“You know she’s not moving. Her stepbrother is going to Kensington. He’s creepy too.”
“Creepy?” I didn’t like the sound of that.
“One of those guys who thinks his shit doesn’t stink. The kicker is the principal wants me to tutor him. I haven’t decided yet. With my brothers at college, Daddy has no one to help him.”
“I wish I was there.”
“I know. I miss our quick trysts in the supply closet.” Sadness tinged her voice.
My heart broke. “I do too.”
She sniffled, which was another blow to my heart.
I closed my eyes, envisioning her next to me. “I love you. But we’ll be together soon. Holidays are coming up, and hopefully we’ll see each other next month.”
“The month will feel like years.”
The week or so I’d spent away from her already felt like eons.
“Quinn,” her mom called. “Dinner is ready.”
“I have to go.” She sounded like the world was ending. “I love you. Call me tomorrow.”
Just as the line went dead, Ethan burst into the room.
My heart plummeted at the wild look he was sporting. “What did Marcus do?”
Jasper barreled in behind Ethan, guilt swimming in his brown eyes. “Sorry.”
“Marcus isn’t on campus,” Ethan said. “He’s in Ashford.”
Several swear words blared in my head. “Does Mom know? Don’t answer that. If she knew, she would’ve called me, or one of us at least. How did he get there?” Mom had a car, but none of us did.
Jasper dropped onto Ethan’s bed, flicking his unkempt blond hair from his eyes. “Marcus heard Sloane wasn’t moving. He convinced a guy on the soccer team to give him a ride. They left after lunch since practice was cancelled.”
“Why didn’t you come tell us?” I asked Jasper.
“Really? What could you or Ethan do? Marcus is Marcus, bro. I can’t stop him, and I’m not going to try.”
Ethan began to pace. “I tried to call him, but he’s not answering.”
I swiped a hand over my head. “Curfew is four hours away. If he’s not back by ten tonight, then it’s his ass.”
Regardless, it was weird to see Ethan in freak-out mode. He’d always been the cool, calm, and collected brother. I was happy to know he would step into my shoes as big bro when I graduated.
Voices hummed in the cafeteria as kids ate and chatted.
Colorful leaves fell from branches, scattering to the ground directly outside the window near the table where Celia and I were sitting. The October weather was cold and brisk, and any remnants of summer and warm temps were gone.
Celia stabbed her fork into her wilted lettuce. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
The overcooked pasta on my plate wasn’t tempting my taste buds. “I’m not hungry.” Since Maiken had moved up to the Berkshires, my appetite hadn’t been normal.
I was also tired. I’d been struggling to keep my eyes open during classes for the last several weeks. Concentrating and listening to the lectures each day was brutal. I was even failing miserably studying at night.
With Carter and Liam not around to pick up the slack, Daddy and I were exhausted. I’d been a bit worried about Daddy too. He still wasn’t in a good mood and hadn’t been since my party. It didn’t help that we hadn’t found the person responsible for taking the pigs on the first day of school, which was eating at Daddy. He was thinking of installing cameras around the farm.
Celia shoved spinach into her mouth. “You should post the job opening for the farm on the school bulletin board. I’ll also mention it in the school’s blog. Someone will bite.”
“I doubt that.” First, Daddy was picky, and second, kids didn’t want to clean out stalls and feed animals or get their hands dirty.
Coach Dean had had the basketball team working on the farm at the crack of dawn last year. Maiken hadn’t complained, but some of the boys had, in particular Chase Stevens.
“I’d rather not have anyone from school.” Sloane Price had applied last year, and that had proven to be a disaster, or rather she’d quit before she even started. “We need someone who is older and isn’t afraid of hard work, someone with muscles to do the heavy lifting.”
Celia ate her salad like she was starving. “Trevor Thames has muscles. Maybe you should see if he’s interested.”
I gasped at my BFF. “Are you insane? He’s Sloane Price’s stepbrother. He’s creepy, and he doesn’t strike me as someone who’s into hard work.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I’ve been watching the basketball team practice, and he works hard on the court.”
Trevor didn’t strike me as the basketball type. He looked more like a linebacker with his wide shoulders.
“I hear he’s looking for a job.”
I shook my head vigorously. “No way. I want nothing to do with him.” I’d only seen him in the halls here and there. Since he was a junior, I didn’t run into him that much. When I had seen him, he was sucking face with a tall brunette.
Celia reached for her drink. “You have to admit he is yummy.”
I scrunched my nose. “No way in hell.” I would never acknowledge that she was spot-on. His dark hair brought out his striking green eyes.
“You know Elise Davis is tutoring him,” Celia said.
“You’re just full of all kinds of information. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you want to date him.” I guessed Liam was a blip on her radar now that they’d broken up. Then again, that was the point. They both wanted to see other people. Well, as far as I knew, Liam wasn’t seeing anyone, at least he hadn’t mentioned he was when I talked to him last week.
“Pfft. I’m the school’s sports reporter. I need to know my players.”
Giggling, I rolled my eyes. “You mean you’re checking out every guy you can now that you’re single.”
She pushed out a shoulder, smirking. “Sue me.”
We both laughed harder.
Principal Sanders had been quite disappointed in me when I respectfully declined to tutor Trevor. I knew tutoring would look good on my college applications, but not at the expense of my own studies. At least that was the excuse I’d given her.
“What about Noah?” I asked Celia. “You seem to like him too.” Like Trevor, I hadn’t had any more interaction with Noah since the first day of school. Again, we didn’t see juniors that much in between classes. Plus, he seemed to have taken the hint that I was spoken for.
“So does every girl in this school. Basketball practice is like a Jonas Brothers concert. Girls are gathering in droves to watch Noah and Trevor.”
I’d heard Coach Dean talking to Daddy the other night about how Noah was a great addition to the team. He hadn’t said anything about Trevor, though.
“Hey.” I narrowed my eyes. “Did Sloane ever apologize to you?” Sloane might not like me, but she’d almost killed Celia.
“Let’s not discuss her ever.” My friend gulped down her soda. “It’s bad enough that when I get headaches, she comes to mind.”