“What the heck just happened?” I whispered.
Danny shook his head, and I thought that he wasn’t going to tell me, but then he grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me out onto the deck where we wouldn’t be overheard. He explained that last night, Alex had bragged about me being his girlfriend to everyone except Cole. It was like he was purposely trying to entice his older brother, and when Cole found out in the morning, Alex got the reaction he was looking for.
Cole was furious, and he spent the rest of Sunday out in the garage, working on his car.
The next day at school, Alex was no better. When class ended and we walked out of anatomy together, he pulled me against his locker and kissed me hard, his hand weaving behind my back so he could hold me against his body. In the moment, I thought he was being romantic, but when he pulled away, I caught him glancing over my shoulder. Following his gaze, I saw Mary standing with her group of friends, a killer glare on her face.
Lunchtime was a headache. Riley, Heather, and Skylar bombarded Alex and me with questions the moment we sat down. They grilled us for the entire thirty minutes that we had to eat, and while Alex didn’t seem to mind, I just wanted the news of us dating to die down so things could go back to how they used to be. Kim, the only one I could count on to act normal, never showed up.
By the time school was over, I was so exhausted that I took a nap, something that I never allowed myself to do. I ended up sleeping for so long that when it was time to actually go to bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. That’s why, even thought it was well past midnight, I sat straight up in bed when I heard the knock on my door.
“Jackie, you still awake?” Alex whispered, peeking in.
“Uh-huh,” I answered.
“Can I come in?” he asked again even more quietly.
“Yeah, sure,” I said, sitting up. “What’s up?”
He closed the door quietly and tiptoed over to my bed. I looked at the clock. It was already midnight.
“Do you have any black clothes?” Alex asked me.
“Somewhere in my closet,” I said, nodding my head. “Why?”
“You’re going to have to dig them out,” he said, a grin spreading across his face.
“What for?” I asked, but I headed over to my closet anyway. I searched through a few long-sleeved shirts until I found my old Hawks sweater with my name stitched into the pocket.
“The guys all voted, and we decided to let you come along on our little end-of-the-year tradition.”
“And that is?” I asked, pulling on black pants.
“We always toilet-paper the principal’s house.”
***
“Shhhh,” Isaac whispered as everyone crowded into Lee’s and his room later. Alex explained that his cousins’ room was the best for sneaking out because of the giant oak tree right by the window.
“All right, does everyone have their roll of toilet paper?” Cole asked, looking around at everyone—everyone except me.
“Yup,” Danny answered, holding up a roll. “I also grabbed that box of plastic forks that Mom was going to use for our graduation party so we can fork the yard.”
“Awesome!” Lee said, high-fiving his cousin.
“Hey, Jackie, what the heck is on your face?” Alex whispered, looking at me.
“War paint,” I answered him, pulling a pencil of black eyeliner out of my pocket. “Want some?”
“Heck yes,” he said, grinning. I pulled the cap off with a pop and slowly began to draw two black lines, one under each of Alex’s eyes.
“Hey,” Isaac said, looking at us, “I want some too!”
“Okay,” I said, smiling. “Anyone else?”
Everyone nodded their heads yes and waited for me to add the war paint. The only person who didn’t want it was Cole.
“That’s so lame,” he said when I asked him if he wanted some. Hurt, I shoved the pencil back in my pocket and turned away from him.
“All right, everyone,” Isaac said, trying to fill the awkward silence. “Down the tree and out to the truck.”
Danny nodded his head and pushed open the window before climbing out and down the tree.
“Watch how he does it,” Alex said, pointing out where his brother placed his feet and hands to climb down.
“Okay, next!” Danny half shouted, half whispered when he was down.
Cole quickly scrambled out the window, followed by Lee, then Isaac.
“Ready?” Alex asked me as I stepped up to the windowsill. I could feel the chilly night air drifting in, and I buttoned my sweater up for warmth.
“I guess,” I said nervously.
“Don’t worry. It’s easy,” he told me. Nodding my head, I hiked a foot up and out the window. Then I pulled myself up and carefully grabbed onto a branch. “It’s okay. Keep going,” Alex said.
Taking a deep breath, I scooted off the windowsill and clung to the tree. Slowly I lowered my left foot onto the thick branch below it.
“We don’t have all night,” someone grumbled from below. It sounded like Cole.