Chapter Ten

Luke

I hung out with Brady and Jack after school, waiting for Ayla to come to the parking lot. Her dad had gotten my car fixed, so I’d have it for work tonight, but I needed a ride home first.

“Fuck, look at that kid’s teeth.” Jack socked me in the arm, pointing at some scrawny freshman boy with buckteeth. “The dude could be a damn horse.”

As the boy walked by, Jack made neighing sounds after him. Brady laughed, and I just stood there. Shit, I wanted to say something. But I didn’t need any of Jack’s unwanted attention. Sure, we were cool now, but if he dug into stuff and found out about my real home life, he’d ruin me. The kid’s ears turned pink, and he ducked his head down. My gaze followed him, and there, standing only a couple of feet from me was a very angry-looking Ayla. Shit.

She marched right past me, nudging me hard with her shoulder.

“Ayla, wait. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Ooh, someone’s in trouble now.” Jack laughed.

I ignored him and chased after her. “Ayla, come on.”

She whipped around and shoved her finger into my chest. “Your friends are being jackasses. Why the hell would you let them pick on that boy back there? Do you realize that he lost his mom to cancer this summer? That he’s been living with his grandparents?”

My mouth went dry. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…” Shit, she was super pissed off.

“No. You didn’t. You guys never do. Even not knowing about his mom, you stood there doing nothing. You’re in a perfect position to stand up for people, and others would follow your lead.” Ayla got super quiet and just stared at me.

“Whoa. Hold on a second.” God, I needed to fix this and fix it now. “I’m not a jerk. I promise, I’m not. Besides, if you had such a problem with me, then why did you want me as your ‘boyfriend’?” I held my fingers in quotations.

Her eyes narrowed, and I thought for a second that she might actually punch me in the balls. Instead she groaned and turned her back to me. “I made a big mistake.”

“I’m sorry. If you want, I’ll go find him and apologize.”

“His name is Isaac Weathers. But you wouldn’t know that, because you don’t see anyone, Luke. You hang out with people who are jerks. Your small world is just that—small.”

I don’t know what pissed me off more, the fact that she was calling me out on it, or the fact that she was right. For a moment, I stood there, stunned, staring at her. The way her cheeks turned red with irritation, the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she attempted to stay in control. Mostly, it was the disappointment in her eyes.

But why did I care what she thought? It wasn’t like we were really together. Yet, it did matter. Ayla stood for something. Lots of somethings. And me? All I worried about were things going on with me or whether or not my friends would find out the truth about my home life.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “I’ll do better. Just give me a chance here.”

“Like the same chance you gave Isaac?”

“No—I—I… Damn it. I really am sorry. I will try to fix this,” I said, and I meant it.

“Fine. I hope you will. Now come on, so we’re not late picking up your brother.” She stalked ahead of me.

Without even thinking, I rushed to catch up with her, clasping her hand in mine. Sure, I needed to smooth things over, but I also didn’t want her thinking I was a jerk, either. She whipped her head in my direction but said nothing.

When we go to her car, we climbed inside and drove to get my brother, who was more than happy to see Ayla again. The whole car ride they talked about Minecraft, until we pulled into my driveway.

“I’ve got work in about an hour. Did you want to come in for a few minutes?” The words fell from my mouth before I could stop them.

Ayla drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. But as Landon got out, he leaned over and grabbed her arm.

“Yeah, come in. I want to show you my room. I think you’ll like it.” He smiled at her.

Her gaze softened. She turned off the ignition and glanced at me. “I can only stay a couple of minutes, though. I have stuff with the paper and drama club today.”

“Sweet. Come on.” Landon took her hand, dragging her toward the house.

He really seemed to like her, unlike the other girls I’d dated over the years. Not that there’d been a ton of them. None of them came home with me; it was normally a date in the park or at the beach, and if I could afford it, sometimes a movie.

Anywhere but here.

Everyone still thought I lived up on Mansion Hill, as the locals liked to call it. It was a three-mile stretch of mansions built in a private, gated area. There was a private lake up there, which my grandparents owned part of. My dad’s place, which sat empty half the time—or so I assumed, since he had that house in Italy—was right across the lake from theirs.

Brady and Jack had houses up there, so even after Mom moved out and we took up residence in Povertyville, I got the great big reminder of what my life used to be. What it could’ve been if my dad hadn’t flaked out on my mom and found some younger woman.

I sighed and followed Landon, noticing my mom’s car in the drive. She normally worked this time of day; I wondered why she was home so early.

Nervous, I watched for Ayla’s reaction when she got inside. If she was surprised by the worn blue carpet, mismatched furniture, and the outdated paneling and appliances, she didn’t act like it. Not even when she nearly tripped over the bucket in the center of the room that was catching water from a leak in the roof, which the landlord kept promising to fix. More than likely I’d have to get up there before winter hit and check it myself.

Ayla continued to smile at Landon, who was animatedly telling her about his Star Wars toy box that was shaped like the Death Star, the one we’d found at a yard sale this summer for like two bucks. She then asked him if he’d seen her awesome Star Wars backpack. And off they went talking about more nerdy things.

As we passed by the kitchen, I saw my mom leaning against the counter, red rimming her eyes. What was going on?

I didn’t follow my brother, instead beelining to my mom. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

She stared at the counter, ripping up a tissue. “I got laid off from Wood Acres.” She sobbed. “Mildred said they just don’t have enough work for me right now. I have no idea what we’re going to do.”

My chest tightened. Fuck. This wasn’t good. “Well, you still have your job at the law firm. It’s okay.”

“But we needed the extra money from Wood Acres. I know I only got thirty hours there, but it’s what I used to cover the gas, electric, and water.” She propped her head in her hands.

I rubbed my temples. “Look, I can talk to Charlie and see if he’ll let me pick up a couple extra shifts on the weekend. I’m sure I can make up some of it.” And probably have no time to do homework. Damn it. If my dad would just step up, we wouldn’t be struggling like this.

“Luke, no. I can’t ask you to do that. It’s my job to take care of you.”

Except I knew that it’d been my checks covering groceries and the babysitting costs for Landon for the last several months. I’d been helping take care of us for longer than Mom wanted to admit.

“It’s no big deal,” I lied.

Mom and I argued about it for a few minutes, until I saw Ayla standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” she said, glancing between me and my mom. “I have to head out now. Just wanted to say good-bye.”

“I’ll walk you out,” I said.

But before I could get away, my mom spoke up. “You must be Ayla?”

“I am.” Ayla moved closer to shake my mom’s hand.

“You don’t have to leave if you don’t want.” Mom smoothed her hair back, trying to appear more composed than she was. “I was just about to get the boys a quick snack.”

“Oh, thank you. It’s just, I have play practice today. If I’m late again, my drama teacher will probably choke me.” She laughed. “Maybe next time I can stay later.”

“That would be nice,” Mom said. “You’re always welcome here.”

“I’ll see you out.” I caught Ayla’s hand in mine, right as Landon came in telling my mom all about Ayla’s bug car and how she was awesome.

When we got outside, Ayla turned to me. Her eyes bored into mine as she studied my face. “Is everything okay? Your mom seemed upset.”

I leaned back against the railing, my thumb tracing over her hand. The skin there was smooth. The wind tugged at her loose, dark curls and with it came the scent of coconut. Something about her undid me. And not in a bad way. My gaze held hers. The sincerity on her face amazed me. The worry. She was so freaking genuine. And me? I was fake. Living in some shell of my former self. Always pretending.

“My mom lost one of her jobs today,” I said.

“One of them?” Her brow furrowed.

“Yeah. She had two jobs. Since my dad doesn’t do anything to help us out, she’s been working at a couple different places to make ends meet.”

“That’s why you’re working, too, isn’t it? At Crusty’s? To help her out?” Ayla took a step closer, releasing my hand.

I shifted my eyes to my tennis shoes, which were wearing out. The mesh on the side already had a hole in it. Her arms wound around me. Startled, I just stood there as she hugged me. A lump lodged in my throat. At last, I embraced her back, letting her hold me.

What was going on with me? Why was I pouring my heart out to her? She was the enemy. Wasn’t she?

“Is there anything I can do?” she whispered.

“No.” I pulled back. “Things are just kind of complicated.”

“Luke, you’re in high school. This shouldn’t be your reality. I’m sorry. I didn’t understand before.”

“Well, I don’t exactly talk about this part of my life, you know.” I gave a gruff laugh, running a hand through my hair. “Shit. Everyone still thinks I live on Mansion Hill.”

“And you don’t correct them,” she said, watching me intently.

“No.”

She chewed her bottom lip, then said, “If you ever need to talk or something, I’m here. Just so you know.”

“Okay.”

She started to walk away, and I caught her arm. “Wait, I forgot to say thank you for today—for the rides. And for, well, listening.”

She grinned. “You’re welcome. See, aren’t I the best fake girlfriend?”

“I’m not really an expert on fake girlfriends—but you’re pretty okay.” I chuckled, watching her climb into her car. A part of me was actually sad to see her go. Which was crazy, right?

Maybe I should be more careful. This would all end after the election, and where would that leave Landon and me? We had enough disappointment in our lives. We didn’t need to add something more to it.