Terrific.
“And you, Mr. Hunter.” Her mom leaned her hip on the stool next to her. “Didn’t sleep on the couch last night.”
“I fell asleep. In Sloan’s room.” His face actually blushed. It was cute. He needed to be embarrassed more often.
“Uh-huh. Just don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“Mama.” Sloan groaned and hung her head. Why did everything have to lead to that?
“Just sayin’.” She winked and put her coffee cup in the sink. “So, get something to eat and come in the living room for a movie marathon.”
She didn’t wait for a yay or nay before shaking her little legs into the living room.
“I’m sorry.” Sloan grimaced, facing Aaron.
“No, I like it,” he said. “Your mom went from totally hating me to letting me spend the night. I’d say that’s progress.”
She hadn’t thought about it like that. Her mom hating Aaron seemed so long ago. She couldn’t see how anyone could not like him now.
They fixed two bowls of cereal and camped out on the couch. For the next several hours, they watched movies together. Mostly comedy. One sort-of-sappy drama that caused Sloan to have to hide tears. One old-time travel movie from the 80s: Parts One, Two, and Three. Thankfully, no horror movies. She was already living in one of those.
Sloan spent the day cuddled next to Aaron and texting Mackenzie occasionally. She even got a text from Ray asking if she was okay. She told him she was. He told her he was looking forward to prom tomorrow night. She wished she was. It wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t going to fall. Falling sounded painful.
But she felt bad for Ray, so she texted back that she was excited to go with him too. Even after she’d pressed send, she looked over at Aaron, who threw some popcorn in his mouth. She’d much rather go to the prom with Aaron. Stupid school rules. She hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward to be with Ray all night. If only this hadn’t all happened the week before prom. The timing really stunk.
After school, Mackenzie called and asked if they needed her to come over. Apparently, since Sloan wasn’t there, she’d eaten lunch with Travis’ cousin, Sarah. According to Mackenzie, the girl was nice, kinda shy, and mortified by the role Travis had played in helping Boyd hurt Sloan. She said Sarah was going to tell Travis Mackenzie had asked about him the next time she saw him, which could be a while. She wasn’t exactly sure where he was at the moment.
Sloan took out a pad and pen to jot down all of the things running around her mind. First, everyone’s location.
Sloan: home with Aaron and Mom.
Mackenzie: going to her house after supper with her parents.
Boyd: stuck at home.
Boyd’s mom: with him.
Boyd’s father, Mr. Lawrence: business trip somewhere.
Sloan wasn’t sure she believed that now. Not that she thought Mr. Lawrence would hurt her, but she didn’t see him running off on some business trip and leaving his family. Plus, what sort of business trip was it? He’d quit teaching to take care of Boyd.
Donna: next door. Safe.
Sarah Blaylock: living in Travis’ house.
Travis, Boyd’s former best friend: Gone. No one knew where.
Darcy: ?
Tanner: Probably in some drugged-out haze.
Her dad: shacking up a few states away with Tiffani.
He hadn’t even called. To be fair, she hadn’t called him either.
Mentally exhausted, she doodled on the paper. This particular movie was pretty boring so she tuned it out. Something about aliens. She didn’t really care. After she’d sketched an entire garden, Aaron’s phone sang. He flipped it open.
“Ray,” he told her. “He wants to know if you need him to come over.” Aaron looked at her expectantly. “Do you want him to come over?”
That was the big question now, wasn’t it? How did she say yes without hurting Aaron’s feelings or possibly leading Ray on? “Tell him whatever he wants to do.” There, put the ball in his court. Genius.
Aaron entered the text. Almost instantly one came back. “He said he’ll see you tomorrow. Early, so you can start on pictures and stuff before the prom. Is that okay?” Aaron pointed to the screen. “He actually asked that. Is that okay?”
It sort of hurt that he didn’t want to come over. They used to hang out all the time, but she understood. She’d been forced to choose, and she hadn’t chosen him. “Yeah. Tell him yeah, that’s fine. Tell him to be here around noon.”
“So early? Prom’s not till, what, six?”
“Five-thirty, but we were going to get some supper first and take lots and lots of pictures.” She glanced at her mom, who grinned.
“Ah.” Aaron keyed in Sloan’s reply. “A full-on date then.”
Her mom nearly choked on her popcorn. “I’m sorry.” She coughed. “I just… I’m sorry.” She went to the kitchen, and Sloan heard water filling a cup.
“This is even too much for her.” Sloan laughed, rubbing her forehead.