TWENTY
Poppy
“I’ve only got twenty minutes,” Ryse says, walking into the Coffee Bean. We decided to meet here for lunch today since we were both sick of pizza.
“That’s fine,” I say. “I’ve got about forty minutes until I need to make it to my next class.”
Ryse nods. “Have you spoken to Mom?”
“Not recently. We’ve been texting a lot though. She took on cleaning another two houses. She seems really burned out,” I say.
“Yeah, I was worried about her too,” Ryse says.
We leave our things at a table and go to order some food. We both get a chicken wrap and a bottle of water.
“How are things going with your story? Is Declan giving you the information you need?” he asks.
“He’s kind of a closed-down guy so it’s kind of hard. I have all my notes on his professional life and what type of athlete he is, but I need a more personal touch.”
“Hopefully he’ll come around. He’s pretty closed down with the guys too,” Ryse shares.
“Yeah.” I bite into my wrap. It actually tastes decent. “So I heard that you and Paris are pretty close?”
Ryse gives me a weird look. “Yeah.”
“That’s it, just yeah?” I say.
“There’s nothing to tell. Cole used to bring Max to hang out with us at practice last year. His dad took off on him and he was taking it hard. The guys from the team spend time with him. We’ve been teaching him hockey.” Ryse shrugs.
“That’s really nice.”
“Max is a good kid.” Ryse nods.
He shoves the rest of his wrap in his mouth and chews. He has a big bulge coming out of his cheek.
“I have to run,” he says, getting up. “Sorry to leave while you’re still eating.”
“It’s fine,” I brush him off.
He grabs his backpack and gives me a peck on the head and takes off.
I think I see Holland standing in front of the cash register but I’m not sure it’s her from behind. She turns around and notices me too.
“Hi.” She walks over and gives me a half hug. “How have you been? I hope better than me. I need a little afternoon pick-me-up,” she says, holding her coffee cup up in the air.
“I’ve been good,” I say slowly.
“That doesn’t sound too reassuring,” Holland says and takes a sip of her coffee.
“Actually, do you have a minute? I could really use someone to talk to,” I admit. Even though I’m trying to stay in touch with Ingrid and Walter, my best friends from high school, it’s been kind of hard since they are currently taking a gap year and working on a beach in Thailand.
She nods. “My next class doesn’t start for half an hour. You mind if I take a seat?”
“Please.” I motion to the seat across from me.
“What’s on your mind?” she asks, holding her coffee cup between her two hands.
“We don’t know each other very well, but. . .” I begin.
“Come on. We totally bonded on our girls’ night. Look, I know how this place can be. It’s daunting and it isn’t always easy to fit in. I was always busy with school, so I never made a ton of friends,” she says, and just like that she puts me at ease.
“So I’m not the only one?” I question, raising my brows.
“No.” She nods with a friendly smile.
“So if I share something with you it would be totally confidential?” I ask, just to confirm.
“Absolutely. My lips would be sealed,” she assures me. “I’m not the type to gossip.”
“I can tell,” I say. “This is kind of serious because if my brother found out, shit could really hit the fan.”
Hollands brown eyes go round. “Now you’ve got my attention.”
“I know Cole is friends with Ryse,” I say carefully.
“Not to worry. There are things about my friends I don’t share with Cole. I can’t. Rebel, for example, is living with Cole’s best friend. If I said something, not that there is anything to say, it could get back to Wolfe and so on,” she explains.
“Okay, good.” I blow out a breath, needing to get to the point because time is of the essence.
“So I’ve kind of been hooking up with Declan,” I confess.
Holland presses her lips together. “That’s super awesome. Declan is such a good guy,” she explains and tells me how Declan was housemates with Cole and the whole mumbo jumbo of getting pregnant and her father disowning her.
“Wow,” I say.
“Yeah,” Holland agrees. I then go on to tell her that Declan and I are still very new, and we don’t want our relationship getting out. Then I explain the whole crazy scenario with Bonnie walking in on us and her semi fake blackmailing me.
“I don’t know what to do.” I watch Holland and wait for some advice.
“Just wait her out. I can’t believe she asked you to set her up with Ryse. I swear, some of the lengths these puck bunnies will go to is crazy.”
“So she’s a known puck bunny?” I ask.
“Bonnie Shore hangs with the hockey team and the football team,” Holland says. “I don’t have a lot of time for parties but she’s a regular.”
“That means I shouldn’t trust her, if she squeals to her friends my brother will lose it. And that’s not the only problem Bonnie has with me, she wants a spot at The Gazette. I’m a freshman and she’s a sophomore, so it’s not like I took her spot. . . but I’m just getting really weird vibes from her.”
“Just be careful, those girls can be really vindictive. A bunny tried to get in the way of Rebel and Wolfe by sleeping with Cole when he was drunk to get the goods on Wolfe. She almost succeeded in splitting them up, but we saw through her,” Holland explains.
“That sounds awful,” I cringe.
“It really was. I wouldn’t put anything past Bonnie. Keep your guard up,” Holland says, taking a sip of coffee.
“I’m really just worried about her outing us to my brother, but what will that give her? She’ll be a snitch and no one likes a snitch, and there’s the issue that Declan is super worried about our relationship screwing up his momentum with Ryse on the ice.”
“The guys on the team are super tight and it works for them. That’s a tough one. As someone who’s with a professional hockey player, you don’t want to mess with their game. I wish I had better advice other than don’t get caught again. Maybe tell this Bonnie girl that you and Declan were a two-second thing and it’s over.”
“Maybe. She could still rat us out though and my brother will still go apeshit.”
“It’s nice Ryse cares and I know Declan. He got around a bit in the past, but he’s been staying away from all those bunnies for a while now. I know there’s a whole gossip mill over it. The bunnies just don’t get that he’s not into that scene. It’s kind of pathetic. Besides, if Declan is with you, it must mean something to him,” she says, and her words cause my heart to pick up pace. The idea of being special to Declan excites me.