Two

Robin

Only three members of the team wanted to see the game with me. I should have known they wouldn’t be interested. I didn’t know if it was worth the time, but honestly, we couldn’t suck any worse than we did right now.

I could have gone to the game without telling Carla. It would’ve been simple to do, and I could take the chance that she either wouldn’t see me or she wouldn’t be there. But I didn’t love the lecture I’d receive from my mom if Carla told her I didn’t want to spend time with her. Not that I believed my cousin felt that way, but despite all the evidence stating otherwise, my mother would believe the lie. Mostly because she wanted Carla to care.

I sent a quick text to my cousin that said some girls from my team and I plan to go to a Morgan High basketball game.

I didn’t give any more details, and I hoped that she’d either miss the text or ignore it. Instead, my phone rang immediately, and I groaned as her name flashed across my screen.

“Hey Carla,” I said.

“I can’t believe you want to go to one of our games. This is perfect timing.” Her voice was way too chipper.

Her words made my stomach sink. “Why is this perfect timing?”

“Don’t be silly. Prom is coming up, and we can find you the perfect date. Since you don’t have a prom to go to, I know you’ve been upset about it.”

Ugh. I hadn’t thought about prom. I really didn’t care. “My homeschool group holds a prom. So I’m good there.” I told her.

It was a small, intimate gathering at a hotel ballroom. I’d gone last year as a junior, and Ryan had gone with me. We’d had a blast hanging with my homeschool friends. I’d go again this year, and unless something crazy happened, I’d drag Ryan along with me.

“Yeah, but that’s not a real prom. You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”

“If I don’t know, then am I really missing out?” I hated how she assumed our prom was inferior to hers, or that I even wanted to go to either one.

She giggled a fake laugh and said, “Oh silly Robin. Of course you want the whole high school experience. You can come to the basketball game next week and I’ll introduce you to some guys. We’ll find you the best prom date ever.”

“Don’t go to any trouble. I’m only there to watch basketball to help our team improve. That’s it.” I couldn’t wait to tell Ryan that Carla wanted to set me up. We’d probably laugh ourselves silly. I could only imagine the kind of guys she’d choose. If they were anything like her, they’d be superficial rich kids with more money than sense.

“But we have some really hot guys. I’m sure as soon as you see them, you’re going to fall instantly in love.”

I laughed at her statement. The girl really didn’t know me at all. I’ve had a few crushes in the past, but I’d never seriously been interested in a guy. Falling instantly in love with someone wasn’t in my DNA.

“I’m so excited.” Obviously, Carla hadn’t paid attention to anything I’d said. “This is going to be so much fun, and I know our moms will love helping us go to prom together.”

“Don’t say anything about prom to my mother.” The last thing I needed was for her to get our parents involved. “Or your mother, either. I’m not planning on going to prom with you.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “But I won’t say anything to our parents yet. It would be much more fun to surprise them when you have a date.”

I needed to cut this off before she became even more ridiculous and started planning weddings. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll text you later for details about the game.”

“Perfect,” she said. “That will give me plenty of time to find you the best prom date.”

I hung up the phone and dropped it on my bed. I didn’t think this day could get any worse. And maybe if I cocooned myself in my bedroom, I could prevent more bad news from coming my way.

I sent a text to Ryan and told him that Carla decided to find me a prom date. I waited for him to text or call back because I knew he’d want all the details. When he didn’t respond immediately, I checked the message to make sure it had sent. I checked the bars to make sure the signal was strong enough, and it was.

It was totally unlike Ryan to ignore my message. Unless something was happening with his family.

It had been a couple of months since his brother had gotten into any serious trouble, but now I wondered if he’d done something again.

The longer I went without a response, the more nervous I became. Whenever Matt screwed up, it was usually a big deal, and Ryan was always dragged into the drama.

After 20 minutes when he hadn’t responded, I sent another text. “I’m always by your side.”

That way, he knew I was thinking of him and would be there if he needed me.

But he didn’t text me the rest of the night. Whatever happened was really big. And really bad.

And I was really concerned about my best friend.

Ryan

Robin and I always had breakfast on her closed-in back porch. I’d left several boxes of cereal at her house and gave them money for my share of the milk. Occasionally, Robin would cook a hot breakfast and give me part of what she fixed.

Today was one of those days. As soon as I entered the back porch from their backyard, I could smell bacon. “Wow, this is a surprise.”

Robin motioned for me to sit and set a plate before me with eggs, bacon, and toast. Then she gave me a large glass of orange juice. “Is there a special occasion I missed?” I teased her.

“No. Just thought you could use an I appreciate you meal. Since you didn’t text back last night, I assumed Matt had gotten into trouble again.”

“Yep,” I said and dug into the piping hot eggs. “Got kicked out.”

“Again? I was hoping Fairview could handle him.”

“Apparently not.” I refused to look her in the eyes and focused on my breakfast.

“They’re running out of local schools,” she said, and I laughed. It wasn’t really funny, but sometimes I laughed whenever I was stressed.

“Yep, and some of them refuse to take him.”

“What a mess,” she said and began eating her own breakfast. “Well, here’s something to cheer you up. I talked to Carla last night, and she took a simple statement about going to a game and turned it into a prom date.”

I laughed again, and this time it was funny. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope, she wants to set me up and everything. You know, to make up for my deficient life.”

“She should mind her own business,” I grumbled. Maybe because I was still upset about our moving or because I was holding out information from my best friend, but I was suddenly in a worse mood. “You don’t need a prom date.”

“She insists I need to go to Morgan High’s prom, and she wants to introduce me to all these guys.”

“Morgan High,” I scoffed.

“Can you imagine the losers she wants to introduce to me?”

I forced a smile onto my face. “Right. Losers. A huge waste of your time.” I shoved more food into my face, though my stomach was protesting.

“I’m hoping she’ll drop it when we go to the game next week.”

The game. At Morgan High.

I’d promised to be by Robin’s side, and I’d never let her down, but I didn’t know how I was going to walk into that school, knowing I might soon be the freak that everyone pitied for starting school with only a few months left in the year. This was ridiculous. If Robin knew what was happening, I was sure she’d let me beg off.

But I couldn’t tell her. Saying it out loud made it feel real, and I wasn’t ready for this nightmare to become a reality. I didn’t have to tell her at this moment. I had a little time. I’d tell her eventually, just not right now.

“A lot can happen in a week,” I said. “Maybe she’ll move on to some pet project.”

“I can only hope,” she said.

“You could always tell her we’ve agreed to go to prom together,” I offered. We hadn’t really talked about it, but I’d assumed I’d go to her prom with her, just like last year. I didn’t care about going to my own. Most of my friends were single and were either pairing up to have a date or going as a group. I didn’t like dancing or dressing up, so it seemed like a huge waste of time to me. Plus, Robin didn’t know most of my school friends, and I wouldn’t want her uncomfortable by going with me.

“I can try,” Robin said. “But I’m not sure that will work. She’d probably say that I could still take you to my prom and go to her prom with whatever hunk she picked out for me.”

I forced my back teeth to relax where they had gritted together. There was no doubt Carla would find some good-looking jock to be Robin’s date. “You might like him,” I blurted out the thought that had popped into my head.

“Very doubtful,” she smiled at me, and I felt some of the tension ease in my body.

Robin had a way of making me relax. When she smiled like that, the world just felt like a nicer place.

I grinned back at her and dug into the breakfast she’d made for me. “This is amazing. Maybe you should look into culinary school.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just because I’m good at it doesn’t mean I want to do it all the time.”

I knew she’d say that. In fact, she said that about quite a few things. And I loved that I knew that about her. That she and I understood each other better than anyone else in the world.

That’s why I knew she’d flip out at my news, and why I couldn’t tell her just yet. She’d be upset until all of this was settled, and she already had enough on her mind. I’d tell her really soon. But for now, I just wanted to enjoy moments like this.

Because who knew how much longer I’d have them.