Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest High #3)(23)
“Rain?”
“Rainbow.”
“Her real name is Rainbow?”
“No.” She blew out a puff of smoke. “Her real name is Ginnie, but we call her Rain. She’s always wearing something with a rainbow. Always has, now that I think about it, since the sixth grade when she moved here. Rain’s short for rainbow.”
“You said she’s an albino.”
“Yeah,” her voice softened and her eyebrows set forward. Frowning to herself, she grew thoughtful. “Kate was being the bitch she is, making fun of her. Cory stuck up for her and the two have been close ever since. Helps that Cory understood. Kate’s been picking on her since the third grade, I think.”
“No wonder they don’t like me.”
“It’s not you.” Heather shook her head, lifting the cigarette again. “It’s Mason and Logan. It’s not even them really, it’s just because they were friends with those girls for so long. They’re why Kate and the Tommy P.’s got so powerful, you know? They gave them weight or cred or whatever. No one wanted to mess with the girls that were ‘friends’ with the top guys.”
“Hey!” Brandon banged on the door. “Game’s going to be over in an hour.”
Heather groaned, finished her last cigarette and put it out.
“What game?”
Both frowned at me. “The basketball game.”
“Fallen Crest …” A foreboding sense of dread kicked in. “Public?” I didn’t need to see their reactions.
“Mason and Logan never said anything?”
“No …”
“Don’t sweat it. It’s like another day at the job for them. They’re more about football games, aren’t they?”
“Yeah …” But it still stung. Whatever. Another shitty thing to add on to this week. “So what happens after a game? What are we in for?”
“Before your guys made this the popular hangout? Nothing. We would’ve gotten a few stragglers in, but now it’s going to get packed. Our regulars know not to come in. Even Gus, and you know how much he loves his seat, but they know we’ll get swamped. A few girls from school texted and said everyone’s planning on heading here. It’s going to get nuts.”
Forget Mason. Forget Logan. I had a job to do. “You want me in the front or back?”
“I’d say screw it and work the front, but Frank is sick.”
“So the back it is.”
“That’s okay with you?”
It felt like I’d been kicked again when I caught a look of pity in her eyes, but I ignored it. Tried to, but it hurt. No one said a word about the game. I didn’t have any friends at school. I couldn’t hear it from them, and Heather had been distant on her own. I saw her in the hallways, before and after school, but she had started leaving campus during lunch the last couple of days. I’d been distracted. Mason began waiting for me at my locker during lunch. They had an open-campus policy, so we took advantage of it and left to grab fast food. Most of the time was spent on the drive there, getting our food, and then eating it as soon as possible on the way back. Any free moments were spent in the parking lot with a few stolen kisses and some heavy petting. He made sure his car was always parked away from the school and surrounded by his friends’ vehicles, so no one could spy on us.
And thinking about other students, I said, “No one really made a big deal about the game. At Academy, there would’ve been pep rallies. Posters and banners would’ve been everywhere. I don’t remember seeing any this week.”
Heather pulled open the doors as we went inside and answered over her shoulder, “There were flyers, but not that much. Everyone just knows about the game. They go if they want, they don’t if they don’t want to. Besides, the basketball games aren’t like the football games. Those are nuts.”
“Are you kidding?” Brandon piped in from behind his counter. “The basketball games are nuts, too.”
“I know, but she’s asking why it wasn’t really talked about at school.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “It’s because everyone just knows about it. That’s how it was during my days.” A wide grin came over him. “I remember those days fondly. Good days. Good memories.”
Heather rolled her eyes as she tied on her server’s apron. “You mean, good pu**y?”
“Ah.” The wide grin stretched in a full smile. “Easy pu**y is more like it. I didn’t have to search for it. Those girls came to me. I can’t imagine how the Kades have it now. Compared to them, I was nothing. They’re like gods.”
It felt like a knife stabbed me in my chest.
Heather made an exasperated sound. “You’re an idiot.” She jerked her thumb at me.
“Oh.” He sounded sheepish, letting out a weak laugh. “Sorry, Sam. You know what I mean, not that I remember Mason indulging in pu**y like Logan does, but—”
“Just shut it, Brandon. You’ll be doing us all a favor.”
I held a hand up, shaking my head. “No, you guys. Really. I am aware of their near-celebrity status. This is nothing new to me. I live with them, remember? Logan’s got a new girl over almost every day.” But that wasn’t true. He was gone most of the time. During the week we had all settled into a new routine. Logan was usually the first to leave, or he would leave the night before and not come home. He must’ve kept half his closet in his car because he never wore the same clothes twice, and he was always showered for the new day. Nate was the next to leave. He’d dash out a few minutes before Mason and myself. While I’d be nibbling on a piece of toast in the kitchen, waiting for Mason, Nate would dart through, holler a goodbye, and be on the road before Mason would even come down the stairs.