“Coward, Shortie,” Nick grunts.
“Look guys. There’s no harm here. I’m not interested in whoever this is. I have Jake, so I’m just enjoying the flowers for now. When I find out who it is, I’ll talk to them and tell them I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“You have a boyfriend?” Bay questions, looking puzzled.
I tilt my head back and close my eyes.Shit. Seb drapes his arm around my shoulder and gives me a squeeze in support. I look up at him, and he nods.
“Jake is my boyfriend and best friend from Virginia. He was in the accident with me and has been in a coma since then. I video call him every Tuesday and Friday after school.”
“I’m so sorry, Summer,” Bay replies, gently reaching out to squeeze my hand.
“Thank you for telling us,” Alex says with an understanding smile.
I look over at Nick, who seems to be puzzling something out in his head. “Okay, let’s get to class, guys,” I say, wanting to move on from questions right now. We split up, going our separate ways.
Jaxon’s lab partner is out today, so he asks to join us for lab, and I happily agree. He and Alex don’t know each other well, but we all work great together.
The librarian monitors my AP History test during AP Seminar. It’s similar to the test from Virginia, so I think I did well. That means E and Seb are probably happy.
I join Nick in walking to the gym for last period. He’s not scowling today, at least. I hear talking when I open the locker door. “Did you hear about her scars?” Cara asks. “The twins told me they were horrible.”
“Who would want someone so disfigured?” Ana adds.
“I don’t think we need to worry about Seb and E. They wouldn’t want someone so ugly,” Cara agrees.
I pretend I didn’t hear anything and go to my row to change. Different school, same crap. Little do they know, the guys have already seen my scars and haven’t treated me any differently. It still stings, though. I struggled for a long time with seeing them. I still do sometimes. Taking a deep breath, I apply my cream as they leave the room and walk out to the gym with my head held high.
After gym, I follow Jaxon to the track and join him and the distance runners today. I keep up pretty well in the first half of practice, but fall behind after that. I notice Ben and one of his friends watching me from the stands. He smirks when he notices me looking at him. Shaking my head, I ignore him for the rest of practice.
Ben is hanging out near my locker when I arrive at school the next morning. Nick is scowling at him as Bay and E walk over to Seb and me. The guys surround me as I walk, and circle me when I switch out my books for morning classes.
“Hey Summer,” Ben yells.
I ignore him as I close my locker. “Can we go to class, Alex?” I ask, not wanting to hang out with Ben nearby. He agrees. All the guys stay with us, surrounding me and walking us to AP Biology. I thank them as we enter the classroom.
“How is your recovery cream working?” Alex asks me, taking his seat at the bench.
“Great,” I smile. “I should make another batch soon.” We focus on the lecture, taking notes. Once we are free to begin our lab work, I help Alex set up.
“Do you have other recipes you have created based on plant medicine?” He asks as we begin the experiment.
“A few. I have one for bruising and another for swelling. I’ve made several tea mixtures for various things, mostly for hormone issues,” I tell him. He asks if I’ll study plant medicine in college. “I’m not sure. I haven’t given much thought to college,” I say, looking down at the bench. It’s something I should think about since I’m a junior already.
“You have time,” he tells me. I look up and see nothing but understanding in his eyes. I give him a nod and a small smile as we go back to work.
I get my history test back in AP Seminar and see a 90% written at the top. Not bad at all. School is looking up.
Lunch and AP Chemistry go by without incident, and I’m soon heading out front to meet Zander for my beginner’s test. He called the school today to let them know I’d be missing gym class,and I also told the coach. “Hey Summer,” Zander greets me as I get into the truck. “All set to get your beginner’s license?”
“Yeah, I think so. Gabby said it’s all multiple choice, so it shouldn’t be too hard.” I have to wait half an hour after we arrive at the DMV before I can complete the written test, but I'm successful. I get my picture taken and am now the proud owner of a South Carolina beginner’s driving license. Zander snaps a photo of me holding my license up with a big smile on my face and texts a copy to Sue for me.
We return to the office so Zander can finish some work, and I go for a run on the treadmill until he’s ready to leave. I shower and call Sarah while I soak in the tub when we get home. We make dinner together, then I complete my homework and I text the guys a picture of my license before bed.
Chapter 34
Seb is bouncing around when I get to school in the morning. “What’s got you excited?” I smile at him.
“Celebration tonight, Sunshine,” he tells me as he gives me a hug.
