The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(39)

“What?” She reached behind her head and grasped my hand. The petal crumbled between our fingers. She squinted at it for a moment as though even she didn’t know why it was there. “Oh, Dad asked me to help him with Mom’s Valentine’s Day surprise. We sprinkled rose petals around her while she was sleeping. Until Kimmy stepped on a thorn and started yelling.” With a shake of her head, she laughed and dropped it in the ashtray between us.

Roses. The grocery store. I smacked my palm against my forehead. “Shit.”

She stopped fiddling with the radio and glanced over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“I was going to get you some roses from the store.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I forgot.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

But it wasn’t fine. It only reminded me of why I had forgotten to get the flowers in the first place. My stomach tightened again as I gripped the steering wheel. My knuckles grew taut and pale, and I felt sick. Screw school. “Listen, I’m going to drop you off at the front steps, okay? So no one will see me.”

“You’re not going to class?”

I forced myself to loosen my grip and drummed a beat on the steering wheel with one hand instead. “No, I have some things to do. I’ll be back later.”

“Is it that drug-testing thing again?”

Although we’d only been “together” a little while, I had finally told her the truth, and she was pissed off on my behalf. Even though I didn’t care anymore, it was nice to have someone on my side for once.

I could lie and say it was, but knowing Taylor, she’d probably weasel the truth out of me sooner or later. “No, it’s not that. It’s … complicated.”

“Hmm … does it have something to do with your daddy issues?”

I nearly slammed on the brakes. “I don’t have daddy issues.”

“We both do. And yours are written all over your face.” She gave me a teasing smile and shook her head. “Don’t worry. I’m more screwed up than you are. My issues are all over the place.” Her hand motioned up and down her body.

“Really? I’ll have to check that out someday.”

She poked a finger in my cheek and pushed my face forward. “The only place you’ll see that is in your dreams. Now, keep your eyes on the traffic.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I pulled up in the front yard and parked right by the doors. “If you feel the need to make up an excuse for my absence, don’t deny the urge. The more elaborate, the better.”

“How about I tell people a dragon carried you off to its lair so you could be a nanny for its babies?”

“As long as it’s a water dragon and not a fire-breathing one, then I’m good with that.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t nag me about going to class like I expected her to. She just leaned closer—her forehead was scrunched together with worry—and reached out to touch my arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

As okay as I’ll ever be. I froze for a moment, letting her soft touch calm me. When I felt semirelaxed, I let out a deep sigh and grasped her hand, holding it tightly to my body. “Yeah, I’m fine. Wait for me later. I’ll bring something back for us for lunch.”

“Okay.” Taylor got out of the car, careful to close her door gently instead of slamming it like she usually did. “Text me later.”

“I will.”

As I drove away, I glanced down at the petal she left behind in my ashtray. I half wished that I had asked her to go with me. Even though I was pretty sure she wouldn’t, since she had a quiz in history later, she might have skipped if she’d known how much I needed it. How I didn’t want to be alone right now.

But my pride kept me from turning around.

*

By the time lunch rolled around, I was back at school and almost back to normal. I didn’t talk to Mom. She hadn’t picked up any of my calls, and I sure as hell wasn’t desperate enough to call Brandon.

And I was fine. There wasn’t anything I could do, even if I wasn’t. What was I supposed to do? Sit at home and pout and cry like a sissy until Mom came home?

Instead, I concentrated on my surprise for Taylor. Since I had already dropped the ball and forgot about her flowers this morning, I figured I could get lunch for her at least. And as usual, my brilliance stepped up. Along with Aaron. He even cut fourth period to help me set up the surprise. Although that was probably more because he wanted to avoid our Spanish test than out of best-friend duty.

I’d never done anything like this for a girl before, but it was kind of fun trying to figure out a way to surprise her.

As I leaned against the cafeteria doorway to wait for Taylor, a group of junior girls giggled when they passed me. I gave them a wink out of habit, and one of them blushed. It was nice to see that I still had it.

Finally, Taylor appeared with Carly and Brian. Their arms were all loaded down with art supplies and sketchpads. “’Bout time you showed up.”

“’Bout time you got to school,” she quipped in response. She looked relieved for a moment until an irritated expression crossed her face. Scowling, she nodded toward my fans, who scattered into the cafeteria at the sight of her. “Friends of yours?”

“You could say that. Jealous?”