Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(31)

He hesitated before finally nodding. “Fine. I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Candy. You’ll be there, right?”

Because I ran off once, he kept worrying I might do it again. “I’ll be there.”

Then he left without offering an apology or pausing at all, and the heavy weight of the tension brewing between us lingered in his absence. It weighed down on me, bringing with it everything else Jonah had done.

The weight of it threatened to crush me.





The next morning, I sat in my father’s car in the school parking lot and waited. When I first arrived, there were a few other cars scattered throughout the lot, but now it was starting to fill up.

My heated gloves were sitting on the floor mat, covered in dust. I hoped they would clean up okay. I couldn’t have pulled this prank off without them, standing out in the freezing cold for so long before the sun came up this morning.

Yawning, I picked up the coffee I’d bought with the bagel at the Quick Mart and took a deep drink, nearly finishing it. The gloves transferred dust to the floor, and the bagel left crumbs on the seat, but my father wasn’t here to care. It was my car now, and I couldn’t be bothered to care either. I had other things on my mind.

Watching as each car drove into the lot, I looked at my watch. The first bell was going to ring in less than twenty minutes, and there was still no sign of Jonah. Sighing, I wondered if he’d decided not to come to school today.

I waited ten more minutes before grabbing my messenger bag and the extra pair of wool gloves I’d brought, which weren’t nearly as warm but also weren’t covered in evidence, and got out of the car.

Just as I reached the main doors of the school, I heard laughter from behind me. When I turned around, I saw everyone’s eyes trained on exactly what I’d been waiting for all morning. Jonah was driving in the parking lot, his Jeep completely covered in bird crap, because that was what happened when you dumped a whole bag of birdseed on a vehicle.

Giggles erupted around me, but I never cracked a smile as my eyes followed the Jeep.

Jonah parked in one of the only free spots at the far end of the parking lot, and I watched his progression as he threaded his way through the cars. The crowd began yelling taunts at him, but Jonah ignored them all as he walked swiftly with his head down. I couldn’t see his face until he’d cleared the lot and reached the main walkway. It was then that I realized Jonah was livid, his eyes shooting fire as he scanned the crowd, probably looking for me.

The relief I always sought when I took revenge was nowhere to be found as I spun on my heel and pushed through the main doors into the school. I would have gone right to first period but I didn’t have my book or my notebook, so I swung by my locker quickly to trade my things out, surprised by how my nerves were ping-ponging at the thought of an angry Jonah confronting me. It was a mistake to wait out in front for him. I should have already gotten my things and been sitting safely in English class when he arrived.

While I was worrying where Jonah was, my locker door slammed closed and a hand took hold of my upper arm and spun me around, just before Jonah pushed his considerable height deep into my personal space.

“So it’s come to this?” he asked, his eyes flashing.

Trying not to look like my stomach had dropped to the floor, I kept my face straight. “Come to what?”

“Your juvenile pranks. You’re pulling them on me now? That’s why you bought that bag of birdseed. The one I carried for you.”

I averted my eyes, watching the students walking past.

“Now I’m just like your ex and Parker, and everyone else you’ve written off after you were done torturing them. Do you feel better now that you’ve ruined the finish on the Jeep I spent years saving up for?”

That was news to me; I’d had no idea. “I don’t think it will ruin it. Not if you wash it off right away.”

He silently glared at me.

The hallway was clearing out. “We’re going to be late for class.”

“Should I watch my back now or are you done?”

The pressure in my chest was still there, but too late I realized a prank was unlikely to relieve it.

“You know, Candy, you could try handling your emotions the way other people do,” he said. “By just f*cking dealing with them.” Then he stalked back toward the main doors and banged his way through them.

I hurried to the windows and watched him get into his Jeep and maneuver out of the lot. Jonah was furious, angrier than I’d ever seen him. Not only was the pressure inside me not gone, it was growing, turning to guilt and maybe shame too because I didn’t think he’d be this upset. I didn’t think about the consequences at all.

For the rest of the day, I looked for him, but Jonah didn’t come back to school. When lunchtime came around and I still hadn’t seen him, I decided to eat in the cafeteria because I didn’t feel like being alone. Malcolm, Parker, and Ashley were already sitting around the table when I arrived.

“Only two more days of school before Christmas break,” Ashley was saying, looking pleased.

“Three, actually,” Parker said, correcting her, “if you count what’s left of today.”

“I hope the snow lasts until Christmas. It looks so pretty,” Ashley said.

Parker wrinkled her nose. “I don’t. It’ll be all brown and dirty by then.”