“Yes. Of course.”
“Good.” I gave Talbot a small smile and climbed into the driver’s seat of the Corolla. I didn’t want to lose Talbot from my life—he’d already helped me so much, changed me—but I also didn’t want him thinking there was something between us that couldn’t exist. “I like it that way.”
LATER
I was worrying what to do about Talbot, and simultaneously hoping he wouldn’t get himself into trouble with the Shadow Kings, when the Corolla sputtered and almost died at the light at Markham and Vine. If I’d been paying attention at all to what I had been doing before now, I never would have come this way—especially this late. Markham was definitely the last place I wanted to be alone at any time of the night. I checked my door locks and prayed that I could get the car all the way home. Sure, I could run back to Rose Crest if I needed to, but how would I ever explain how the car got all the way out to the city without my parents knowing I’d snuck off when I was supposedly in bed?
I definitely needed to have Daniel look at the engine before I took the car on another late-night joyride.
Crap. Daniel.
He was supposed to call me tonight, and I’d left my phone in the car. I felt like a jerk for giving him such a hard time for standing me up—and now he probably thought I was avoiding his calls.
The light turned green, and I cautiously eased my sputtering car into the intersection. I turned right and got as far away from Markham Street as I could before I pulled my cell out of the cup holder between the two front seats. I checked the screen.
No messages.
No missed calls.
I dialed Daniel’s number. He picked up on the fifth ring.
“Hey, what’s up?” he said a little too casually. He sounded like me when I was trying too hard to seem normal.
I could hear faint music and a ticking sound—maybe that cat clock of Maryanne’s in his apartment?—in the background. I also heard what sounded like someone else speaking in a hushed tone.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Home.”
“Is somebody there?”
“No. Just watching TV.” I heard him cough and then the sounds of the music, and the voice died away.
“You didn’t call. You promised you’d call, but you didn’t.” Never mind the fact that I wouldn’t have been there to answer—but still.
“I’m sorry,” he said. No explanation offered.
“So where were you this afternoon? I sat there waiting for you for almost an hour. I thought you wanted to help me with my application.”
“I do, Gracie. But something came up, okay?”
“What? What could possibly come up that you’d forget? You didn’t even call.”
Daniel sighed. He stayed silent for a moment. “Katie called me this morning. She was freaking out because her little brothers got into her room and trashed all the posters we’d made for the fund-raising booths. She came over so we could make all new ones, and it was so much work … I guess I just lost track of time.”
“Wait, you’re telling me that you stood me up because you were with Katie, alone, in your apartment, and you lost track of time? What the hell were you two really doing?”
Daniel swore under his breath. “It’s not like how it sounds. You know me better than that.”
“Do I?” I hated myself for getting so mad. I mean, if I told him what I’d been up to this evening, it would sound just as bad. But what I’d done was all in the name of finding Jude. It had a higher purpose behind it—unlike Daniel, who had just blown me off to paint pictures with another girl. Something that used to be our thing. “You’ve been hanging out in bars, lying to me, running out on dinner, and standing me up. I feel like I barely even know you anymore.”
“Gracie, please …”
“I’m starting to think that your dodging me like this is your way of letting me know you’d rather forget about me and go to Trenton with Katie.”
“Don’t, Grace,” Daniel snapped.