"Cupcakes for breakfast?" I say, taking one and giving him a kiss. "You know me so well."
He sits next to me and takes the lid off his coffee. "It's after six. You don't have much time before you have to leave for school."
"I don't think I'm going." I bite into my cupcake.
"You need to go. I don't want you falling behind because of me."
"I don't just mean today. I mean at all. I think I'm going to drop out. I'll just get my GED."
He takes the cupcake from me. "You're not doing that."
"Why? What's the big deal? A lot of people drop out."
"You're not going to be one of them. You're going to a top school, which will get you into a top college."
"I'm not going to college."
"You don't know that yet."
"Give me the cupcake," I say, reaching for it.
He holds it back. "Not until you promise me you'll finish high school."
"You want me to go back to a school where the principal turned us into the police? For something we didn't even do?"
"I'd rather have you go somewhere else but right now that's where you're going. You can't let that asshole scare you away from school."
"I'm not scared of him."
"Then prove it by going. Show up there and show him you're not afraid of him. He expects you to not show up. You really want to do what he wants you to?"
"No. I want to do the opposite."
"Then go to school. Act like nothing has changed. Don't act afraid. Don't back down. Just be your normal badass self."
I smile. "I AM a badass."
He hands me the cupcake. "Finish it up, then take the rest of it and go. I'll see you when you get home." He walks off.
"You're leaving?"
"I need to get ready. My dad's on his way back."
"Wait!" Grabbing my coffee and the box of pastries, I follow him out of the kitchen. "You gotta loff the doo."
He turns, laughing when he sees me. I stuffed what was left of my cupcake in my mouth and crumbs are falling everywhere. "I can't understand you with cupcake mouth."
"The loff!" I say, more crumbs falling out.
"The loft? I don't have a loft."
I take his hand and drag him to the door, then point at the lock. "Loff it when I leave."
He laughs. "Okay, I'll loff it." He kisses my cheek. "See ya, cupcake girl."
By the time I reach Brock's house, I've finished the cupcake and drank half the coffee. The door swings open and Maria comes out, holding a broom.
"Rumor. Why are you outside?"
