That was insane. Coop’s third period was in the complete opposite direction, but I didn’t argue. Mathieu pulled me aside in French to ask me if I was all right.
That was a little mortifying. Apparently, my bad fortune had definitely been making the rounds. Madame also wanted to talk to me, quietly, and in the hall. She offered me a card for a psychologist—not the one at the school. It took me a minute to realize she was worried about the bullying on other levels. Like my work slipping a little over the last week.
I’d gotten a B on an assignment.
I never got Bs.
Stomach churning, I promised her I’d get my focus back and I would be fine. The last thing I wanted to talk about was anything more to do with the car vandalizing or Instagram, or anything else.
As embarrassing as that encounter was, it was a little more when Coop waited for me outside the bathroom. Even after all these years, there were some things I could definitely live without them being intimately aware of—maybe even especially now.
The fact my stomach was in knots didn’t help my focus in Lit. Coop’s stare drilled into me all through class, but I waited until the bell rang before I headed up to talk to Ms. Fajardo with Coop hot on my heels. Getting the words out was a challenge, but I managed to keep my voice calm. When I explained it to her, she pulled out the file of ungraded essays and flipped through it to the sheet in question.
“Why didn’t you say something yesterday?” Ms. Fajardo asked as Coop twisted to look at the sheet, and I barely caught the movement of his hand as he snapped a picture with his phone.
Forcing my gaze to stay on our teacher’s, I shrugged a little. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. But with everything else that’s happened, I’ve been advised that might not be the best course.”
“I agree with whomever gave you the advice.” She flicked a look to Coop. “I’ll take care of this one.”
She knew who’d done it.
Coop got that, too. “You don’t have a TA for our period.”
“No, but I will handle it. I’m sorry you had to deal with this, Frankie. In the future, alert me immediately, please. Though I am hoping there is no future event to worry about.”
Her and me both.
“I will,” I said. “I’d really like to just focus on getting the work done.”
“I know you would, but we have a zero tolerance policy for a reason. Now, you two go to lunch, all right?”
There was a reason I really liked her. She was no nonsense, but also fun. As teachers went, she listened and she could tease even as she taught. We headed out to meet the guys, and they were waiting—patiently—in Jake’s SUV. Archie and Ian had the backseat and Ian slid out to let me climb in the middle while Coop got shotgun.
“It’s not the same writing,” he said rather abruptly as we left the lot.
“What—the thing on the essay?” That was why he took a photo?
“Yeah,” he said, holding his phone toward us while Archie unfolded the paper. “It doesn’t match the note.”
They didn’t match. I hadn’t really thought to compare them, but the person who wrote the note used loopy cursive, and the person who left the nasty-gram on the test printed it neatly, if a little slanted.
“Well, I don’t recognize it,” Archie complained as he handed both over to Ian. “You?”
“No,” he said. “But I’ll be honest, I don’t really pay attention to how people write. I’d know Frankie’s handwriting, but I’ve been reading her class notes for years.”
“Ditto,” Coop said as Archie chuckled.
“I’ll look at it when we get to the fish place.”
Leaning my head back against the seat, I sighed. Archie caught my left hand and Ian my right. I glanced from one to the other and dredged up a smile. As much as I wanted to enjoy lunch, I kept turning the two different notes over in my mind. To be honest, I hadn’t really focused on whether they’d been written by the same person or not—now though? Now, I wondered just how many people I’d managed to piss off.
Coop seemed convinced it was because of them, and maybe it was, but I was part of this, too. We were all friends, and if someone was coming after them the way they were me, I’d probably be a hell of a lot angrier.
So, why wasn’t I angry for me?
That particular question buzzed around in my head all the way through lunch, even when I tried to laugh and smile at the conversation. It all felt forced, and I don’t think I was the only one distracted. The guys kept sharing these looks, like they were having an entirely separate conversation.
“Before we go back…” I said after a while. “Is there something I should ask about with regard to the summer?”
Silence blanketed the table. They glanced at each other, then me.
“Pretty sure I told you about mine,” Archie stated.
“Yours didn’t include the Instagram pictures.” Even if I tried to keep the accusation out of my voice, I couldn’t quite mask the fact those pictures had bugged me, no matter how hard I tried to not let them.
“Fair enough,” Archie said. “But I don’t know what the note is talking about specifically.”
“We were…a little wild,” Coop admitted. “I may or may not have gotten drunk more than once.”
Ian grimaced. “Definitely more than once. We were all there for that particular pool party.” The pictures. He winced a little as he met my gaze. “Sorry.”
“I’m not mad,” I told him. “I’d have to be a hypocrite to be angry about it.” Jake hadn’t said a word, and after last night, I wasn’t going to press him. “You guys seem to think this is because of you.”
“The Instagram thing was,” Ian said quietly. “The note more or less says it is, since they want to make you think we did something objectionable.”
“Or maybe whoever it is has no idea that we have tried to be honest,” Coop said. “Even when it hurts.”
“The car thing,” Jake said finally, “crossed a major line. The rest of this is shit, but the car thing. They’re taking their anger out on you. They want to make you hurt, and that’s not okay.”
“No,” Archie agreed. “It’s not.”
“That said, we’ll put our heads together,” Ian said. “We’ll figure this out.”
Propping my chin on my hand, I chewed on my bottom lip. “I’m really wishing I’d sucked it up and gotten in your faces last spring at the moment.”
“Me too,” came from four different mouths at once with such vehemence, I had to laugh.
One by one, they cracked up along with me. The levity lasted until we got to the car and my phone buzzed. A photo popped up on the screen, and I nearly groaned because I did not want to deal with another slam from someone anonymous.
Only it wasn’t from someone anonymous.
I stopped walking abruptly, and Ian gripped my hips when he nearly plowed into me. “Hey…”
The image on the screen was a woman’s hand with an engagement ring on, and it was from my mom.
The message said, Be home tomorrow. Be free, you’re having dinner with Eddie and me.
Oh, I was going to be sick.
Chapter Nineteen
Vicious Little Voices
The silence in the car back to school weighed on me. It had to weigh on Archie, too. His only reaction to the picture and the message was a snort. “Since it’s my date night, I’m going with you.”
Honestly? I wasn’t going to say no. I didn’t want to face our parents on this subject.
“Keep us in the loop,” Coop said, the sympathy tangling with worry in his eyes adding to the cramps in my gut. Jake and I walked to Study Hall together, signed in, then diverted to the library. My desire to study was almost nil.
But if I didn’t, I would fall even further behind. The card Madame had given me burned in my back pocket. Jake didn’t try to give me comforting words, instead, he hooked an ankle around mine or pressed his thigh against me. When he claimed one of my hands to hold, I gripped so tight, I worried
I would leave nail indentions.
He didn’t complain once.
After study hall, he walked me to sixth and promised to pick me up before we had to go to Mr. G’s. I barely noticed anything in my TA period, I was too busy turning the last few days over in my mind. Every thought churned like a sour pill dissolving in my brain.
Bad meatloaf.
Archie.
Jake.
Instagram.
Archie’s mom.
Ian.
The note on my essay.
The letters from Mr. Thorns.
Coop.
The note in my locker.
My car.
It was like being stuck on the equivalent of a mental mix master at rush hour. I couldn’t get past the good or the bad. When the cramps got worse, I asked the teacher to get out early and I diverted to the nearest bathroom.
The last thing I needed was… yep.
Dammit.
I checked my backpack, at least I always kept emergency supplies in a zipped inner pocket. I was early, then again, I hadn’t really been paying attention to the calendar. But I shouldn’t be starting until Sunday.
Hurrying, I wanted to deal with this and get back out of here before Jake realized I slipped out of class without an escort. A, I appreciated what they were doing, it was sweet and B, the last time I talked about my period with any of them was right around the time it started.
That had gone epically not well.
Just never having that conversation again.
Period.
I almost snorted at the bad mental pun, when the door to the hall opened and I winced. I didn’t want to be discovered, it was bad enough the damn thing started at school. At least I was inside the stall at the end, harder to notice.
“I can’t believe they suspended her. Just like that.”
Internally, I slammed my head against a wall.
Sharon.
“She’s the nicest person ever, but no, hurt the pampered princess’ feelings, and boom, you’re yesterday’s news.”
“Well, to be fair,” Maria sighed. “Laura kind of admitted she did it in a fit of pique. After the car thing…”
Car thing.
Wait.
Laura?
“She left her a candygram on her stupid essay prompt. As far as I’m concerned, she wasn’t wrong. Coop and Laura were back together, and boom, he dumps her for the four-way slut princess.”
“Sharon,” Maria chastised her.
“What? You don’t like the word, doesn’t mean I can’t use it. Besides, I didn’t think you liked her anymore either.”
Even understanding where the vitriol came from didn’t make it any less painful.
“I don’t hate her,” Maria said, and I had to blink back tears at the weariness in her voice. “She’s not the one who screwed up.”
“So what, you’re saying I did?” Sharon demanded.
“No,” the other girl sighed. “I mean—the Instagram thing was cruel.”
“Fuck her,” Sharon said. “They are. If she thought she could just walk off with Bubba…”
“Sharon, damn girl, listen to yourself. Bubba went after her, not the other way around.”
“Not the way I see it.” There was a slam of a door, then flush of a toilet. Great, I was listening to this argument while they were peeing. I didn’t move though, staying still and silent was my best defense at the moment.
“First,” Maria said, another stall slamming. “She’s not new. She’s always been there.”
“Yes, I know, and they’ve all had a crush on her, but the princess was too deaf, dumb, and stupid to notice.” Hate flooded every word, and yeah, they stung. “I don’t care, Maria. I don’t care what she knew or didn’t know. I care that she finally went away, and then came back.”
The sink turned on.
“I finally got him. I spent all year on getting him, just like you wanted Jake. She was gone, and they were right there.”
“Jake and I didn’t break up because she came back.”
Tipping my head back, I blinked away tears.
“You’re not together because she’s in the way—if you told him…”
“I’m not,” Maria said. “So don’t say another word, or I’ll pop you in that mean mouth.”
Silence ripped through the room.
“You need to let it go,” she continued after a minute, the sound of paper towels tearing out of the dispenser. “I mean it. Don’t bring it up and leave Frankie alone. At this point, you think any of them would touch you with a ten foot pole?”
“Then I have nothing to lose,” Sharon stated. “But her highness does, and maybe it’s time someone knocked her down a peg.”
“Yeah well, leave me out of it,” Maria said. “I mean it. You want to get arrested for vandalizing her car, be my guest. My beef isn’t with her—I feel kind of sorry for her. Cause they’re going to tear her apart like dogs with a bone.”
Sharon had…? Anger flared through me, burning through some of the hurt. Sharon had done that to my car?
“And for the record,” Sharon announced. “I wish I’d thought to do that to her car. The look on her face was awesome.”
Bitch.
The door closed behind them, cutting off whatever Maria’s response was.
I finished cleaning up and then slipped out of the stall to wash my hands. The bell rang as I stood there. Sharon definitely did the Instagram thing. Confirmed. She didn’t do it to my car, though. As much hate was in her voice, she would definitely have taken credit for it.
Her anger wasn’t because Bubba asked me to Homecoming. That could have been the trigger. But it wasn’t about that, it was because I’d come back.
Pushing away from the counter, I left the bathroom. Arms folded, I made my way toward Jake, who was looking in the classroom with a frown. The scowl only deepened when he caught sight of me coming from the other direction.
“You were supposed to wait…”
“I had to go to the bathroom,” I said, keeping my voice low. But I didn’t unfold my arms. I was cold all over, the cramps were damn uncomfortable, and I had questions.
Again.
What was it Maria was supposed to tell Jake that would change his mind? I couldn’t see it. Not really.
“Okay,” he said, but when he went to hook an arm around me I shook my head. “What’s wrong?”
Fastest way to make them take a step back. “Shark week.”
“Damn,” he whispered with a wince. But instead of leaving it alone, he said, “Can I do anything?”
Oh. “No, I’ll be fine. Just want to get to Mr. G and get this over with.”
“Need to hit your locker?”
Actually, I did, and Jake had already veered us in that direction. I swapped out my books. Half of them I didn’t need to take home, so I didn’t have to carry them. There was an envelope inside of my locker though, and Jake scowled at it.
The lettering on the front was familiar. Thorns.
Guess he discovered my car wasn’t there. I tucked it into the backpack without opening it.
“Later?” I asked when Jake looked like he might object. Relieved when he relented easily enough, I shut my backpack up and went to sling it back on, but he caught it.
“I’ll carry for you. Might be easier on… you know.”
The corner of my mouth ticked up. “Thank you.”
“Hey, whatever I can do to help.”
So much for making them stop asking. My nerves were taut by the time we reached G’s room.
“Hey,” he said as we came in. “You guys can work on your reading, but, Frankie—I know there’s a lot that’s been going on, but I think you should go back and review those last two chapters.”
Jake set my bag down next to my desk as I slid onto the seat. “Did I mess up something on the test?”
“The tests are a barometer to see where you are, if you were to take the exam today, that section wouldn’t quite get to a 2 for your overall score.”
My gut sank. If the cramps had been bad before, they were worse now.
“It’s not a big deal,” G continued. “Still early in the year. So go back through those last couple of chapters, and we’ll do another test on Monday. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Not even a 2.
Harvard required a 5 on AP tests. A 4 would get advanced standing, but not the credits I’d need to cut back the number of paid classes I’d have to take.
“I’ve got a meeting, so you two get to work and I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Then he was out of the room and it was just me and Jake.
G hadn’t said Jake needed to go back over the last two chapters. I really should have just not come to school today. Maybe I’d skip tomorrow.
Between my grades and now that test score, what was I going to lose?
“Want me to quiz you after you read?” Jake offered. “It’s been a crazy week.”
“It’s fine,” I said. I wasn’t going to cry. “I just need to focus, and I haven’t been doing that.”
My focus had been in shreds for days. I was barely getting to my homework in and around everything else. I could have done more last night after work, but I’d been with Jake, and that seemed way more important at the time.
It was still important.
“Hey,” Jake’s soft voice pulled my attention. He crouched next to my desk one hand on my leg. “Talk to me. That’s one test, and sure, it sucks, but he’s right, you’re brilliant. You just need more time to read and maybe not me keeping you up all night.”
I laughed a little. “Maybe…” I dug my book out of the backpack and then looked at the envelope.
“Jake, can I ask you a question?”
“Always.” He hadn’t moved away, so I shifted a little to face him.
“Would you have dated Maria if I’d not flaked last spring?”
Surprise flickered across his face. “We’d already kind of gone out a couple of times back then—usually in the group. Not really dates.”
Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two Page 26
