“It’s all down to lunch.”
Lovely. She could have warned me before we glided into the cafeteria. Why oh why couldn’t Glinda the Good Witch wave her magic wand and make the people of munchkinland love me?
Reminiscent of the first day of junior year, people stared and whispered as I walked past. At least they weren’t staring at my arms this time, but between me, Luke and Noah’s empty lunch table.
“Grab a tray, we’re getting food,” Lila mumbled as we breezed past our table. Natalie sent me a weak smile, while Grace busied herself with a container of yogurt.
My heart sank. The opinions of the rest of the school honestly didn’t matter to me. Their laughter and whispered comments stunk, but in the end, didn’t matter. But Grace’s rejection broke my heart. I slid my tray behind Lila’s, not touching a single item of food.
Uncharacteristically, Lila grabbed a plate of fries and two fudge brownies. “The school’s divided. Deanna told her friends that Luke only used you to make her jealous, which leads you back to the world of pathetic. Thanks to the fight at the dance and your and Noah’s make-out session before first period, some people think you dumped Luke for Noah, officially putting you on the road to freakdom.”
Awesome. Maybe I could be the queen of freakdom, the ruler of emotionally scarred people everywhere. Kind of like a stepsister to the Good Witch.
“And the rest of the school thinks that you and Luke used each other, that he belongs with Deanna and that you and Noah are hot.” Lila gave me a sly smile and winked as she handed her money to the cashier.
I followed her and caught sight of Luke hovering over Deanna, grinning at her like a fool. I did dump Luke for Noah, but Luke dumped me, too. Truth be told, I’d used him for normalcy. Had he used me to win back Deanna?
Deanna caught me looking. Her eyes narrowed. Luke gave me a half smile while taking Deanna’s hand. Maybe he’d used me, but I was okay with that. In this case, two wrongs made a major right. “Let me guess, you and Natalie make up that last group.”
“We’re the only part that matters, right?”
I joined Lila at the condiment station. “If the majority of the school has thrown me on the freak bus, why’s lunch a big deal?”
Lila squeezed honey mustard all over her fries. “Grace.” Sitting next to Natalie and another of her public friends, Grace stirred her yogurt over and over again.
“I’m surprised she hasn’t already made the decision. Rep versus friendship. Rep always wins, right?”
“She’s trying. Give the gossip some time to die down and she’ll come around.”
Yeah, maybe she would. I placed my empty tray on the condiment table. “Tell Natalie I said hi, okay?”
“Where are you going?”
“To paint.”
NOAH
“‘Sup, Mrs. Collins.” I strolled straight into her office and plopped down in the chair across from her. I had an hour to kill before I started my Friday night shift. Steam and the stench of nickel coffee rose from the untouched mug on the corner of her desk.
She glanced up from a file and gave me a weak smile. “I’m impressed. You responded to a summons on the same day. I didn’t think I’d hear from you until next week.”
“You wrote the magic words: Jacob and Tyler.”
“Hmm.” Mrs. Collins’s eyes drifted back to the file. Lines strained the skin around her eyes and she lacked her ever-present puppy enthusiasm.
“Are my brothers okay?”
She rubbed her forehead, looking suddenly exhausted. I sat on the edge of my seat. If those bastards hurt my brothers … “Mrs. Collins, are they okay?”
“Yes. Yes, your brothers are fine. Sorry.” She waved her hand over the file before closing it. “I’m a little distracted and tired. TGIF, right? Or do you kids not say that anymore?”
Mrs. Collins forced a kind smile onto her worn face, placing her hand over the four-inch thick file. That was when I caught sight of the label. It was Echo’s file. My gut twisted. Something was wrong.
“As you know, Tyler’s fifth birthday is rapidly approaching and I talked Carrie and Joe into letting you have an additional day of visitation.”
“No shit.”
A little tension eased off her face as she chuckled. “No shit, but I’d prefer you not say that around me again, or around your brothers.” She picked up a small white envelope on the edge of her desk and handed it to me. “Party invitation. The boys are making a big deal out of it. It’s an exclusive party at the visitation center with you as the only guest. Oh, and me. Maybe you could pick up some balloons for the visitation room. I’ll bring streamers. Be there or be square.”
Jacob had chicken scratched my name on the envelope. I never thought I’d see the day where I could celebrate any important event with my brothers. “How did you pull that off?”
“I told you if you concentrated on working on you, I’d take care of the situation with your brothers. When I give my word to someone, I plan on keeping it.” She rested her open palm over Echo’s file and stared down at it again. Was that the problem? Had she made a promise to Echo that she couldn’t keep?
I tried fishing. “Echo wants to remember what happened to her. Do you think you’ll be able to help?”
“I can’t discuss Echo with you, just like I won’t discuss you with her.”
Fair enough. Attempt number two. “She told me what happened with her mom. Actually, she told me what people told her what happened with her mom, which isn’t jack. To be honest, nutcase or not, I can’t imagine any decent mom hurting her kid.”
Mrs. Collins relaxed in her chair, still looking exhausted, though a spark lit her eyes. “Of course you wouldn’t. You had a very close relationship with your mother.”