Party season. Summertime.
“I’m heading to New York.”
They both laughed. “Then we’re either all coming with you or you ain’t going to be there long.”
I studied them. Zeke had said the same to me a month ago, and my mom had laughed when I told her about my summer plans this morning. Why did everyone doubt that I was going to New York?
“I have to,” I told them. “My non-bio dad is being an asshole to my mom. I need to go make sure he’s not going to mess with her.”
Jamie held his hands up. “Whatever. We’ll come with you for that too.”
“You know Allen’s with you, no matter where you go,” Oliver added. “You won’t be able to get rid of the asshole.”
And as if to prove his point, Zeke came out of the school just at that moment. I noted neither Brian nor Branston was with him, which meant he’d specifically told them to steer clear. He walked across the lot, slowing when he was within talking distance. He kept some space between us, eyeing Jamie and Oliver.
“Hey, man. What’s the deal tonight?”
I let out a breath. I’d not realized I’d been holding it, but it didn’t seem Zeke was going to hold this morning against me. “I’m supposed to do a family dinner. You up for helping me with some distracting?”
His eyes lit up. “Your sister-in-law going to be there?”
Jamie and Oliver started laughing.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up, douches.”
He was talking about my half-brother’s girlfriend, who was not someone to mess with. My half-brother wasn’t either, but Zeke already knew that. He’d gone against them earlier this year and gotten his car exploded because of it. He’d let bygones be bygones once he found out about my relation to them, but he knew things were dicey between my half-brother and me.
Zeke’s grin turned wicked. “What about your sister? You think her boyfriend will be there? He’s a nice little fighter dude to fuck with. Gets all hot and bothered if he thinks we’re flirting with his woman.”
“Don’t fuck with Taz.” Or her boyfriend, but I held that back because that would ensure Zeke would fuck with him. I was picking my battles here, and I was tired. Maybe that burst of anger this morning, whatever it’d been, had been enough for me? Got some of my demons out or something? Who knew.
“Yeah.” Zeke laughed, rolling his shoulders back. He was settling in, which meant he was feeling good about how things were going between us. His grin was easy. “I’m down. I can distract anyone you want me to distract tonight. I love these family dinners. Drop the word pussy a few too many times and everyone’s all up in arms.”
I grinned. For a while, that’d been Zeke’s favorite word. Pussy this, pussy that. Literally every other word was pussy. That’d been an interesting month.
“You want in too?” I asked the others.
“Hell yeah,” Jamie answered.
Oliver nodded. “Count us in.”
Maybe dinner wasn’t going to be too bad. I’d never brought these guys to the house before, just Zeke.
I pulled my keys out. “I can drive.”
Zeke got shotgun. “Have I mentioned how I’d love to make love to your G Wagon, B?”
“Fucking Mercedes too.” Jamie whistled under his breath as he climbed in.
I shot them a look, snorting. “Right, because your BMW is so low class?”
Jamie just smiled. Cocky fucker.
8
Aspen
I needed to camp. Stat.
Now.
I would break out in hives if I didn’t get my camp on, and I had a plan formed before I’d driven Maisie all the way home from school.
School was mostly done for seniors. A few tests and a few papers to turn in, but we’d gotten most of our work completed a week or so ago. They had to have time to make sure we all had passing grades and could actually graduate. People were still showing up because they didn’t want to piss off the administration, but I was different. No one really knew I existed, except Blaise now. And my biology partner. But neither of them would care. And neither might notice anyway.
When I got home, I pulled up the last of my remaining projects. I emailed the teachers, and within two hours, I had the final details for my last assignments. My plan was to complete everything. I made arrangements to take two tests the following morning, missing my slacker classes to get that done.
Since being here, I’d never caused a problem.
My grades were good: A’s. I already had college set in stone: Cain University. My parents didn’t know that was my final choice. They thought I wanted to attend Hillcrest’s sister university because so many of my Hillcrest friends were going there, but nope. I wanted to go where my brother had gone. Nate had found himself there. I knew things had been rocky in the beginning, but that smoothed out, and at Cain was the first time I saw him happy. I wanted to go there and understand.
But back to camping. Because camping would get me through the last weeks of school.
Camping would get me through the summer.
Camping let me breathe.
“Honey?”
I stilled, hearing my mom’s voice at my door.
A polite knock came next, and I had to answer. My stomach was in knots, but I pushed back from the desk and walked over. My legs felt like wood.
My mom was on the other side, frowning, concern pulling her eyebrows together.
She wore a light summer dress, an artsy scarf wrapped around her neck with books on it, and her hair coiled up in a loose French twist. It was a mess of brown and gray since she was letting her last dye job run out. Minimal makeup, and she had on hemp sandals that wrapped around her ankles.
I already knew what mood she was in that day.
She was feeling an artsy/creative/loving/spiritual vibe. In these moments, she loved life and tried to be a beacon of light to everyone. This was the perfect time to make my request.
“Mom.” My voice went all warm and happy, and I made sure to smile, radiating peace and tranquility.
“Daughter.” A flicker in her eyes, and she tilted her head toward me.
She was on to me. She knew I wanted something.
Good thing I knew she wouldn’t mind in this mood.
Right now she wanted to go to the desert and commune with nature and take mud baths, all while dosing up on some really great pot. I never saw this side of her until she and my dad had their midlife crisis. Now this was a regular occurrence, and the vibes in the house were a lot more relaxed because of it.
“I want to go camping for my last week at school.”
She didn’t even blink. “Absolutely not.” And damn, her smile never wavered either.
“Mom.” I was getting serious now.
“Daughter.” So was she. “It’s your last year. You’re not missing any projects or memories to go camping alone.”
Well…damn.
“I’ve gotten permission to finish all my projects and tests in the next three days at school. And I can do it. I’ll have everything completed and handed in by Thursday. I can take off on Friday.”
Wait.
What was I doing?
I didn’t want my parents to know when I graduated. I’d made up a fake email for them, so everything school-related actually came to me. I knew my grades for months before my parents remembered to ask. With their old-school way of thinking, no news from my school was good news. That meant I wasn’t having problems, so they had no reason to worry about me. And straight As—a 4.2, with the new ranking system. School had always been easy for me. It was just the social scene that presented a challenge, but what parent actually waded into that world?