“Uh, no. But I’ll be helping out.”
“Really? Helping out how?” He’s probably worried I’m going to screw up his game or something.
I stand up a little straighter and say, “Not sure, but whatever Coach needs.”
“Just don’t get in the way. You won’t be the teacher’s pet out on the course,” he says, then moves past me to join his group at the table in the other room, not even bothering to say bye.
I sink down into the nearest chair. How could this one class have turned into such a disaster?
I’ll have to call Mom and tell her what’s going on. There’s no way I can miss all those parties without her knowing. And she’ll for sure know when my phone is at the Ellerbe Hills all day for four days in a row.
But I absolutely hate telling her this. Hate that she’ll know how close I came to almost screwing everything up. Jake is the screwup in our immediate family, not me. I mean, I love him, but it’s the truth! Jake is the one who will take five to six years to get his degree—if he finishes!—not me. He’s the one who breaks his leg because someone dares him he can’t climb up the side of his fraternity house. I’m the easy one. The good one. The one who has it all figured out. The one most like Mom.
I know what Mom will say:
I told you not to do an off-campus class.
You took on too much this semester.
I knew this was too much.
We’re on our way home.
It’s that last one that really gets me. It took forever to get her to agree to let me stay home alone while she and my dad were gone. If I tell her what happened, she’ll be on the road back immediately because this will be all the proof she needs that I’m not responsible enough to take care of myself. As if her being home would change this situation at all.
I will never hear the end of this. Ever. I mean, it’s not like I can get Sophie and Charlie and Wes to cover for me. There’s no way I could be at the country club all week while they man my phone and be me.
It would be dumb to try to do that.
Dumb.
My thumb hovers above Mom’s number in my contact list, and I can feel heat rising up my chest. Suddenly I stand back up.
I’m about to be dumb and pray that Charlie, Sophie, and Wes will be dumb with me.
I head straight to Nonna’s and find the three people I’m looking forsitting at her kitchen table. Nonna and Papa’s shop, Greenhouse Flowers and Gifts, is closed on Mondays (except during the holidays), so it’s not unusual to find a crowd here for lunch.
“What’s up?” I say when I come through the back door.
A chorus ofHeys bounces through the room. Papa is also here, along with Charlie’s little sister, Sara, and his parents, Uncle Charles and Aunt Ayin, who must also be off work today. Charlie’s parents met when they both worked for Doctors Without Borders in the Philippines, where Charlie’s mom is originally from. Now they work for a local hospital, but I can never keep up with their crazy schedule.
There are three large pizzas spread out along the counter with breadsticks and cheese sauce. It’s rare that Nonna doesn’t cook, even if it’s only lunch. “Pizza?” I go straight for a paper plate before I even hear why there’s takeout. “Oh, Sweep the Kitchen. My favorite.”
“Mom had a meeting at church about the reception for the bishop,” Uncle Charles says.
The new bishop is about the only thing that would get her out of the house during mealtime.
“I had to threaten them within an inch of their life to make sure they left you a piece or two,” Sophie says.
“You were supposed to be here an hour ago,” Charlie adds. “We can’t be blamed if you’re late.”
Wes pushes the box of breadsticks to me. He waits until I’m at the table next to him and leans close to whisper, “Did you get it all worked out?”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Funny you should ask. It’s a little more complicated than I thought it would be.”
Our eyes dart around the room, none of us wanting to bring it up in front of the others. We make a silent agreement to talk about it once we’re back at my house.
The back door opens and Aunt Maggie Mae and the Evil Joes walk inside. Looks like Leo must have gone back home since he’s not with them.
