Time Bomb(15)
“Ten minutes.” Tad’s deep brown eyes met Frankie’s. “Don’t ignore me this time.”
With that, Tad turned and walked back into the building, leaving Frankie to stare after him for a second before finally following him inside. Frankie squinted when he stepped into the hallway. The lights were on, but after being in the sunlight, he found the hallway dim . . . and empty. Tad wasn’t there, and he wasn’t in the locker room, either, as Frankie discovered upon entering it. The locker room smelled of new white paint that couldn’t completely mask the odor of sweat that was so much a part of this place. Frankie checked his phone, then grabbed the bag he’d stashed there when he’d first arrived. Less than ten minutes until Tad wanted him to be upstairs. Twenty minutes until the team left for the lake. He wanted Tad to be with them. The two of them might not be on the same page right now, but he didn’t want Tad to get caught in what Frankie had planned.
He texted Jimmy to let him know Tad was running late.
WAIT FOR TAD AND WHOEVER ELSE IS RUNNING LATE. DON’T WAIT FOR ME. I GOT HUNG UP AND I’LL MEET YOU THERE.
Jimmy’s response beeped a few seconds later as Frankie was headed up to the second floor.
TELL MINDY I SAY HEY. WE’LL GET THE PARTY GOING FOR YOU.
SURE THING, Frankie texted back.
He was glad that Jimmy thought he’d ferreted out the reason Frankie was late. By the time Frankie arrived at the lake, the rumor that he and Mindy had been hooking up would be spreading like a wildfire, because it was what people expected from Frankie. It’s what he expected from himself.
Tad needed to back off. Frankie had to make his own choices, and he had decided he didn’t want to go down Tad’s path. He shouldn’t have even set foot down it in the first place. It was a mistake that no one ever needed to know about. If they ever did . . . if his father and Coach ever found out . . .
Frankie shook his head and ignored the way everything inside him churned as he made his way down the hall that led to the main section of the school. Tad could hang out in Mr. Lott’s room. Frankie had come to the school today with a mission, and he wasn’t going to let Tad distract him from it.
The second-floor hall was empty. Most kids and teachers had gone home by now to enjoy one of the last days of summer.
Steering clear of Mr. Lott’s room, Frankie hurried around the floor, getting things organized, then went back up the back staircase to the next level. Just two more things to do, and he was out of here. If Tad wanted to hang around—Frankie shook his head as he made his way to the front of the school. He’d warned him. If the guy didn’t listen, it wasn’t his fault. Right?
Crap. The place wasn’t completely empty yet. Diana Sanford stepped out of the girls’ bathroom, and Frankie ducked back around the corner as she turned his way. He hadn’t seen her since the Fourth of July. The night he had stopped by her father’s party and spotted her in the shadows with one of her father’s younger, but still way older than her, staff members. And the way she was looking at the guy . . . Yeah, was it any wonder that he decided it was best to cut and run? She might be the kind of girl his family thought he should date, but Frankie had never really been interested. If he hadn’t ditched that party, maybe things would be easier now. But there was no changing the past.
He peered around the corner in time to see Diana step into the yearbook office in the middle of the hallway. Damn. That meant Mrs. Kennedy was lurking somewhere nearby. The yearbook adviser had a thing about no one being allowed to work in the yearbook office if she wasn’t in the building—something Frankie learned last year when he had dropped by after one of the yearbook meetings and tried to see if he could get some sparks going with Diana once all the other students on the staff had gone home.
Now he had a decision to make. Wait for them to leave, or just get on with it.
He heard two voices shouting in a classroom near the staircase—Great . . . more people were up here—as his phone buzzed.
Tad was threatening him. Either come now, or he’d be sorry.
No can do, Tad, he thought. I told you that you should just leave.
Frankie adjusted the bag on his arm and pushed all thoughts of Tad to the side. It was time to finish what he’d started.
11:43 a.m.
Tad
— Chapter 10 —
TAD REFUSED TO LOOK OUT the door to see if Frankie was coming. If Frankie had taught him anything, it was to feign confidence, even if you didn’t feel it.
Fake it till you make it, baby.
Frankie was king at showing the world what it wanted to see. Tad had believed the all-American straight-boy persona. He would never have questioned it, had it not been for Frankie letting down his guard and allowing Tad to glimpse inside.
And then he shut him out.
Tad’s phone chimed.
TAD, WHERE ARE YOU? JASMINE IS HURT BY YOUR LACK OF RESPONSE, AND SO AM I.
Guilt kicked him in the gut. He’d forgotten to answer his mother’s text about Jasmine wanting to go to a movie.
He shook off the guilt and shoved his phone back into his pocket without answering. If Jasmine’s feelings were hurt, it had nothing to do with him. He was gay. Saying those words out loud to his parents and his brother had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to do until today. Some guys he’d talked to said their families knew they were gay before they did. Tad’s family certainly hadn’t.