? And you didn’t tell me until now, why?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Because it’s embarrassing. Like straight bad.”
“Like how bad? You live in the ghetto or something?”
I remain silent and he says, “Shit. For real?”
“Yeah, man. Look, I don’t want any judgment. I’ll explain most of this later. I need a favor, though, aside from you not telling a soul about this.”
“Name it, man.”
“I need a ride tomorrow and probably like every day for this week.”
Jared doesn’t even hesitate. “Done. Text me the address. I’ll see you in the morning. But Austin, you’re going to have to run with me. And you need to tell Tyler. Not now, but eventually. We’re like brothers for life.”
“I know. It’s just embarrassing.”
“I get it. Not exactly, but I can picture it. We have each other’s backs, though. Don’t worry, I won’t say a word. That’s on you.”
Relief washes over me. “Thanks, man.” We hang up, and I text him my dirty secret.
He doesn’t send back laughing emojis or anything. He just says okay.
“Wow. This is … wow,” Jared says the next morning outside my house.
“A shit hole. I know.”
“You didn’t wreck your car, did you?”
I slide into his truck and shake my head. “Nope. Had to sell it to help pay some bills.”
“Damn, dude. I had no idea it was like this.” We pull away from the street and make a turn at the first stop sign.
Of course, he didn’t know how bad things were. I didn’t want anyone to know. I wanted to keep this from everyone because why should they care about what is happening to me? They’ve got their own shit to worry about. Jared’s got his dad always riding his case about something or other. That seems normal, though. I mean, his dad is the athletic director as well as the football coach of our school. Tyler’s parents, well, those two are crazy.
“So, is this why you’ve been ditching Adaline?”
What? She told him this? I’m going to lay into her at school. All this pressure from both sides. She needs to get it through her thick skull I can only do so much. “I didn’t. I told her I could only help on Sundays. You would think I have stabbed her or something the way she got ticked off at me. I get she has all these crazy timelines and shit, but she needs to understand not everyone works this way.”
Jared snorts as he drives over a set of railroad tracks. “What about the others? My group is almost done with our project.”
I almost want to say, “Good for him. What’s he want? A freaking cookie?” But I can’t. Because he’s helping me out, and he’s not saying this to rub it in my face. He’s telling me this because clearly my group sucks, and there needs to be someone taking charge. Making sure everyone is helping Adaline if I can’t be there. Group effort.
“I am going to have a chat with everyone today.”
“Good. Juliet is looking to maim you. She thinks you are purposely screwing Addy over.”
I shrug. “I’m not. I can’t tell Adaline what happen to me. I didn’t even want to tell you.”
“I get it. But you gotta get the others to help or something.”
I nod. “I’ll work on it. We really did get stuck with the shit end of the group, though.”
Jared agrees. The remainder of the car ride to school we listen to tunes on the radio.
When we pull into the school, Juliet marches over to Jared’s truck and points at me, “I’m mad at you, Austin.”
“I heard,” I say. “I’ll fix it.”
She smiles. “You better.”
Jared walks her into the school, and I wait a few minutes before I enter. I need to make a plan, one that can fix this project and possibly make things right with Adaline.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Adaline
“You told me you would go,” Juliet complains before she takes a huge bite of her sandwich.
“I can’t go out because I got stuck working with absolute, self-absorbed idiots.”
“Didn’t you talk to Austin?” she asks. The question causes me to sputter my drink.
I cough a few times trying to clear my throat. “Why?”
She shrugs. I cannot believe she ratted me out to Jared who probably gave Austin some crappy pep-talk or whatever. She’s supposed to be my friend. She’s supposed to keep what I complain about to herself and not tell her darn boyfriend about it.
“You’re mad at me aren’t you?” she asks.
I almost want to ask her what on earth gave her that impression. Instead of giving her a piece of my mind I say, “I have it handled. I don’t need Austin or anyone for that matter.”
“What are you talking about?” Juliet asks.
“It’s exactly as I said. They never stick to the plans set forth, so I don’t need them.”
Her expression turns worrisome. “You can’t do that project by yourself and slap their names on it, Addy. You have to have physical proof they were helping you.” She snorts. “I mean, what are you going to do? Videotape and clip them into your video report?”
I say nothing. That’s exactly what I plan on doing.
She latches on to my arm and shakes her head. “Oh, my God, Adaline! That’s cheating. You would never ever cheat on anything in your entire life. Please tell me that’s not wh
at you plan on doing.”
I refuse to answer her because along with never being a cheater, I don’t make it a habit of lying to my friends. Instead, I get up from the lunch table and go straight to my next class.
I intended on waiting out in the hall on the dirty floor. The art room is open, so I step in. “Mrs. Clegge?”
The tall blond woman in her early thirties steps out of the kiln and says, “Adaline, shouldn’t you be at lunch?” She shuts the door and presses some buttons on the wall.
I nod. “Yeah. I needed to catch up on the last assignment you gave us.”
She turns and smiles, showing off her crooked teeth with a small bit of lipstick staining them. “All right then. Please go to your seat. I need to run up to the office for a few items. Do not touch anything, especially that door.” She points to the kiln.
I pull out my things from my bag. I open my book and flip through the sketches. Most of them happen to be of Austin or some form of him. Images of him seem to cloud my mind. It’s not like he ever actually sat in front of me and let me sketch him. I should rip all of these out and burn them.
I go to the page I was working on. It’s not of Austin, thank goodness. The assignment Mrs. Clegge gave us was to draw a detailed scenic landscape. We needed to have the following items in our sketch: trees, houses, livestock, and a body of water of some sort. I decided to draw a field with trees edging both sides of the paper. A few houses in the distance, along with horses, and a stream. I’m just fleshing out the details and making everything stronger.
My drawing has my full attention, so I don’t notice a shadow casting over my shoulder until I turn and startle. “Good lord! Greg, what is the matter with you? Warn a girl; don’t just stare down at her.”
“Sorry. I noticed you were in a zone, and I didn’t want to bother you. I needed to talk to you, though.”
I kick out a chair across from me and say, “Sit.”
He walks around the table and takes the seat, which kind of surprises me because I thought for sure he would try for the seat next to me. I mean, he is always doing that sort of thing. He plops down and sighs.
Right Girl Wrong Timing (Offsides Book 3) Page 12
