“Jamie . . .” I demanded, using the term of endearment that the girls often called him.
“You really wanna know? Buckle up because it’s a long story. Taylor is breathing down my neck because if her dad finds out about the pistol, he’ll kill her. I have to keep coming here every night to sell this shit, but I take more than I sell. I have to keep an eye on Will because he’s home alone and his parents aren’t there. My dad is a pain in the ass, and as if that isn’t enough, I won’t graduate if I don’t keep studying. And then, I never see my brother . . .”
He stopped to take a deep drag from his vape pen.
“God, do you see what a fucking whiner I’ve become?” he added reluctantly as the smoke came out of his lips.
“Can’t you offer Austin money in exchange for the pistol? Can’t you ask your dad?”
I tried to find the most obvious solution.
“What if he asks who I owe such money to? What do I tell him? The truth?”
“Shit, no.”
“Besides, Austin and his family don’t give a fuck about money. They want to be sure that I keep my mouth shut. That’s why they’ll never leave me alone.”
“We should’ve never asked for help from people like them,” I complained, as James started to bite his index fingernail with his incisors.
“No.”
“But it was Will. You weren’t even the one to call him, James.”
“We were together.”
“Yeah, but you did it for them, and now you’re the only one paying the consequences.” I passed him my drink, which he quickly grabbed.
“The only positive thing is that the asshole principal is doing what we ask him to do. Do you think Blaze suspects anything?”
I shook my head hurriedly. “The principal knows we attacked him but doesn’t understand why.”
“How do you know?”
“I know, and that’s all. Wanna go back inside, James?” I cut him off to shut the conversation down.
“Marvin was drooling over every waitress that passed us by, and all Will did was stare at his phone. Does it look like I wanna go back inside?” He passed me the drink, and we started laughing.
39
June
“So dinner at your place tomorrow is confirmed?” I asked William as I made the bed.
I’d spent the afternoon cleaning my room too. Supereventful. I hope it served a purpose after the fight with my mom, but I wasn’t too sure about it.
“I’ll let you know later. Are you free tonight?”
“For what?” I asked with a smile creeping on my lips.
“To see you, even if it’s just for an hour. Yesterday we were around too many people.”
“Okay, let me know.”
I couldn’t stop smiling, thinking about the kiss we’d shared at Tropical.
“Mom?” I called, in search of the ferocious beast.
She immediately recognized my lost puppy voice. “Don’t even think about it. You’re not going out tonight.”
