“Wow,” I breathed, and then looked up. “Mine really sucks.”
I glanced at the clock. I sent back Ian’s with the notes and told him how beautiful it was. I read it again because I could almost hear the music in the words, and that—that was impressive. He really did need to let himself invest in his music. He was so good at it. Opening up a fresh document, I turned the prompts over in my head. The random one had seemed like a good place to start, but Ian found magic in his music.
He finds magic in me!
That feeling ballooned in my chest, but I shook my head and focused. I needed to figure this out. Staring at the blank screen where the cursor blinked away like a countdown to doom, I asked myself the same question over and over again.
What was magical in my life?
Chapter Thirteen
I wonder…
Tuesday dawned almost normal. I fed the cats, showered, got dressed, found the requisite texts from the guys on my phone, and savored it all while I ate cereal over the sink. I’d just rinsed out my dish when Coop showed up and let himself in. The smirk on his face made me laugh.
“Sorry, I’m early,” he murmured before he pinned me to the fridge. We had five minutes of solid making out that left my body humming and my heart racing. Lifting his head, he traced his thumb against my lower lip and I sighed.
“You know, I’ve never endorsed skipping school.”
“I know,” he said, the wistful note not lost on me.
“You’re making it damn tempting though.”
Then his grin spread. “Glad to hear it. But we missed yesterday afternoon, and you’re going to have an anxiety attack before third period if you miss any more classes.”
“I’m not that bad,” I countered.
“No,” he agreed with a crooked grin. “You’re much worse.”
Mouth agape, I gave him a little shove. “You suck.”
He laughed. “But I’m not wrong.” I pushed him again, easing out from between him and the fridge. “Aww…” He followed behind and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad, dork,” I told him as I peeled his hands off. “We have to get to school.”
“Blegh, and here I thought I almost had you talked in to calling out today.”
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “We can’t—well, I can’t.”
“Yeah,” he said with a deep sigh, barely hiding his grin. “I know.”
“Ass,” I muttered as I pulled on my backpack and grabbed my keys.
“So you have said,” he teased before opening the door for me. “But I think the lady likes my ass, or she wouldn’t put up with me.”
Canting my head to the side, I indulged myself with a good look at his butt. Admittedly, he looked good in those shorts. They seemed to emphasize a firm set of gluteal muscles. Considering I’d had my hands on his ass a few days ago, I could attest to the tone. “I’d give it a seven,” I told him before locking the door and heading for the stairs.
“A seven?” Coop almost squawked, and I was grinning as he dogged my steps. “On what scale? Cause if it’s seven out of seven, then I’m awesome, but if it’s out of ten, that’s closer to average. But if it’s out of five, then I’m golden.”
Rolling my eyes, I tossed the backpack in the car.
“What about the guys?” Coop persisted as we climbed in. “Give me some basis for comparison.”
As tempted as I might be, I kept my own counsel. Still, Coop remained undeterred.
“Fine, let’s talk actors on a scale of Robert Downey Jr. to America’s Ass, where do I rate?”
“What’s wrong with RDJ’s ass?” I had to know.
“I haven’t really looked at it, but it’s not America’s ass, you know?”
With a snort, I countered, “And why are they the scale? Have you seen Thor? Or The Winter Soldier?” I made a little swooning sound, and that got me such an outraged glare, I giggled all the way to school.
Coop didn’t let it go, even when we reached the table in the cafeteria. “Seriously, you’re just going to leave me dangling?”
We’d actually beat Archie, which was a bummer cause I was dying for coffee. Still, I dug into my backpack to pull out my notebook. “Just give me your lit notes,” I said. “Then you can resume debating with yourself what seven means.”
“I’m not debating it with myself,” Coop said with a glare that held absolutely no heat. “I’m trying to get a straight answer out of you.”
“I was pretty straight with my answer,” I deadpanned, and he groaned. “Notes?”
He pulled them out. “You didn’t miss much. You’re ahead on the reading, right? So she gave us another practice essay, no grade, so you won’t have to make it up, and then we discussed allusions for the rest of the class.”
“Thank you.” I was a little grumpy about missing the practice essay. The AP exams weren’t for the faint of heart. Still, it could be worse. I copied over Coop’s notes, and thankfully, he always took pretty concise ones and I could read his shorthand.
“Already have your head in a book,” Archie said by way of greeting, and I grinned as he passed me coffee. His gaze went to my wrist and the charm bracelet I’d worn today. He’d given it to me on Friday, and I’d put it on this morning as more of a whim, but the expression on his face was more than worth it. Smile nudging a little wider, he said, “Feel better?”
“Eh,” I admitted. “Just focused on getting through today.” Which was better. I hadn’t called my mom back, and maybe it made me a coward, but by the time I was done rewriting my practice essay for the third time, I’d been tired again, so I crashed after sending the last one to Ian.
He liked the first one and the second one. His comments had all been really kind, but it sort of felt like he was humoring me. Or maybe just too nice to tell me they sucked.
“Arch, ask Frankie about your butt.”
Archie and I both looked at Coop, but I was pretty sure I wore the more incredulous expression.
With a shrug, Archie slanted a sideways look at me. “What about my butt?”
“I hate you,” I told Coop, then took a sip of my coffee before focusing back on my notes. “Nothing. He has decided that I like his ass, or I wouldn’t put up with him. I’m beginning to question that judgment.”
Coop snorted. “She gave me a seven.”
“On a scale of?” Archie asked.
“She won’t tell me.”
Archie laughed, and I got to the end of the page then re-read the notes I’d copied over. “That’s because you’re obsessed… and annoying.”
“Wounded,” Coop gasped, clutching his chest. “You wound me.”
Snickering, Archie shook his head. “Do we all get ratings, or just Coop?”
And I knew this would happen. I closed Coop’s notebook and passed it to him. “See…”
“Hey, if you’d just given me a scale, I wouldn’t have brought it up,” Coop declared.
“Bullshit,” I told him cheerfully. “You’d have been bragging or complaining one way or the other.”
“That is also true.” At least he didn’t deny it. “So, going to tell Archie, or do I have to enlist Jake and Bubba to get it out of you?”
“No and no, the subject is closed.” I shut my own notebook and tucked it back into the backpack.
“I don’t know,” Archie said, giving me an amused look. “It could be fun.”
“Fun would be if she gave us a scale.” Coop pouted. “Please, Frankie?” The puppy dog eyes were adorable, but I was immune.
Mostly.
“Actually,” I admitted. “This is a lot of fun, too.”
He groaned. “My misery is fun.”
“He’s in a dramatic mood today,” Archie commented, propping his chin in his hand as he studied me then Coop.
“He was philosophical last night.”
Archie’s shudder echoed my thoughts from the night before, and Coop glared at us both.
“Philosophy is dangerous,” Archie advis
ed him.
“Nope,” Coop said. “Not going to get to me.”
“Well, that’s one way of looking at it,” I said with a grin. “But there’s always another point of view.”
Coop fixed me with a look. “Are you declaring war, Frankie?”
I laughed. “That’s an extreme view.”
“Depends on your point of view,” he countered. “You’re being mean to me today.”
Considering my lips still tingled from our rather enthusiastic make out session, I didn’t mind the accusation in the least. “I could be meaner.”
“She could,” Archie agreed. “Absolutely she could, and we agree with that so she doesn’t prove it.”
Laughter bubbled out of us as more kids streamed into the cafeteria. It was hard to miss the looks tossed my way, but I kept my chin up. The last thing I wanted was to be the center of attention or the source of gossip. If I could just ride it all out, it would go away. The guys were acting like the guys—well, two of the four so far—and they’d promised no more kissing at school.
Maybe if we could just downplay it all, then we could avoid issues. Of course, Patty making a beeline for our table suggested we may not be that lucky. The strawberry-blonde wore a determined expression. But it wasn’t Archie she was looking at.
It was me.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Archie muttered. Yep, he’d seen her too, and Coop twisted to track her progress.
Ignoring both of them, she circled the table until she stood near me. “Can I borrow you?”
I raised my brows but before I could say anything, Archie said, “What do you want, Patty?”
But she didn’t look at him, she kept her attention on me. “It’ll only take a few minutes.”
“Depends,” I said, holding up a hand when Archie opened his mouth. “Where is it you want to borrow me to?”
She regarded me with her pale brown eyes, and they were kind of creepy when she stared like that, wholly focused on me like she could mentally and physically block out that I was sitting with Coop and Archie.
“Just over there,” she said nodding toward the other side of the cafeteria, like the vague, general direction was enough of an answer. “Please?”
“You don’t have to,” Archie said, his tone clipped.
I gave him a quick grin and shifted my backpack to my chair and grabbed my coffee. “I’ll be right back.” Practice should have been over by now, so hopefully Jake and Ian would be there soon. For now, I followed Patty across the cafeteria.
Twice I heard my name mentioned in a whisper and laughter afterward. Whatever. Better to ignore it. If I told myself that enough, I might even start to believe it.
The table Patty led me to wasn’t empty. Maria sat there, and she blew out a long breath as we arrived. While we were far from alone, they’d taken a table on the near opposite side from where the guys and I usually sat, and there were still a couple of empty tables between us and the rest of those already in the cafeteria. But people were constantly streaming in, and we had maybe twenty minutes before the first bell.
“Thanks,” Patty said as she pulled out a chair and I debated sitting.
Maria leaned forward, folded arms on the table. “Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey,” I said. “What’s up?” I glanced from one to the other.
“Sit down?” At least Patty phrased it as a question.
Still debating it, I decided to go with at least some conciliation. If we could make peace, then maybe they would get off the guys’ backs.
“Please?” Patty added. “We probably have five minutes if we’re lucky before one of your watchdogs shows up.”
“Patty,” Maria said.
“Well it’s true.” Patty scowled then shook her head. “Sorry.”
I waved off the apology and pulled out a chair. “What’s up?”
“Thank you,” Maria said. “I feel like we should… talk after the thing this weekend.”
“We don’t have to,” I told her.
She grimaced. “Don’t be nice about it.”
“I’m not being nice about it.” I shrugged. “You didn’t do it.”
The look the pair exchanged, however, suggested otherwise. “Well…” Patty said slowly. “Maybe we didn’t post them but…”
“We shared our pictures,” Maria admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed at them—pissed at Jake. He’s a dick. The others aren’t much better, even Bubba, who I thought more of before he pulled that shit last week.” The heat in her voice spoke volumes, despite the fact she wasn’t shouting. “But I didn’t agree with what was posted about you.”
“To be honest,” Patty added. “I don’t really like you but I don’t hate you.”
“Glad we cleared that up,” I said. “Is there a point to this conversation? Because I didn’t need to come over here to listen to you talk about the guys.”
“Of course not,” Maria said. “You’ve always taken their side—in everything. Even when they weren’t taking yours.”
“Our history is our history.” I spread my hands. “Not much I can do to change that. I’m sorry you got hurt. Both of you.”
“You actually mean that,” Patty said, disbelief etched into every syllable.
“We used to be friends,” I reminded them. “That’s changed, I get it.”
Maria sighed. “Stop being so damn nice, just slap us and get it over with, then we can all go back to icy silences.”
I laughed.
Seriously, I laughed, and they both stared at me.
“Sorry, girls. Look—this issue you have, I can’t fix it.”
“You could if you told them no and walked away,” Patty muttered and folded her arms as she slumped back in the chair.
“You think if I wasn’t around they’d be back asking you out?” Did they genuinely believe that?
“Maybe,” Maria said. “Not that I want to really have him back, it would just be nice to be wanted.”
Patty scoffed. Yeah. I didn’t believe Maria either.
“Well I do want Archie back. I spent all of junior year trying to get his attention, and when I finally get it, he dumps me for you. I should have known, the other girls he dated all said the same thing,” Patty stated. “So could you just pick one of them and leave the rest for us?”
Wow.
“I’m pretty sure if Archie wanted to still be dating you, he would be. I don’t make decisions for them.” Even if they’d made them for me.
“You can’t say they don’t do that to you,” Maria echoed my own internal thoughts. “C’mon, Frankie. You’re not blind. Between the four of them, they’ve dated half the girls in our class.”
I was aware.
“And?”
“Do you seriously want to be that girl?” Maria stared at me. “You’ve never been that girl. Even if you were always in the way, you were… at least decent.”
“What do you want me to say, Maria?”
But instead of answering, she focused behind me, and that was my only warning.
“Yeah,” Jake said from behind me. “What do you want her to say, Maria?”
“You weren’t invited to this conversation,” Patty said, frowning.
“Good to know, not here for you,” Jake retorted, then glanced down at me. “Hey, Frankie…”
“Hey,” I said. “I’ll be back over at the table in a minute.”
“You can blow them off now, Bubba and I just got out of practice…”
“Wow, Jake,” Maria drawled. “Nice.”
“I can be,” he said with the fakest smile I’d ever seen him wear. “Want to see me when I’m not?”
“Pretty sure you’re going to get suspended if you get not nice again,” Patty said. “Be a damn shame if someone complained, wouldn’t it…”
Maria glared at her briefly, then looked at me. “Can you just think about it?”
“Nothing to think about,” I told her, and if we were done, I was heading back to our table. “I get where you’re coming from. But t
his isn’t something that you need me to do. It’s something you want me to make happen, and I can’t—no matter what the circumstances are.” I couldn’t push the guys to do something they didn’t want to do.
“Well…” Patty said, drawing a finger in a line against the table. “If you change your mind… might just make the year a little easier.”
“You—”
I slapped a hand against Jake’s chest and shook my head. “See you girls later.”
“Yeah, later,” Maria said as Jake transferred his glare to me.
I hoped my expression said don’t as much as my head screamed it. His jaw tightened, but he nodded and backed up a step so I could pass him. It took him a minute to follow me, and then he fell into step.
“You alright?” he asked as we circled the other tables. Sharon was just entering the room, and she glared at me.
Yeah, no pretense there.
Good to know.
“I’m fine,” I told him. See, I’d gotten that phrase down. “They wanted to talk. We talked. All good. How was practice?”
Cause that had to have sucked.
He made a face. “It was practice, boring as fuck sitting there watching everyone else. But Coach figures it will be good to teach me some patience.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Eh,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll live. I might even nap if he stops checking on me.” The last he added with a wink.
At our table, the others all gave me a quick look. “All good?” Ian asked. “Since Mr. Impatience there couldn’t wait for you to finish your conversation.”
“Eat me, you weren’t thrilled about her being over there either,” Jake retaliated as he pulled out my chair and moved my backpack so I could sit.
“But I, at least, was able to control myself and wait,” Ian retorted with a smirk.
“Frankie thinks my ass is a seven, but won’t give me a scale. Discuss.”
Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two Page 18
