I could gas her up like no one else. Complimenting Isa wasn’t hard.
Meanwhile, Grace was the grinder; she wanted to do well and she demanded a lot of herself, but unlike Isa, she didn’t make it seem like academic success was a life-or-death decision. She never wavered or showed distress. Honestly, sometimes I wished she would; maybe it’d make me look better in the world’s eyes. Our parents always praised her before asking me why I wasn’t more like my sister, why I didn’t clock as many study hours as her.How do you know I haven’t?I resisted rolling my eyes.I’ve never timed myself.
The truth? The only person pushing Grace was Grace herself, and she and I were different people. I didn’t have that same horsepower when it came to school. I didn’t need to see my name on some list; I didn’t have my sights set on a killer school. College, to be real with you, didn’t interest me much. “What do you want to major in?” the seniors had started asking one another, and what the fuck, why? How were you supposed to know already?
Ultimately, I was lucky my parents didn’t complain when report card season came. I was one of those people who could get by without much cramming, so even with my humble attendance record, I had an adequate GPA. (It also helped that girls in my classes offered to let me borrow their notes.)
Everett tried to keep quiet about his grades, but again, thehonor roll revealed all. He and Grace were continually on it. “Yes, their work ethic is incredible,” I’d once heard Mrs.Adler saying to my mom. “Everett spends hours in his room each night, so it’s always nice when Grace comes over to study, too. They set up camp in the dining room and laugh like when they were little….”
Thathad been an eyebrow-raising revelation. “I’m going to Isa’s,” I’d soon noticed my sister saying some nights before zipping off in the Subaru. “I need help with calculus!”
Grace had rightfully sided with Isa in the Freshman Year Fracture, but stuff like that made me wonder if onlyhalfof her had truly chosen that side—that the other half couldn’t give up Everett, no matter how badly he’d hurt Isa. “Grace and I are still friends,” I remembered him saying in the car this morning…and me being a total asshole about it.
I’d just been preoccupied. I was always a little torqued before my morning tête-à-têtes with Principal Unger. IknewGrace and Everett were still friends.
But because of Isa and the Fracture, they couldn’t publicly show it.
Anyway, baking cookies was today’s task in family and consumer science. “What even is this recipe?” Everett muttered as he scanned it. FCS was the one class we had together (taking care of a fake baby wasnotpart of the curriculum). Being partners with Everett meant not a lot of conversation, but always an A on the assignment, even if he altered them. Because forget about our teacher, Mrs.Rogerson; for Everett,it was his mom’s way or the highway. “We’re melting the butter instead of thawing it,” he said now. “That way the cookies will be crispy instead of cakey.”
I shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
But once we’d unwrapped the two sticks of butter and nuked them in the microwave, the room’s intercom crackled to life. “Everett Adler,” we heard Mrs.Flamporis say, “please report to the main office. Everett Adler, please report to the main office.”
“What’s that about?” I asked.
Everett’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know,” he answered, spilling sugar into our mixer’s bowl. “I guess I’ll find out.”
While he gathered up his stuff, my stomach spun. Thanks to my dad, I was a decent cook, but baking? Totally different playing field. “Wait, dude, no,” I quickly said. “What am I supposed to do with all this?” I motioned to the cookie ingredients.
“Follow the recipe, James,” he said before Mrs.Rogerson handed him a hall pass. “Just follow the recipe.”
Chapter 6
Grace
I was calm while I backed the stealthily silent red Tesla out of Isa’s zigzagged maze of a driveway, and I was cool driving to school (even though I’d gottena lotof looks at red lights), but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot…
Well, let’s just say I wasn’t verycollected.
“Are you all right?” Isa asked. She was hidden under a blanket in the backseat. “I swear I heard you gulp.”
“No, that was you,” I joked anxiously, my face burning bright. Because how could Inotbe nervous? I was the student council president, who had not only skipped school but also roped my best friend into my plans. And here I was, about to walk into the lion’s den to lasso one more person into my day of debauchery.
Oh, and I looked absurd!
But then I saw it: the Subaru, sitting in my reserved presidential parking spot.
Surprisingly, my first thought wasn’t a good old sisterlyFuck you, James;instead, it was a bolsteringI can do this. I’m freaking out, but I can do this.
“Does he have any idea this is happening?” Isa asked once I’d pulled up to the front entrance’s curb. I didn’t want to waste time roving the huge parking lot for a spot and then have all the Tesla’s weird sensors go off while I tried to park.
Also, curbside meant a quick getaway.
“Sort of,” I said, but didn’t explain.Just go with it,I’d texted Everett earlier, and when he replied with a question mark:You’ll see.
“Good luck, G,” Isa whispered.
“Thank you,” I whispered back, then unbuckled my seat belt, cracked open the door, and stepped out into the sunshine.You’ll be out in no time,I told myself as I adjusted my elaborate mascot head—the plastic eyes kept fogging up from my uneven exhales—before climbing the concrete steps.You’ll be right back out, and you won’t be alone.
