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She sniffled and discreetly wiped away her tears.
“Rory, have you applied for schools yet?”
She froze, her body going cold. With the craziness of joining yearbook and everything going on with Tyler and Jay, she’d let the deadlines for applying to colleges conveniently slip by. The idea of actually submitting an application made her nauseous. What she really wanted was to take a year off, figure out what she wanted to do with her life. But she was afraid to admit that truth. She’d spent years watching her mother come home looking exhausted night after night.
“Um, yes,” she lied. “I have.”
Gabi beamed, jostling Rory’s arm. “This is great news! Where? Tell me everything. Maybe we could schedule some college visits this spring.”
Rory frowned. “You’ll take off of work?”
“Of course! We’ll have a road trip, doesn’t that sound fun?”
No, she thought. But Gabi looked so happy. She didn’t want to squash it. “I applied for UCONN.”
“Of course, a good safety school,” she said. “Where else?”
She wanted to balk at her mother’s use of the term “safety school.” At this point, Rory would be thankful if UCONN even let her in. She wasn’t exactly known for being a brainiac.
She quickly racked her mind thinking of the other schools her teammates talked about applying for, listing them off. “Quinnipiac and…Northeastern.”
“Northeastern! Wow, Boston. That would be such a fun place to visit.”
Rory nodded, desperate to change the subject. “Why are you home so early?”
“Wilson’s asked if I would work the stand at the festival tomorrow,” Gabi said, her voice almost giddy with excitement. “I said yes, but only if I could go home early and hang out with my daughter.”
A smile bloomed on Rory’s face. “Really?”
“Really,” she said. “Now, where are you on your Disney list?”
She snatched her phone and pulled up the list. “The Jungle Book. I was also going to throw a frozen pizza in the oven.”
“Screw that, I ordered from Penny’s already. Is the buffalo chicken pizza still your favorite, or am I about to embarrass myself?”
It technically wasn’t her favorite anymore, but she didn’t care. After the week from hell—and the big fat lie she just cooked up—Rory was happy to finally have one thing go right. “Yeah, it is.”
* * *
Rory shuffled down the hall that Friday, feeling every ounce of dread in her chest. Tyler wasn’t at school—again—and he still wasn’t talking to her. Jay was also being cryptic in his texts, and she wondered if it had anything to do with her not agreeing to go all the way with him yet. Jay said he wanted to change, but what if all of this was a ruse to get in Rory’s pants? Just like he did with all the other girls she watched parade through his life.
The scent of roses and vanilla distracted her as she opened up her locker, coming from a tall, concerned-looking blonde who settled next to her.
Rory grabbed her coat and closed her locker. “Still no word from him?”
Zoe shook her head. “I’ve never seen him this sad. I-I don’t know what to do.”
She shoved her coat in the crook of her arm. “Yeah well, you can’t go wrong with food when it comes to Tyler. That’s always the way to his heart.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zoe replied, her face still full of concern. “Hey, do you, um, have a minute?”
Rory felt the familiar tightening in her chest. “I have to meet with Vanessa about yearbook stuff—”
“Seriously, it will only take a minute.”
Rory huffed. “Fine, what’s up?”
“Not here.”
