Misters & Mochas (High School Clowns & Coffee Grounds Book 2)

by A. J. Macey

  “Mr. and Mrs. Bell?” he murmured. “Can I talk to you guys?”

  “Of course,” Stella said, then gasped when she saw the bandages across his torso.

  I stayed out of sight while Jesse talked to them with Reid and Kingston. After a few minutes, I finally reached a breaking point, unable to just stand and listen, so I turned and tried to make my way back to Kingston’s room. Before I could get more than two steps, Stella came around the corner and wrapped me in a tight hug.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her thin frame shaking as she inhaled, “for convincing him to tell us.”

  “I just want him safe,” I murmured, my own tears starting to leak out again.

  I’m so freaking tired of crying.

  You’d think I would have run out of tears at this point.

  She squeezed one last time before stepping back, explaining what would happen next.

  “You, Kingston, and Reid go try to enjoy your night. Kaleb and I will get everything from Jesse. When we have all the information we need, we’ll send him back up. He’ll be staying here from now on.”

  “Thank you.” I tried to smile, but it was brittle as I looked at her. Patting my shoulder, she returned a fragile smile and left as Kingston and Reid came around the corner.

  “Come on, Cali girl,” Reid whispered, curling me under his arm. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” I asked, confused why he was thanking me. I didn’t do anything.

  “Finally convincing him. We’ve tried for years, and no matter what, nothing we said or did worked. Then you waltz your pretty face in and give a little pout and boom, convinced. Why couldn’t we have gotten you before this year?” Reid explained, laughing with Kingston. Underneath the cheer, they sounded emotional, strangled under the gravity of what was about to change.

  “At least you have me now,” I countered. “Now, Jesse can be safe, and I can go to sleep without having to worry. Right now, I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

  They didn’t say anything, focusing on putting something lighthearted on the TV in Kingston’s room as I got changed and ready for bed. I knew I should have gone home and tried to level-headedly talk to my mom, but after everything since leaving the house, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Curled in a fuzzy blanket on the bed, sandwiched between Kingston and Reid, I drifted to sleep, where not even the emotional toll of the last twenty-four hours could reach me.

  15

  January 6th

  Ignore the people who are talking behind your back. That’s where they belong. Behind you.

  #ScrewTheHaters #MotivationMonday

  “Slut.”

  “Not wanted by her family.”

  “They’re both living with Kingston.”

  The gossip about Jesse and me wouldn’t stop, swirling around us as we walked the halls and cafeteria. My lips were permanently downturned in a harsh scowl as the darkened cloud descended on me, the weight on my shoulders only growing with each whispered rumor.

  “Well, if it isn’t the slut!” Dylan called out, stepping in front of me with a cruel smirk on his reddened face. I glared, not even bothering to counter his remark.

  “Now, now, Dylan,” a familiar voice responded, my blood turning to ice as the one person I wanted to punch most stepped in front of me. “My girl isn’t a slut, she’s a virgin who’s playing hard to get.”

  Freaking Brad.

  Yup, still rocking the stupid boat shoes and buttoned-up polo.

  I tried to step around him, but he quickly blocked me, Dylan following until they were shoulder-to-shoulder in front of me.

  “Virgin, huh? Sounds like she’ll be one of the best, then,” Dylan sneered, winking at me. I shuddered, barely keeping it contained at his creepy smile.

  “Move,” I bit out. The warning bell rang overhead, but it didn’t deter the crowd from watching what was happening. Of course, no one stepped up to help, everyone content to watch and laugh.

  “Why should we?” Brad challenged. Steeling myself, I curved around him, shouldering into him as hard as I could. He grunted but made no other move to stop me, only calling out as I stormed away, “Aww, she’s got some backbone in her after all.”

  “Freaking douche,” I hissed under my breath as I stormed into the locker room, cursing that Jesse had to stay late to talk to our chemistry teacher and couldn’t walk with me.

  “Hey,” a girl called out as I shoved my bag into my locker. “You’re the one dating Jesse Parker, right?” I sighed, tired and irritable, but I nodded, hoping she didn’t have anything stupid to say. “Is it true he’s got trial coming up, you know, for attempted murder?”

  “Not really your business,” I snapped. “But it’s for assault against Brad Warland.” I tried to counter the rumor, not even caring how it got so out of control.

  “Brad? Why’d he do that?” she questioned, her face scrunched. Her skin held an overly orange tan, she had stick straight strawberry blonde hair, and she was wearing a short skirt and skintight top despite it being winter.

  No idea how she doesn’t freeze in that.

  “Everyone likes Brad.”

  “Ha,” I deadpanned, utterly over the day at that point. “Not everyone likes Brad, especially me, seeing as how he tried to force himself on me at a party. Jesse saved me. So maybe next time you want to gossip, you can get the facts correct.”

  “Brad wouldn’t do that,” she tried to counter, but I waved my hand through the air, cutting her off.

  “Save it, I don’t want to freaking hear it. You can believe whatever the heck you want, but I know what happened, and I’m the one with nightmares every night about his unwanted wandering hands and creepy smile,” I snapped before turning to leave the locker room, the girl’s wide eyes and slack jaw seared in my brain as I headed into dance class.

  If people wanted to know about what happened, I'd gladly tell them. Then maybe they’d shut up about it.

  Sometimes, high school really sucked.

  My sucky luck continued after school, finding my mom’s car parked in the driveway when I pulled up. Groaning, I dropped my head against the steering wheel.

  “Well, might as well just get this over with. Grounding here I come,” I ground out, climbing out of my car.

  Yup, called it. I stewed in my anger as I made my way to my room thirty minutes later. Grounded for two weeks except for work.

  The part that angered me the most was I wasn’t allowed to see the boys except at school. I wasn’t sure if that carried over after my grounding or not, but for right now, I wasn’t going to push it since she let me keep my phone for work purposes. I had gotten a couple weeks off from work, but now that I was back, I had shifts on my schedule. If there were any shift changes or emergency shifts to fill, they had to be able to reach me, which my mom seemed to get after about twenty minutes of convincing.

  If there were any extra shifts, I was freaking taking them.

  Sinking onto my bed, I felt the weight of the day pressing down on me. I wanted to talk to my mom, I wanted her to listen to me, really listen to everything I was dealing with, but she was still too angry and busy working to not be all judgmental. I didn’t know how much time passed as I spaced out, my thoughts whirling. It was only when my phone started to buzz, I was pulled from my stupor. Glancing at the caller ID, I saw my dad’s face pop up, and I was reminded all over again about what happened when I visited. I waited until it finished ringing to text Lyla back from our current conversation, but a voicemail notification popped up, stopping me.

  “Well, might as well listen to it since it’s one of the few he’s left since last month,” I muttered, clicking on the notification.

  Little did I know, it would only serve to completely shatter my world.

  “Hey, sweetheart. It’s me,” he started, before sighing. “I’m sorry again. I know I owe you a thousand apologies for what happened when you came to visit, and I know I shouldn’t have kept it a secret from you. With everything, I realized I don’t want any more secrets between u
s, Emma. I wish I could have told you this in person.”

  My brows dipped down as he paused, and my stomach clenched in worry as he took a shuddering breath.

  “When your mom and I divorced, it wasn’t just because I had found someone I was actually happy with. It turns out, I’m not your biological father. It was such a shock, but I still love you as if you were my daughter. I know our relationship is strained, but I would like to work on that. It’s my fault for pulling away when I thought you would be better off without me because I was angry and upset, but I realize how stupid that was. Seeing you crying because of me broke my heart, and I don’t ever want to see that expression on your face again, sweetheart, especially because of me. When you’re ready, I’ll be here for you. I’ll try texting or calling tomorrow. Love you, sweetheart.”

  Holy.

  Freaking.

  Shit.

  My vision tunneled as my hand dropped to my lap. Struggling to process what he said, I sat there, stone still until finally, my brain seemed to understand.

  My dad isn’t my dad.

  I reached over, yanking one of my photo albums off the shelf, flipping to a picture of me and my dad. Only when I saw the two of us, smiling together did my mind process, and tears started to flow. Wayward tears fell as I stared at the photo before growing to an uncontrollable river, my mind finally seeing all the differences between the man I thought was my dad and me.

  His black hair was the only similarity, his facial structure, eye color, hell, even the way he smiled was different. I always just assumed I looked more like my mom, but when I looked over to the picture of the three of us, I realized that wasn’t true either. A rush of anger so strong filled me, and I started to shake. I slammed the album shut, throwing the hard-covered book across the room, hearing it smack the wall and floor with a thump.

  Standing up, I started up the stairs, ready to demand answers, but when I neared the top, I hesitated. Something held me back as I heard my mom angrily typing on her computer, and no matter what I told myself to convince my feet to move, I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure if it was fear, anger, worry, or the urge to run back to my room and curl under the blanket that held me captive at the top of the stairs, but whatever it was, it had me turning on my heel and walking back to my room with a vow to bring it up when she wasn’t so angry, and I’d had more time to process. Dropping my phone on the nightstand, I curled under my blanket, content to hide and cry away the feelings, but one thought swirled in my head no matter how much I tried to push it away.

  My dad isn’t my dad.

  January 9th

  Not only did I wind up with three exceptional boyfriends, but I have the best coworker and friend I could have asked for.

  #ThankGodForGirlTalk #Venting #SafePlace #ThankfulThursday

  My shift was slow. The way the wind blew the quickly falling snow in whips of white flakes, made our customer flow almost nonexistent. Lyla was finishing up the last chapter in the book she was reading, but as soon as she did, she looked at me with narrowed eyes.

  “Okay, Emma Bean. What’s up? You’ve been quiet and frowny since you walked in. So, tell Doctor Lyla what’s been going on,” she instructed, propping her chin in her hand.

  I could barely manage a smile at her antics. My mood had been dour the last four days—rock bottom where not even the rumors and sneers from my classmates could affect me. Thankfully, the guys thought my negative mood was because of the whispers.

  “A lot has happened, Ly,” I started tiredly. “Let’s start with the shittiest of the news. Found out why my parents divorced.”

  “Not because your dad is engaged to someone else?” she asked with a head tilt. I laughed, the sound tired and cold.

  “Turns out he’s not my biological dad. Didn’t know until the divorce. Called to say he wished he could have told me in person, but after all that happened in Cali, he didn’t want any more secrets. He wants to try to fix our relationship. I haven’t even brought it up to my mom yet cause of some other shit that’s come up,” I muttered. Lyla’s expression would have been comical if I wasn’t in such an utterly horrible mood.

  “Holy shit,” she exclaimed. “Okay, two questions. One, how did the guys react? And two, are you going to? Try to fix the relationship, I mean.”

  “I think so, I mean, he’s my dad. Well, he’s the only dad I know,” I stumbled over my explanation, still feeling weird about having to make that distinction in my head. “As for the guys, I haven’t told them yet. We’re dealing with a lot of crap from other students. Brad is spreading rumors, and it’s wearing on all of us with Jesse’s trial and our relationship. Which leads me to my next problem. My mom found out. About the trial and that I’m dating all three of them.”

  “Safe to say she’s upset?” Lyla took over. I huffed out a single laugh.

  “Upset is an understatement,” I proceeded to run through everything that had gone down since I got home from the cabin. Lyla’s brows seemed to be permanently attached to her hairline, the more I explained. “So yeah. Here I am, grounded and not allowed to see them outside of school. On top of the rumors and the news about my dad-who’s-not-actually-my-dad.”

  “Wow,” she murmured in surprise. “That’s intense. Is there any good news?”

  “I may havelostmyvirginityoverbreak,” I muttered.

  “I’m sorry, what was that? Emma Bean popped her cherry?” she teased, her smile growing as my cheeks reddened. “Which one?”

  “Reid.”

  She whooped, clapping excitedly.

  “I’m so proud, I mean… bad Emma, sex before marriage is bad,” she scolded with a finger wave but couldn’t control her laughter. “You guys were safe, though, right?” I nodded. “Good. But now I get why you’ve seemed so upset. That’s a lot of shit all at once.” She opened her mouth to say more, but the bell above the door cut her off.

  “Hey, Cali girl,” Reid greeted cheerfully. His bright smile and hazel gaze warmed my chest, the butterflies erupting at the glint I saw in his eyes. “Hi, Lyla.”

  “Well, hello there,” she stated with a grand wave of her arm. “It is nice to see you treated my girl right.” I blanched, choking on nothing at Reid’s pink cheeks and her blatant admission I’d told her we had sex. “You’re so adorable when you get uncomfortable,” she teased me. “Want to take your break? You guys can have coffee together since you’re grounded outside of school and work hours.”

  “Thanks.” I gave her a grateful smile, walking around the counter to follow Reid to one of the tables in the corner. “So, how are you, babe?”

  “I came to ask you that, Cali girl,” he stated with a cocked brow. I nibbled on my lip, saved for a little while by Lyla placing our two coffees on our table. “You’re not happy, and I can’t see that little light in your eyes anymore. Are you okay with us… me… I mean, after everything from break?” My heart cracked at his soft, unsure tone. “I didn’t fuck anything up, right?”

  “Babe, I swear I’m good with you and us and our group. It’s been a tough few days, and I’ve learned some stuff earlier this week, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing about what we did,” I reassured him, intertwining our fingers together. I took a deep breath, then everything tumbled out.

  “Holy shit,” he exclaimed. “Yeah, okay, I see why you’ve been so quiet lately. Is there anything we can do?” I smiled at his use of ‘we’ even though Kingston was at the law firm, and Jesse was tutoring one of his students at the library tonight.

  “Just be there like you guys have been. I’ll call and let them know when I get off tonight,” I told him. “I just need some more time, I think, before I bring it up to my mom. Going to try to get through the trial and this grounding, and hopefully, find out I passed my practice ACT and do well on the actual one. You know, normal teenager things,” I grinned, already feeling lighter than I had all week.

  It’s nice to be reminded I’m not alone.

  I had Lyla, Zo, Aubs, and my friends. I had my boys. Most importantly, though, I had co
nfidence we could totally make it through this.

  I think.

  16

  January 20th

  ‘There’s not a word yet for old friends who’ve just met’ -Jim Henson

  #BestOfFriends #GirlsNight #MotivationMonday

  We ate lunch quickly, having spent the first half of the period goofing off and telling terrible jokes to each other. While we stuffed our faces, I realized why I felt off. Everything was going smoothly, too smoothly. My grounding was officially over when school ended today, and I still hadn’t heard from the Warland’s lawyer about being questioned. I wasn’t going to hold my breath that it would keep going as well as it had, but I couldn’t stop the gratefulness that filled me, knowing I had about two weeks of a relatively normal life.

  Relative being the key word.

  “Emma!” Zoey hollered, nearly barreling into me as she and Aubrey ran up to the table.

  “Oh, jeez, hi,” I sputtered, trying to save the last bit of my pizza before it fell out of my hand.

  “What are you doing tonight? You’re off lockdown, right?” Aubrey asked, her eyes glowing with excitement. “Cause we’re having a girls’ night, and we want you to come. Figured we can do nails, face masks, and watch rom coms.”

  “I’d love to. I don’t work tonight, and my grounding is over when the bell rings at the end of school. I just need to tell her where I’m going and how long I’ll be there because, apparently, I need a babysitter,” I groaned, rolling my eyes.

  “We’re going to be at my house,” Zoey stated. “I’m good to have people over until nine and figured we can get two or three movies in before then. We’ll meet you out front, and we can drive over to my house after school.” After I got the okay from my mom, I texted Zoey since they’d run back to their table with Brandon, Jason, Carter, and Brayden after inviting me. Shaking my head when I heard Zoey’s and Aub’s whoops from nearly ten tables over, I put my phone away, turning back to my smiling guys.