His hand fell away from my shoulder. “Oh yeah. I keep forgetting you graduate this year.” He grunted again. “That’ll be weird.”
David cleared his throat as he continued to scan all three of us. “Well, okay. Let’s get going. I’ll give you all a ride to school today.”
“What about practice, Coach?”
“Your mother will pick you up. Quinn, you need a ride home after school?”
“Nah, Coach. I’m working at the club now.”
Surprise flared in my dad’s eyes. He nodded in approval. “Oh, yeah? What are you doing there?”
“Bartending.”
The approval vanished. “Oh.”
Adam grinned. “Don’t worry, Coach. I’m not a big drinker. It’s not going to be a problem for me.”
The approval came back. He nodded again. “That’s good to hear, Adam. I’m proud of you.”
Adam’s chest puffed up. He beamed how Mark had moments ago. “Thanks, Coach.”
Then David shifted to me. “Are you ready for school, Samantha?”
“Uh.” I looked down. I was still in sweats and a sweatshirt. I hadn’t taken them off since Mason left. “I guess.” Both guys snorted behind me. I twisted around. “What?”
They sobered up right away. “Nothing.”
Adam smiled. “You look fine.”
Mark chuckled. “Just don’t let the girls see you. They’re going to rip you apart.”
My back stiffened. “Since when have I cared before?”
“True. Very true.” Then Mark threw an arm around my shoulder. “We’re ready to go, Coach!”
The drive to school brought old memories. David had always driven me to school when he was married to Analise. I would take the car home and return when he was done with practices or meetings. Analise had never cared where we were. She was gone on a normal evening. I thought she was with friends at the time, but now I knew better. But the bond between David and me had strengthened because of her absence, and now, I swallowed back a painful knot.
I took a back seat on purpose. Adam took the front seat and Mark was beside me, but he leaned forward to join with their conversation. I slunk down in my seat and wrapped my arms over my chest. I hugged my school bag to me and tried to keep the tears from coming out. My lip was trembling, but I took a deep breath. It needed to stop. I needed to stop.
My old routine was gone. David didn’t take me to school anymore. I didn’t pick him up afterwards. There was no Analise at home either.
I needed to let it go. I needed to run. It’d been too long.
I reached for my phone and checked again. There was no message, but I needed one from Mason. Then I took another breath. I was being selfish. I should’ve been there with them, not going to school.
“We’re here, Sam!” Mark shouted in my ear. Then he drew back and gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry. I got excited. I get hyper when I don’t sleep.”
Oh great. “Now you tell me.”
He tipped his head back and cackled with laughter. Then he bounded from the car and hurried inside. Adam shook his head as he got out beside me. The air was crisp and he shivered when he threw his bag over his shoulder. “He gets like this after we’d been drinking all night too. I always thought it was the booze before.”
“Yeah.” I watched when my father nodded farewell to us. He turned and was swallowed by the crowd of students within moments.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“Look.” Adam stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
I couldn’t look away from where David had gone.
He placed both hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “Everything will be fine. I’m sure Mason will be okay. They got their asses beat. I mean, how could it come out that they’re at fault? They aren’t, right? I mean, they didn’t start anything?”
I shook my head. My throat still couldn’t work.
“You okay?” he asked again.
I nodded and looked away. There was a buzzing and whispering sound around us, and I knew without looking that we were gathering a crowd. My stomach dropped further. This was all I needed, more rumors to start flying.
“We should go inside.” I cringed at my voice. It came out as a raw whisper.
“Yeah.” His hands dropped and he moved back a step. “We should. You’re right.”
Becky bounced to us then. She was red in the face and her hair had unraveled from her ponytail. The ends flew around her in a frizzy fray and she bent over, panting. “Hey, guys. I heard you were out here.” Gasp. “I’m—” Another gasp, followed with a knee slap. “You okay, Sam? How’s Mason? The clip went viral. My cousin in Fort Mayville saw it. Can you believe that?”
I stepped back. A wall came over me.
“Uh.” Adam watched me and pulled his sweatshirt away from his neck. He moved forward and blocked me from her. Then he took her elbow. “Let’s get to class, huh? You can tell me all about your cousin in class.”