The car stopped and Cotton Candy and I got out since the High School was on the way to Lana’s, who sat in the backseat and waved goodbye, her gap-toothed grin big and happy.
“Hey, it’s fifteen minutes before the bell rings. Come here.” CC grabbed my wrist, pulling me to the side of the gigantic brick building to a secluded table normally reserved for lunch and breaks.
Drizzling rain began falling and the few students lingering scampered up the steps to the side door and hurried inside the building, leaving CC and me to sit under the covered awning of the table.
The light rain turned into a deluge, graying out the world. The fat drops pinged on the metal roof.
We sat with our backs against the table, our legs touching.
“What do you want to do, Pax? I don’t mean tomorrow, but after you graduate?”
I didn’t hesitate. I knew exactly what I wanted. “To start my own band. I want to stand on stage with my guitar and show the world I’m not my dad, that I’llneverbe like him—a junkie who couldn’t even take care of his kid and ended up dying.”
CC laid a hand on my thigh. “I’m sorry. Do you miss him?”
The invisible pressure, which always seemed to circle my chest when I thought about my parents, tightened. I swallowed, trying to keep my emotion in check.
“Every. Fucking. Day.” I squeezed my eyes shut, willing tears not to fall. I didn’t want Cotton Candy to see me like this, crying and weak and pathetic.
Warm arms wrapped around my chest and my eyes flew open.
Her vanilla scent flooded my nose, and I couldn’t stop myself from flinging my arms around her and burying my face in her neck. She was so goddamn real, and warm, and kind. How could her mother not see this in her own daughter? My father, though he’d had his demons, had never gone out of his way to make me miserable.
A sob wracked my chest, but I swallowed it down.I will not cry. Not now, not with her—
“Let it out, Pax.” Her fingers stroked my hair. “You can still love him and be angry with him at the same time.”
I don’t know if it was the truth in her statement or the compassion in her voice, but it was as if Terri Kingston flicked a switch to the dam holding back my tears and opened the gate to the pain I’d thought I’d done so well at ignoring.
For several minutes, the ugly, wrenching sobs dredging up from my body were muted by the pouring rain. I sat there and shuddered in her arms, grateful for her comfort.
“And you know what?” she said once my crying softened, still running her fingers across my scalp. “You’re going to show the world who you are, I have no doubt. I can’t wait to watch you rise.”
I pulled back, keeping my stare on my lap, wiping my eyes with my fingertips. “Th-thank you.”
“Tell me about your life, Pax. The good, the bad, the terrible. I wanna know it all.”
“We’re going to be late if you have to sit here and listen to me ramble.”
“I don’t care.” A flash of defiance lit her irises. “As a matter of fact, I’ve never gotten a tardy, so I think I’d like to experience it for once. Imagine the look on Mom’s face when she finds out.” A devious grin tilted her mouth.
My sadness lessened and I chuckled, pulling back but taking one of her hands in mine, tracing the lines across her knuckles. I proceeded to tell her everything. From the fancy house we used to live in when everything was perfect, to the last days when I became an orphan and had to live on refuse and scraps. Through it all, she sat there and clung to my hand, her expression full of acceptance. There was no judgment in her eyes, no pity, only concern.
We were forty-five minutes late to our classes and received tardy slips along with an earful from Ms. Curtis, the office lady.
Terri grinned at me as she took her slip and whispered, “Mom’s gonna lose her shit.”
Shaking my head, I held the door open and walked her to class, unable to stop my own smile from splitting my face in two.
Chapter ten
Terri Kingston
Takingadeepbreath,I stalked toward the group of girls sitting in the bleachers next to the football field.
Katrina stood on the sidelines, calling out names.
Several girls made their way to the field.
