Jen found Abe alone in his room, stretched out on his bed with his computer on his lap. He was so absorbed in his programming that he didn’t notice her in the doorway.
She smiled, watching him type, chuckle at the screen. “What’s so funny?”
He slammed shut the top of the computer. “Nothing.”
“Where’s your Foxhole buddy?” Jen pointed to the beanbag chair.
“Do you mean Laurel Perley?” Abe said. “She’s not my Foxhole buddy.”
“Oh? What’s her title then?”
“Either a nullity”—Abe tilted his head—“or an enemy.”
“But, but, but,” Jen sputtered, “she was just here, debating which takeout place to order from.”
“Everyone needs fuel,” he said flatly. “Sharing a physical location does not confirm friendship.”
“What happened this time?”
“You saw what you wanted to see.”
“Laurel’s a sweet kid, Abe. She’s not Harper French, and if you can’t maintain a friendship with her, then—”
“Laurel is more like Harper French than you think. Remember how Harper used to smile and feign kindness only to lure me into the group so they could be really mean to me?”
“You’re saying that Laurel lures you into a group to be mean?” Jen looked around the empty room. “What group?”
“Laurel has ulterior motives. She is false pretense personified.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“I’m happy to stop talking about it.”
“What happened?”
“I told her to leave.”
“But why? Was there a disagreement? Did you ask Colin to help mediate whatever it was?”
“Colin.” Abe snorted. “I’ve started to doubt his intelligence.”
“Abe, you get stuck in patterns with people, and if you don’t learn how to change them—”
“Then I won’t have a pretend friend like Laurel, who excels at acting all phony-nice.”
“After his appointment, I’m sure Colin will help smooth things over, whatever this is.”
“What appointment?”
“Remember, for his ulcer? Mrs. Gallegos got him an appointment with that doctor and he’s taking the next couple of days off.”
“What ulcer?”
“Abe! He’s been walking around like this.” Jen hunched over in pain. “How did you miss it?”
“I don’t need him to smooth things over. I have a plan.”
Jen felt light-headed. She gripped the molding around his doorway for support.
“It’s legal,” Abe clarified. “On a literal level, no one will be harmed.”
“They better not be, if you have any desire to get your hands on that monitor.”
Abe scowled at her. “You always side with everyone else. It’s a bit unmaternal. And no matter what you think, I have the right to express my anger.”
“Anger about what?”
“Using people is not okay, and Laurel needs to understand that.”
“Using you? But for what?”
“This conversation is going nowhere,” he said.
Jen couldn’t really argue with that.