Saving Sloan (Sloan Series Book 2) (4 page)

“You hurt that much?”

“Don’t you?”

Yeah. Actually she did. She’d taken the pills prescribed, mindful of what the doctor had said.
Take sparingly because it could lead to dependence.
A few months ago, she’d stopped cold turkey. Mackenzie had told her on several occasions that it wouldn’t hurt her to take one when she needed it. And well… she needed it.

“Wish I had some more. Mine are gone. Prescription ran out, and I never got it refilled.”

Darcy seemed to consider that. “Here.” She turned her back to the sparsely populated hallway and poured out two pills. “Consider them a gift.”

“I can’t take those,” Sloan whispered. She’d had it drilled in her head to never take prescription medicine from someone else. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but she knew it was bad.

“Yes, you can. Here.” Darcy grabbed Sloan’s hand and dumped the two white pills into her palm. “Consider them an ‘I’m sorry’ present. You helped me so much a few months ago, even after I’d been horrible to you with your new Jesus kick.”

“It’s not a kick.”

“I know that. I understand it. And… I respect it. Just don’t ask me to come to church with you.” Darcy smiled.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” But she’d pray about it. Couldn’t stop her from doing that.

“Anyway, take the pills. I think they are supposed to be one every four hours. Or six. I can never remember. All I know is they make you feel wonderful when they are in your system. No pain, Sloan. None. We deserve it. You deserve it after what Boyd did to you. It’s not right that you have to keep suffering. Keep them and do what you want with them. Just know they help me. See ya in Biology.”

Darcy bounced off down the hall toward the far end of the school. Sloan knew it well. She’d go that direction in a second. Seeing she was the last one left on Senior Hall, Sloan grabbed her Biology book and slammed her locker door. As fast as her legs would take her, she speed-walked — running would get you a demerit — down Sophomore Hall and down the stairs to the older part of the school. If she kept going down the hallway, she’d run into the corner where she’d found out Boyd had been her attacker. Stupid. Stupid memories.

The pain pills weighed her hand down like they weighed a ton. She knew from experience they would help her. They always had in the past. Of course, she’d always been worried about getting addicted to them, but then again, Darcy admitted to taking a lot of them and she seemed fine. Honestly, that made Sloan laugh. She never thought Darcy would be a role model for anything. Whatever worked.

Trying not to give it another thought, Sloan stopped at the water fountain and threw a pill on her tongue. She swallowed it down with some water and sighed. There. Much better.

She jumped when she heard the grating voice of Tanner, druggie Tanner, behind her. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Headache pill. Regular over-the-counter headache pill,” she said quickly before walking past him and into Biology. No need for him to know what she was really taking. He’d take it too far and tell someone, not that she was ashamed. She needed the pill. She took the pill. Simple as that. Though, she could get in trouble for getting one from Darcy and not having a prescription. Now that she thought about it, she had no idea what Darcy had given her. It wasn’t like she’d seen the bottle. It might have been something totally different from what the doctor had given her.

What a great time to think of that, once the pill was already in her system.

Perfect.

She shoved the other pill in her pocket, swearing if she made it through the day alive, she wouldn’t take it. How big of an idiot could she be?

Darcy smiled when Sloan walked in. Not a mean smile or even a devilish one. It was an honest smile. A sincere one. It eased Sloan’s fears some, but not totally. Even if Darcy hadn’t meant to hurt her, the medicine might. She needed to find a time to ask her about it later. If it was the same as her doctor had prescribed, maybe it would be all right. Of all the things to have to worry about today.

Sloan found her seat in front of Ray and plopped down. She laid her book on the desktop and relaxed her shoulders. It had been a long, horrible morning.

“You’re running late,” Ray whispered in her ear, tickling it in a good way.

“You have no idea.” She turned and laid her head on Ray’s desk for a brief moment. To her surprise, he gently rubbed her hair. It felt nice. A nice change of pace.

“Tell me.”

She raised up, ready to tell him every detail. “Boyd Lawrence.”

“What?”

“He…” The bell rang, cutting her off. She gave him her best ‘I’m sorry’ look and turned toward the front. Mrs. Knight, their new Biology teacher, shut the door behind her and went to her desk to gather her book and notes. As far as teachers went, Mrs. Knight was a pretty nice one. She was fair, which Sloan appreciated. She didn’t let Darcy get away with murder, and she didn’t let Tanner run all over her. The first few subs did after Mr. Lawrence, Boyd’s father, resigned when Boyd was in the hospital. Those subs hadn’t lasted long.

Mrs. Knight had been hired a few weeks ago as their permanent teacher. So far, so good. She looked to be in her thirties, though she’d never mentioned her age. She had long black hair, definitely unnatural. She never wore it up. Sloan wondered why until one day when she pulled it up in a brief ponytail while Sloan was at her desk asking a question. Underneath at the nape of her neck, Mrs. Knight had the most awesome bright red streak ever in her hair. The school board frowned on bright, unnatural hair color. Sloan thought it was awesome. She kept it to herself, though, not wanting Mrs. Knight to get in trouble. She liked her.

Mrs. Knight settled on her stool at the front of the class and told them what page they needed to turn to. Next week, they’d start dissection. Sloan was not looking forward to it. Ray thought it would be fun, and he promised to be her lab partner so she wouldn’t have to touch the animals.

God bless Ray.

Sloan flipped her book to the page Mrs. Knight said and opened her notebook. Her grades had suffered a little after her debacle with Boyd, and she wanted to bring them back up before she went to college. Sure, it was too late for a few scholarships, but the satisfaction was for her. To know that she could do it and not let Boyd win. She wouldn’t let him take anything from her again.

A few minutes later, she felt a tapping on her lower back. She reached behind, and Ray slid a piece of paper in her hand. As stealthily as she could, Sloan opened it and put it under her book.
Boyd what? What did he do to make you late?

There was so much, too much to write on a small folded-up piece of paper.
Thought I saw him. I was wrong. Called the cops. Big fiasco. Feel like an idiot.

Sloan discretely folded the paper up again and held it behind her. Ray took it from her hand and she waited. It was difficult to focus on the innards of a pig while waiting for Ray to reply.

A sharp corner of paper poked her ribs, and she grabbed it from him.
Sure it wasn’t him?

Her eyes were sure it was him, but her brain knew better.
Yeah.

Any idea who sent the flowers yesterday?

Nope.

Think there’s a connection?

Man, she hoped not.
I don’t know. Don’t think so. Prob. Just my overactive imagination.

Ray didn’t answer her. Mrs. Knight instructed them to get out a piece of paper for a pop quiz. Sloan rolled her eyes. Of all the days not to listen.

After the horrible quiz that she needed divine intervention to pass, Sloan wanted to go home, crawl under her covers, and not come out until summer. It seemed the best course of action. Her day was shot anyway. At least she wasn’t hurting. And best of all, the pill Darcy had given her hadn’t killed her yet. Score one for her.

She packed her backpack and followed everyone else. She had every intention of grabbing Darcy and asking what the pill was she’d given her. When Sloan got in the crowded hallway, she didn’t see her.

“Who are you looking for?” Ray asked beside her.

“Nobody,” she lied. “So… how are you feeling today?” She grinned and started toward Trig. Ray followed as per usual.

“Feeling?”

“Yeah. After yesterday. Your first day being saved.”

Ray laughed and pushed his backpack up on his shoulder. “Fine. Good. I guess. I feel sort of different and sort of leery.”

“Why leery?”

“Because of what you went through when you got saved.”

“Oh.” Her shoes suddenly became very interesting to her. She’d gotten saved in August, and her life had started a downhill spiral soon after. Darcy had turned into her biggest enemy. Boyd had left her. He’d also tried to kill her, but who was keeping track of such things?

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. I know how raw it is for you.”

Raw indeed.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re having a much easier time than I did. But to be fair, you weren’t as, um, much of a bad seed as I was when I got saved. I sort of did a three-sixty overnight, and people tend to talk when that happens.”

“People talk anyway. Nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Sadly,” she agreed when they got to the door to her classroom. “But nearly getting killed isn’t the norm for getting saved.” She didn’t think anyway. “I’m sure most people are more accepting than Darcy and… uh… here’s my stop.”

“Like every day.” Ray smiled. His expression wasn’t as confident as it had been before. He shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. “Ready for Friday?”

Friday. The prom. “Yup. Got my dress. Got my hair appointment. Got my dancing shoes. I’m ready to roll.”

“Red, right? Your dress is red?”

She nodded. “Candy apple red. I’ll stand out like a sore thumb, which one should do when going to the biggest dance of one’s life with a huge, hideous scar on one’s cheek.”

Sloan hated that scar. Boyd couldn’t walk forever, and she’d have that ugly scar… forever. It didn’t seem fair.

Ray’s fingers lightly drug across the raised skin on her cheek. It always made her self-conscious when he did that. Ray was as cute as ever with his big blue eyes and California-blond hair. He hadn’t changed. She wished she could say the same for herself.

“I don’t think it’s hideous. Sticks out more today, though.”

She moved back, and his hand fell away. “I didn’t have time to put on my heavy-duty foundation. This is it in all its glory.”

Ray leaned toward her and gently kissed the scar. Her breath caught, and her eyes fluttered. She hadn’t been kissed since her incident. The self-conscious part worried about how she looked up close. The human part, the girl in her, swooned a little. His breath tickled her skin in a very good way.

“Finally. Been wanting to do that for a while.” He grinned down at her.

So close. So close.

Now she knew why he’d been so nervous. He’d had that planned all along. She couldn’t think of any coherent words to say. She liked Ray. She really did. But she liked Aaron too. She didn’t want to pick. Why couldn’t things stay like they had been? Why couldn’t they all three just stay together and do things together and not have to change? She’d changed enough for a lifetime.

“It was just a kiss, Sloan,” Ray said, reading her mind. “I’m not asking you to marry me. I wanted to show you the scar doesn’t bother me.”

She tried very hard to smile. It probably came out all wonky. “I know. It bothers me though.”

People streamed past them, watching and gawking. They weren’t the first two people to kiss in school — most did worse. But they were the only two doing it at the moment. Plus, since her big falling out with Boyd, people tended to think they deserved to know every ounce of her love life — or lack thereof.

“Thank you though. For the kiss.” No need in him going off to his next class upset or thinking she was mad at him. She wasn’t mad. Well, she was. She was mad at herself for acting like an ungrateful, depressed person when Ray had done something so nice for her.

“You’re welcome. Well…” He backed up and put his hands in his jean pockets. “So… red.”

“Red. Red dress.”

“Red flower.”

She raised a brow.

“Flower. Corsage. Not like the weird flowers in your car… which were also red. Yeah. I’m going to stop now. See you later.” He left before she could say anything.

The bell rang, forcing her to move into the classroom. This had seriously been the weirdest day.

The weirdness got better. Thankfully. Lunch with Mackenzie and Ray went fine. Neither mentioned the kiss, so Sloan tried not to read too much into it. In high school terms, a chaste kiss on the cheek meant squat. It wasn’t like they’d made out in the old boiler room. She eased around Ray and got back into her old, comfortable rhythm. No need to get worked up over something as simple as a peck on the cheek. Still, she could do worse than Ray.

Much to her over-joyment, the three o’clock bell rang, and she got ready to go home. Ray met her outside sixth period class and walked with her to Senior Hall. “Wanna come over tonight and work on our Biology homework?”

“Yeah. I can I guess. It doesn’t seem too hard. The worksheets are the easy part. The dissecting the pigs…” she shivered. “I’m glad you’re my partner, my non-squeamish friend.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He smiled. “Want me to wait for you?”

She placed her fingers on the combination lock on her locker. “Nah. I’ll grab some burgers for us and meet you at your house.”

“Tired of my cooking?”

She laughed. “No. Just tired of not contributing. You feed me much more than I feed you.”

“Yeah, but you bless me with your company, so I’d say it’s even.” He leaned down and placed his lips on her forehead. “See you at home.”

He strolled away, leaving her there all dumbfounded. Two kisses in one day. Ray better not be getting serious about her.

She didn’t know how long she’d stood there staring like an idiot because when she snapped out of it, she was the only one left in Senior Hall. Groaning, she twisted the combination to her locker and yanked it open. Sitting on top of her books were four long-stemmed roses, their stems wrapped in a black ribbon and tied with a bow.