I hear a muffled groan through the door. “No.”
“I’ll take you to Diane’s.”
More heavy sighs. But within a few minutes, Jared has somehow managed to pull on jeans, slap a baseball hat over his matted hair, and look presentable enough to be seen in public.
“Good enough?”
I throw my hands up. “Good enough. Let’s go.”
When we get to Diane’s I grab my and Adam’s booth, the one with the thick crack down the middle of one seat, and shuffle all the way in so my shoulder knocks the wall. Jared does the same.
“Well, what did I do to deservebothNewmans today?” Diane asks, grinning. Her red mountain of hair is particularly voluminous today, nestled against her waitress’s cap, and her skinis dewy and flushed, like she’s been rushing around since dawn. “Such a delight, you two!”
Jared’s face turns red and I laugh. “You know you’re the best person in this town, Diane?”
“Don’t I know it!” Diane throws her head back and shimmies her shoulders. Someone behind the griddle lets out a guffaw. “What’ll it be?”
“Diane’s Home Plate for me,” Jared says. “And a coffee.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Since when do you drink coffee?”
Jared shrugs, his face still pink.
“Look how sleepy he is,” Diane says. “He needs it. The usual, dear?”
I nod and Diane winks as she walks away.
“I can’t believe you have ausualhere,” Jared says, lifting his fingers to form air quotes. “Guess you’re here a lot.”
“Sometimes.” A silence extends between us and I glance up above Jared’s head, where Shaila smiles back at me from inside the Gold Coast Prep frame. Her head rests on Graham’s shoulder and he’s smushed up against Rachel’s side. He and Rachel look so obviously related with their hair parted the same way, their angular jaws.
Jared turns to look, too. “Must be weird, huh?” he asks.
Before I can respond, Diane comes back with our mugs. While she pours the coffee, I peek out the window. The sugar maples that line the parking lot have turned a deep cherry red. They’re so bright they look fluorescent. Neon, maybe. Even in here, the air smells like fall, crisp and biting.
“Thanks, Diane,” I say. She tips her little white cap and disappears into the kitchen.
“I saw that article about Shay,” Jared says. His voice is small.“Is that why you wanted to come here? To talk about it?”
My chest tightens. I never even thought to talk to Jared about Graham or Shaila or Rachel’s texts. I shake my head but can’t figure out what to say.
“You must miss her,” he says.
“I do. So much.” I blink back tears. This was not how I wanted this to go. “But don’t worry about all that,” I say. “The police are on it. We have to trust they’ll figure everything out.”
“I guess.”
I take a deep breath and tuck my hair back behind my ears. “So, how’s school?” I ask.
“Fine,” he says. “But...”
“But what?”
Jared sighs, letting out a whoosh of air, like a balloon being deflated. “I feel like I’m gonna fail bio.”
“What?” I lean in closer. The edge of the table digs into my ribs.
Jared looks down and taps his fingers against his mug. “I don’t know. It’s just so hard. Not my thing.”
