Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(36)
Inside the house, I hung my coat up neatly in the closet because I wasn’t going to be a slob just because my father was gone. Then I pulled out my phone again and went to sit down on the couch. The screen still displayed Drew’s text.
I texted him back to let him know I’d be there for dinner. Then I switched to my conversation with Theo.
Me: How’s it going with Jacinda?
To my surprise, he texted right back.
Theo: You mean Jacqueline?
I smiled.
Me: Right, her.
Theo: I kissed her. Bet you weren’t expecting that.
My eyebrows shot up. I started texting too quickly, completely mangled the words, which were even more screwed up once AutoCorrect was finished with them. Cursing my fingers, I deleted it all and started again.
Me: Yay! Good for you.
Theo: Not so good. She quit. Says she’s going to sue me for sexual harassment.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
Me: Oh no.
Theo: You’re laughing at me. Aren’t you?
Me: Yup. Parents pissed?
Theo: No. Got a pat on the back from my dad. It was weird, actually. Good news is I’m feeling a lot better, so Jacqueline was going to be history anyway.
Me: That’s great.
Theo: That’s no treatment, which is pretty great, you know, until it’s not.
Me: Right.
My fingers paused, hovering as I swallowed hard.
Me: Are you leaving soon to see the Pacific?
Theo: Not sure. Could be a few more weeks, unless I’m forced to stay because of the lawsuit and all.
Me: Tell me you were kidding about that harassment thing.
Theo: I was kidding. Besides, who could sue me now and win? I’m kind of invincible. All sympathy would be on my side.
Me: Well, don’t count on that. No robbing banks or anything.
Theo: Ha! I’m more likely to sneak into the movies for free.
Me: You thrill-seeker.
Theo: Yup, that’s me. Wanton and reckless. Gotta go take a nap now. Talk later.
I grinned.
Me: Later.
Lowering the phone, I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. I pictured the phrase typed on one of the documents hidden in my father’s safe. Prolonged patient’s life. The drug had prolonged my mother’s life. She still fought the cancer, and the times we had in those two years weren’t all good ones, but some were. There were still good moments and happy memories made. If I could give Theo two more years, would he want them? Would he at least want the choice to keep fighting if there was hope?
I texted Lorraine and asked her to look through the documents again to try to find contact information for the doctors or anyone else associated with the clinical trial. Even the phone number for a clinic or hospital would give us a place to start.
When Lorraine texted me back asking for the combination to the safe, I gave her the numbers I knew by heart. The combination was the date of my mother’s death.
In the end, it didn’t matter if Theo wanted the opportunity to live longer. If I could give him that choice, I would.
***
The next day, Jonah was sitting in English class when I arrived. He had his notebook open on his desk and a pen resting on a blank sheet of paper, just like a real student. But it was all for show. Beside him, a blonde who usually sat on the other side of the room was trying to get his attention. She was leaning over the aisle, inching closer to him. When she said something with a big smile on her face, he shrugged without looking at her, and I watched her smile deflate a little.
I used to think it was aloofness or arrogance that made Jonah treat girls this way. Now I wondered if he was protecting himself. He was a twenty-two-year-old man; he couldn’t flirt with high school girls. Even the ones who were legal could probably get him into trouble.
“Hey,” I said as I dropped into my usual seat beside him.
A distracted head nod was his response.
I laughed. I’d been demoted to the nod. Things seemed fine when I last saw him yesterday. “Are you mad at me or something?”
He shot me a look. “What?”
“I asked if you were mad at me.”
Jonah turned to face me, resting one arm on the back of his chair and the other on his desk. Behind him, the blonde shot us an unhappy glance because he was paying attention to me and not her.
“Candy,” he said evenly, “I actually have other things on my mind besides you sometimes.”
I smirked. “Really? Like what?”
He smiled, shaking his head. “You’ll see.”
“Then it does have something to do with me?”
“No. But I have a feeling you’ll be interested.” He faced forward again as Mr. Harris came into the room.
Too curious to concentrate now, I tried to appear as if I were listening. About fifteen minutes into class, the door opened and the vice principal walked in. Wearing her usual brown dress suit, she spoke softly to Mr. Harris and then looked back over her shoulder toward the hallway. When she did that, several students with a view of the hall looked also, and their eyes widened.