Trent recited the numbers.
“Good.” Wasp mussed up his hair. “You really are a smart kid. I want you to keep saying them until you memorize them… until you can say them without looking at the paper. Think you can do that by this weekend?”
Trent nodded.
“Now you have a way to reach me if you’re ever in trouble.” He gave Trent a hug. “You go have a good day, okay? Your mom doesn’t need any calls about you misbehaving.”
Trent nodded again, and then gave me a quick hug, dodging my kisses, before he ran off.
As we walked out of the classroom, I once again laced my fingers in Wasp’s. “You know he’s gonna want to call you all the time now, right?”
Wasp shrugged. “I don’t mind talking to him.”
He didn’t get it. Trent would bug the hell out of me, but I couldn’t even be mad because the gesture was so sweet. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Trust me, I do. All the phone calls in the world are worth it if he knows he can call me if you guys are ever in trouble.”
***
Thursday morning, I was frantically searching through my purse while Trent ate breakfast. Frustrated, I dumped the contents onto the counter and sifted through it. Still no Chapstick.
Jessica strolled in and grabbed a banana, gesturing at the pile I was sweeping back into my purse. “You lose something?”
“Yes, and my lips are peeling.”
The knowing look Jessica gave me made me want to defend myself, but she was right. I had been making out with Wasp. As much as possible. Unfortunately, our visits had been restricted to the Copper Penny breakroom for the past two days, but the weekend was coming, and I was looking forward to getting some uninterrupted time with Wasp.
Trent had to sleep sometime, and when he did, I wanted my lips to be soft and ready for Wasp’s attack.
“Trent, have you seen my Chapstick?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said around a mouthful of granola.
Barely resisting the urge to rip out my hair, I asked, “Where?”
“You put it in my backpack.”
I had? Why did I have no memory of this? Since Wasp had some sort of club meeting and I didn’t have to work last night, I’d taken Trent to the YMCA after picking him up from school. We’d gone swimming, and now that he mentioned it, I did vaguely remember swiping it across his lips before we hit the locker room. But why would I stick it in his backpack? I had to be losing my ever-loving mind. No doubt daydreaming about all the things I wanted Wasp to do to me this weekend. The man had taken over my mind and body and I’d need an exorcism just so I could think straight and not tingle every time he was near.
Irritated at myself for wasting so much time searching before asking Trent, I scooped up his backpack and marched into the living room to sit on the couch as I searched through pockets.
“I have to get to work,” Jessica said, heading for the door. “You guys have a good day.”
“Thanks. You too.” I waved her off and continued my search. The Chapstick wasn’t in any of the pockets so I opened the main compartment and started yanking everything out. Clothes, papers, projects were all piled beside me as I dug. “Found it,” I shouted, holding the small tube in the air victoriously.
“Good job, Mom,” Trent said, taking another bite.
His praise made me feel ridiculously immature for freaking out about it in the first place, but I needed Wasp’s lips on mine, and nobody wanted to make out with sandpaper. Slathering my lips, I glanced at the clock on the wall. I had ten minutes to get my life together and get out the door or I’d be late. “You almost done, Trent? It’s time to brush your teeth.”
In answer, he put his bowl to his mouth and slurped down leftover milk.
I started shoving stuff back into his backpack, making a mental note to clean it out when we got home. A crisp, folded paper stuck out from the pile, catching my eye. I unfolded it to find individual letters and words cut out of a magazine or newspaper and glued on. Intrigued, I read the message.
Why did you leave? There’s nowhere you can hide that I can’t find you.
My blood turned to ice.
I read the message again.
