by S. Massery
“What?”
One thing about being a foster amidst ‘normal’ kids—they take for granted having parents. Maybe that isn’t quite true—Eli’s parents are absentees, and Caleb’s family is insane. But a mom who rejects you outright? Goes so far as to give up parental rights?
It leaves a scar.
“She hates me,” I tell her. “So… she’s here for some other reason. But Caleb told me last night.”
“Wow.” Riley wisely doesn’t say anything else about it until we’re in her car, armed with buttered toast from Robert. “I just can’t imagine.”
“Your parents are cool.” I take a bite of toast. “It’s easy for the alternative to be hard to swallow.”
“Okay, so let’s just make sure I have this right. Savannah double-crossed us. Your mom’s back in town. We need to find your dad’s lawyer. Caleb and you are back together—”
“Ish,” I cut in.
“Back together-ish,” Riley amends. “Whatever that means. You forgave him.”
“Yeah.”
“And what about your dad? Are you going to visit him…?”
I flinch. “I don’t know. Why would I?”
“Because from how your face gets weird when you talk about him—and I can count on one hand the number of times you’ve actually mentioned him—it sounds like you still…” She shrugs, pulling into the school’s parking lot. “Like, I don’t know. He was the good parent, wasn’t he?”
“Forcibly taken away instead of choosing to leave me?” I laugh. “I guess. Except he chose to deal drugs. Or take drugs and get caught. However it happened. So, yeah. Even if it doesn’t appear like he decided to leave, he did.”
I can’t think about this now.
“I’m going to the computer lab at lunch.”
“What are we going to do about Savannah?” she asks. We get out and head toward school. “I mean, she totally thought that if you got on Caleb’s bad side and Amelie was taken out, she could just swoop in and steal Caleb.”
I whirl toward her. “What?”
Riley snorts. “You didn’t see that coming? I’ll admit that I didn’t either—until she took credit for Amelie running away…”
“Ah, fuck.”
She elbows me. “But you and Caleb are back together-ish.”
We walk into the cafeteria and stop dead. Savannah is sitting as close as humanly possible next to Caleb. To his credit, he looks unamused. His attention lands on me.
“Why isn’t he moving away?”
“Maybe he’s waiting for her to make a fool of herself.”
I glance at Riley. “Unknown finally made a reappearance. Seemed under the impression that Caleb and I were done for.”
“And last Savannah knew, you and Caleb were on the outs…”
“Last anyone at school knew,” I admit. “Seeing as how I don’t think anyone knew we borrowed Eli’s truck so I could see him.”
Savannah stands, raising her arms above her head. Her cheerleading uniform stretches across her breasts, her stomach bare. Some schools require the cheer team to be covered from shoulders to mid-thigh, but apparently Emery-Rose’s dress code is slacking.
One of her manicured hands reaches out, grazing Caleb’s face. He shakes his head and leans away from her, but it’s too late.
I see red.
“I’m going to do something stupid,” I warn Riley.
She only has time to raise her eyebrow, and then I’m off. I weave through the tables, stomping right up to Caleb. I’ll have none of that bullshit with Savannah, Amelie, anyone.
“Hey,” I say, catching Savannah’s attention. Caleb’s gaze hasn’t left me, but I surprise her.
“Margo!” She puts her hand on Caleb’s arm. “We were just—”
“Back off.” I grab her by her wrist and fling it away.
“Excuse—”
“Yeah, excuse you,” I snap. I’m boiling over. She touched him like—like—
“Easy, little wolf.” Caleb snags me around my waist and pulling me between his legs.
Savannah stares at us like we’ve grown three heads. “But, you were ready to kill him…”
“A lot has changed.” I look her up and down slowly. All she did was want to replace Amelie. It shouldn’t have surprised me that she took over Amelie’s underhanded bitchiness, too.
Once a mean girl, always a mean girl.
Caleb leans forward and presses a kiss to my temple. He’s enjoying this, the bastard. Probably let Sav stay just close enough to get a rise out of me.
My ex-friend lifts her chin, glaring daggers through me. She slowly backs away, into her group of cheer friends. They’re all staring at Caleb and me, but I don’t give a fuck.
I turn and smack his chest lightly, frowning. “What was that?”
He grins. “I like seeing your possessive side.”
“If she so much as touches you—”
“No one will.” He grips my chin when I try to look away. “Hear this, Margo. I don’t take your promise lightly. Our game is between you and me.”
“That didn’t stop you before,” I whisper.
Something flashes across his face, but I don’t recognize the emotion. “That was then. And while you were always mine…”
Yeah, I didn’t want anything to do with his crazy ass. But now I do.
God help us.
He kisses my lips, then releases me. “Tell whoever your ride home is that I’m stealing you away after school.”
I nod, unable to speak. Part of me still hates him, and I don’t know how to grapple with the loathing that rises like bile in my throat. It comes out of nowhere.
I step away from him and clear my throat. “I’ll see you later.”
The rest of the day, I have the inexplicable urge to avoid him. He’s everywhere. Leaning over my chair in first period, his lips on my shoulder. Watching me move down the hall with Riley after second period, then third. Haunting my locker before fourth.
And I know, I just know, he’ll be waiting for me before lunch. I duck out of the class five minutes early, claiming to have cramps—it shuts up the teacher nicely—and hide in the bathroom outside the computer lab until the bell rings.
I wait until it’s silent, then tiptoe out. For a split second, I’m shocked that Caleb isn’t leaning against the door, my plan foiled.
Nope. Empty hallway.
I open the door and slip inside, scurrying to the back row of computers. Time flies by as I turn on a computer and begin my search. I pull out my lunch, giving it a fraction of my attention.
I’m lost in the interwebs when the computer lab door opens, and I instinctively duck down.
“It’s just me,” Riley says, laughing. She closes the door behind her and drops into the chair next to me. “Why are you in here with the lights off?”
“I figured Caleb would come searching for me,” I murmur. “And keep your voice down.”
I picked the last row strategically. Even if Caleb were to pop in here—which he wouldn’t—we’re out of sight of the window. I’m not taking any chances.
“Did you find anything?”
I shake my head. “There are fourteen attorneys named Tobias who practice in New York City. I’m going through the law firm websites right now, trying to find their pictures.”
Riley turns to the computer next to me. “Give me half, we can work through it until we have to go to class.”
I grin, pushing the paper between us. “You start at the bottom?”
“Deal.”
We work in silence. She has me glance at pictures when she finds them. By the time we get through the list, there are two who don’t have headshots online.
I stare at the two highlighted names. Tobias Hutchins and Tobias E. Rodrigues.
“What now?” Riley whispers.
A shadow falls across the narrow vertical window on the door, and we both duck behind our screens. It disappears after a second, and we both sigh.
“He’s kind of a stalker.”
&
nbsp; “If that was even him,” I answer. I know it was, though. After this morning, he probably assumed I would hide. Luckily for me, I still have tricks up my sleeve. Including hiding in places he’d never think to check.
Riley groans. “Did you eat?”
“Yeah, I ate with one hand and Googled with the other.”
We gather our things slowly. The bell is going to ring any moment.
I grab Riley’s arm. “I need to get to New York City.”
She swallows. “And I’m guessing you don’t want Caleb to find out?”
“Something like that.”
She sighs. “Okay. Great. Let’s do this.”
19
Margo
Past
I tapped on Caleb’s door. It swung open without resistance, revealing an empty room. His bed was made, the pillows smoothed. And no sign of the boy I was searching for.
Instead of calling out for him, I left the doorway and crept down the hall. Voices were coming from his parents’ room. I paused, unsure for a split second, then continued on.
“You’re being unreasonable,” Mrs. Asher hissed.
I froze again.
“Me? I’m the unreasonable one?” A male voice… but not Caleb’s dad. “This is insane, Lydia. You can’t expect me to go along with this.”
“I can, and I will,” she snapped. “Lord knows we pay you enough.”
“There isn’t enough money in the world to help us if we get caught,” he answered. “Something I’m sure you’re well aware of.”
She sighed. She often sighed at Caleb and me. We did ridiculous things just to get a sigh out of her—her whole body moved with it, an exaggerated slump. She was an actress in a former life, she often told us.
“We’ve come too far to turn back.” Her voice got louder. The door pulled open.
With a start, I realized I was in the middle of the hall, about to be caught eavesdropping. I ran back to Caleb’s room, pressing myself against the wall behind his door.
“Lydia, I don’t think—”
“Quiet.”.
I held my breath.
Her footsteps came closer and closer to Caleb’s room, slowing down. She was visible through the crack between the door and the wall. She paused, taking a step into the room and vanishing from my sight. Any second, the door would fly closed and my hiding spot would be revealed.
“Mom?” Caleb called.
Mrs. Asher retreated into the hallway. “Ah, there you are. Where have you been lurking?”
“I was getting a snack. Amberly said it was okay.”
Lydia hummed at the mention of my mom. “Fine.”
“Nice to see you, kid,” the man said.
He flashed by the crack in the door as he walked past Lydia. His footsteps hammered down the stairs. And then he was gone, and Lydia was retreating, too.
Caleb walked into the room and swung his door shut. He stared at me, frowning. “What are you doing?”
Fear wrapped around my throat. “Shh!”
“Were you hiding from Mom?”
“No!” My first lie.
Present
“Parker, Wheeler, and Smith. How can I help you?”
“Can I speak with Mr. Rodrigues?” I twirl a piece of my hair in an effort to keep calm.
“Are you a client?”
“It’s regarding an old case,” I say.
Riley sits across from me, her eyes wide.
“Name?”
“Margo—er, Appleton.”
Riley hits me with the back of her hand. “Hey!”
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“Hold, please,” the receptionist says. There’s a click, then classical music fills my ears.
“She put me on hold,” I relay.
“Naturally.”
The music cuts out, and the receptionist says, “I’m transferring you over to Mr. Rodrigues’s line now.”
“Thanks—”
A click, and then more ringing.
“Tobias Rodrigues. How can I help you, Ms. Appleton?” He sounds old, snappy. He probably doesn’t have too many years before retirement, and he’s ready to make the most out of every minute.
That, and this phone call isn’t billable.
I grab the notebook Riley has on her lap and clear my throat. “I was wondering if you could help me. My friend’s dad had a public defender about eight years ago, and all she can remember is the name Tobias—”
“I’m sorry, young lady. I worked for a prosecutor in Oregon before I transitioned to defense, and I’ve been at this office for fifteen years.”
Not a public defender, then. I close my eyes. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time. Thank you.” I hang up and drop the phone, falling back on the bed. “Well, that leaves… one. Not very good odds.”
She shrugs. “One is all we need. You’ll recognize him?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s go to New York City then.” She stands, pulling me up with her.
“Wait, now?”
Riley snorts. “No. I’m sure we’ll figure out a time to sneak away.”
My phone rings. Caleb’s name flashes across my screen, and I promptly turn it facedown. I’m not avoiding him, per se… but we’re investigating why he knows my dad’s lawyer.
I don’t want to lie to him, and I can’t exactly tell the truth. What if he tries to stop me?
He could. He has the power to stop me in my tracks, at least temporarily. Nothing could stop me for good. And so, we’re avoiding. Big time.
“He’s going to get suspicious,” Riley says.
“I’ll deal with it later.”
Her eyebrow lifts. Almost as soon as my phone goes quiet, Riley’s starts up.
“Hey, babe,” she says.
I stare at her. Babe? When did that happen?
“Um, yeah, she’s with me—”
“No, Riley—”
She hands me the phone, looking apologetic. “Caleb.”
“Obviously,” I mutter. I take the phone and put it to my ear, announcing, “You’re interrupting girl time.”
“Girl time.”
My breath hitches. I haven’t heard that dangerous edge to Caleb’s voice in a while.
And yet, I continue on. “Yep. Riley and I were enjoying the peace and quiet. Catching up after a long day at school—”
“Where were you at lunch?”
I flashback to the first time he asked me. Then, it was to embarrass me.
Let’s play a game.
“Busy.” I grind my teeth together. “Why?”
I can practically hear his shrug. “Let’s say I care.”
“That’d be a new one.”
“You’re on dangerous ground here, Margo.”
I roll my eyes, turning away from Riley. If I push Caleb to his breaking point, I’ll know where we stand. “Maybe I like dangerous ground.”
It strikes me that I did something similar when we were kids. Showing up at his house in a white dress, asking him to marry me… The motive was the same. I push until he gives me a definite answer.
He’s silent. Thinking, perhaps.
“Enjoy your girl time.”
The line goes dead, and I blink down at it. He just hung up on me without an argument.
My pushing didn’t work.
“Did that backfire?” Riley laughs at my expression. “You shove him away and he’ll just hold you tighter.”
“He said to enjoy girl time.” I hand her phone back, shaking my head. “I never know what to do with him.”
“Enjoy the ride,” she says, nudging me. “Oh! Margo! This is actually perfect. I have an idea.”
“What?”
She grabs my hand and tows me downstairs, into Robert’s study.
He looks up at us and smiles. “You seem a bit on the mischievous side, Riley. What’s up?”
“My parents are taking me to the open house for NYU next weekend,” she says.
My heart seems to drop into my feet.
“So I was
thinking that Margo should come with us. You know, get to tour a college.” She glances back at me, ignoring the panic I’m sure is on my face. “She hasn’t really spoken much about it, and deadlines are coming up.”
“Riley.” I slip my hand from hers. “I’m not going to college.”
Robert and Riley both pause.
This has been a reality since I was ten years old. Before then? I had a plan. A loose one, of course, but a plan nonetheless. Kid-Margo was a planner, but that side of me got destroyed by the foster system. Now, the best plan is no plan.
“What are you going to do after you graduate?” Robert leans forward on his desk and watches me closely.
I shrug, shifting. “Well, you’re only obligated to keep me until I’m eighteen. And then I’ll apply for community housing closer to the city and find a job. Maybe I’ll be a waitress. They make good tips.”
“No.”
I blink at my foster dad. “Huh?”
“No, I’m sorry.” He stands and brushes past me. In the hallway, he yells, “Len! Come here, please.” And then he’s back, and he glances at Riley.
“Right, er, okay. I’ll see you later, Margo.” She pats my shoulder and scurries out.
Robert and I stare at each other. I made him mad. I’m not quite sure how—maybe insinuating that I’d last a whole year here?
More like nine months.
“What’s wrong?” Lenora asks me. She reaches out and touches my cheek. “You’re flushed. Are you okay?”
“She doesn’t want to go to college,” Robert bites out.
This is the first time I’ve seen him upset like this.
It scares me.
I shrink away from both of them, rubbing my arms. “So? It won’t be your problem.”
Lenora clucks her tongue and goes to one of the plush chairs in front of Robert’s desk. “Let’s start at the beginning. Sit down, honey. Both of you.”
We do. Robert perches on the edge of his chair, and I sink into the one next to Lenora. I guess it’s about time we discuss my plans for the future.
“All I said was, once I’m out of the system, I’ll apply for community housing and get a job.” I pull my leg up to my chest, wrapping my arms around it. It’s safer that way. “I don’t have the money to put myself through college. They require the tax forms filled out ahead of time, so I guess I could take a few classes the following year…”
