“Gotta pee,” she mumbled, kissing me before starting for her bathroom.
I gave myself a moment to watch her walk away.She was dressed in a small tank top and a pair of tiny sleep shorts that sculpted her ass, highlighting the perfect amount of jiggle as she bounced through the bathroom door and closed it.When she practiced for cheerleading, dance, or gymnastics, that ass held my full attention.
With that tantalizing sight out of view, I kick-started myself into gear.Downstairs, Hayat and Abi were on the couch watching cheesy rom-coms.Hayat was stuffing a slice of pizza into her mouth while Abi sat beside her, legs tucked under her, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl.
Lifting her head, she gave me a tiny smile that didn’t come close to reaching her eyes.She had dark shadows under her eyes, and there was a fragility to her that gave me pause.I hadn’t seen her in months, although we’d exchanged texts a few times a week while she was away, but there sure as hell hadn’t been a haunted quality to her the last time I’d set eyes on her.
“Hey,” she said, her voice weak, tiny.Broken.
Another itch began deep in my brain, not as intense as when Ali caused it, but there, nonetheless.This girl and Hayat were important to Ali, which meant they were important to me, and while it was a flip of a coin how I felt about Hayat most days, I would never hesitate to protect Ali’s big sister.
“Roanna sent Ali’s favorite chicken noodle soup with crusty bread.There’s also pizza.”Hayat pointed toward the kitchen with the crust of her current slice.“Kin left with my mom about half an hour ago.And Jace is at First Bass with my dad.Something about a casual band meeting with TK.”
“Okay.”I gave Abi one more searching glance before continuing into the kitchen.If she needed me to take care of whoever might have hurt her, she knew all she had to do was ask.She and Hayat were pretty independent, though.Those two were always going off on their own little adventures, with Maddie Dawson tossed into the mix on occasion.I liked Abi and Hayat better without the third wheel of the blond girl, however.I had sympathy for her mental health struggles over the years, but I wasn’t a fan.
Maybe it was because I hung back and saw a view of her that everyone else was too close to see, but Maddie liked drama a little too much, in my opinion.Kind of like it was an addiction to her.After all the mental health specialists I’d been “encouraged” to see over the years, I was aware there were some people who were, in fact, addicts to the highs and lows that came with conflict.It was a trauma response and not necessarily a conscious choice.
That was where I saw the difference between Maddie and Caprice.Maddie had been through a lot.She probably didn’t even understand that some or all the things she did—constantly creating chaos, her unhealthy relationships with guys, the thrill she got out of working in crisis-management situations—were triggered by her rocky past.Meanwhile, Caprice was nothing more than a drama queen who knew exactly what she was doing to get attention.
Neither girl would be on my list of favorite people, but I’d take Maddie over Caprice because Maddie had the potential to change with the right professional help.No amount of therapy or intervention would stop Caprice from being a bitch.
Finding a tray in the pantry, I grabbed a bowl of soup for Ali, along with a few of the flaky rolls she loved.Cookies from the same restaurant were in a box, so I grabbed four of them.Stuffing a slice of pizza in my mouth, I moved toward the stairs.
In the short time I’d been in the kitchen, Abi had fallen asleep with her head on Hayat’s shoulder, while Hayat texted someone named Sparks.I’d seen the name at the top of her screen but not what she was writing.It was an unusual name, which didn’t mean much of anything, given some of the kids I attended school with.Considering how much shit I’d gotten for my name when I was younger, I wasn’t going to judge anyone else’s moniker.
Upstairs, Ali was sitting in the middle of her bed.As I kicked the door shut behind me, she jumped at the sound.I tensed, pausing to watch her.Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, her skin back to that sickly gray color, eyes weirdly bright while simultaneously looking dull.How the fuck was that even possible?Yet it was, because I saw it.
Crossing to the end of her bed, I placed the tray down and took hold of the crust of my pizza slice.Chewing slowly, I continued to watch her sitting there, breathing hard, looking…off.That itchiness in my brain increased.I was missing something.Ali was tense, her entire body strung like a too-tight guitar string.
“You gonna tell me what’s wrong?”I finally asked, swallowing the food in my mouth before taking another bite, waiting.
“Just…” Her shoulders drooped, her hair falling forward to curtain around her face.“School.I’m stressed from classes and…everything.”
“Why?”
Ali swallowed hard, the sound of her gulp loud in the bedroom as I kept my eyes locked on her.“I got behind in biology.Now I’m struggling.A lot.If I don’t finish the semester strong, I’m going to fail the class, and Mom will make me skip the tour.Do summer classes.”
Tears dripped down her face, and the sight of them and the obvious worry in her voice tightened a knot in my stomach.Dropping down on the bed beside her, I pulled her head to my chest.A shuddery breath left her as she hugged my waist.“We can figure this out,” I assured her.“I’ll help you with your coursework.Get you through the next two weeks.Whatever you need, I’m here.”
She sagged against me.“And if I don’t pass?If I can’t figure this out?”
“Then we make a new plan.We find a solution.Together, daisy girl.”I kissed the top of her head, my mind already running through the options, moving things around, shifting new goals into focus.Derrick wouldn’t be going on the summer tour.He didn’t always travel with London when the Blondes went on tour.It was a possibility that I’d explore further if or when the need arose.
Until then, we took this one day at a time.
Whatever happened, whatever I had to do, I would make it work.There was no version of the future that included me spending an entire summer away from Ali.I could barely handle a week sometimes.
Ali
I wasn’t feelingthe best the next morning, but I got up and went to school.Lying in bed wasn’t going to magically solve the ever-growing list of problems I was currently faced with.Falling behind in my other classes definitely wouldn’t help.
Focusing on the positive, I kept my head down as I worked my way through the morning.Confirmation that Mr.Gaviria was my stalker was a good thing.Even if it made my stomach sour every time I remembered that little detail.I needed to find more intel on the school’s newest hire.
He was the gym teacher and one of the basketball team’s assistant coaches—that, I already knew.The basketball thing hadn’t made sense when he’d first arrived at our private academy.He wasn’t overly tall, and from the few times I’d seen him practicing in the gym with the team, the guy didn’t have great skills.I put it down to it being one of the smaller duties for his job since the rest of the coaching staff was well-known in the college and pro basketball circles.
Basketball was the sport our school was known for.They gave scholarships to entice some of the lower-income local talent to play for our team.Outside the gym was a glass display case with all the championships the team had won since the school was founded, and with the exception of a few years, it was fairly consecutive.The head coach’s salary alone rivaled that of the highest-paid college basketball coach.
Gaviria could barely make a single basket during the practices I’d observed.Evan had been almost as baffled as I was.From first glance, it was easy to see that the man was fit.He wore polos with the school’s emblem on them that stretched tight over his arms and chest and track pants every day.Many of the upperclassmen girls drooled over the sight of his biceps and how the material stretched over his muscles.I’d barely given him a glance since his arrival, but a few times, I’d thought his clothes were a size too small on purpose to make him look bigger and more cut than he really was.
