The Queen B* and the Homecoming King (16 page)

I grinned and chased after him.

***

Later that night,
Richard called me. “So, how did it go?” I asked when I answered the phone.

“Um, interestingly well?” he replied, sounding hopeful. “I mean, she’s still pissed at you, but I was able to tell her what really happened that night and that the only reason you went out with that douchebag was to make Brett jealous.”

“And what did she say to that?”

“She was still angry that you went out with him,
but when I told her how he’d tried to rape you…” Richard’s voice drifted off, and I could picture him on the other side of the line trying to figure out the most tactful way to put things. “Well, I wonder if there was more to their ‘date’ than what she shared with us.”

“Meaning?”

“I don’t know, Alexis. I mean, she seemed to withdraw when I told her what he did to you. Almost curl up into a tiny
ball. Then she told me to get the fuck out, which ended the conversation.”

So my gut had been right, and I wasn’t the only one who was worried that Gavin had done something to Morgan. “You don’t think he did the same to her?”

“First off, Morgan had been wanting to jump his bones from the moment she saw him, so I don’t think he needed to get her drunk to get her in his bed.” Richard paused. “But
something seems off about all this, starting with the report of their date a few weeks ago.”

I replayed the conversation at the fro-yo place a few weeks ago. Morgan admitted she’d slept with him, but even then, I noticed something was off in the way she described the date. Morgan enjoyed sex. Usually, she gushed about her latest conquests, providing a healthy helping of too much information about
the guy. Stuff I really didn’t need to hear about. But when she’d described her one date with Gavin, she seemed almost…bored.

“Think we need to corner her for an intervention?” I suggested, my stomach queasy at the thought of Gavin having done something to hurt her.

“Maybe, if we can do it after debate team practice, and if we can ever catch her at home.” Stress tightened Richard’s reply,
raising his voice a little. “And then there’s Homecoming, and damn it, Alexis, I know I need to help with Morgan, but I’m feeling so
overwhelmed
.”

“Join the club.” So far, I hadn’t told anyone other than Dad about Mom and Pete. If his response was any indication, my friends would be equally tripping at the news. “You’ve done what you could. Maybe I need to be the one to kidnap her and force the
truth from her. After all, I only have four classes this semester, and you have six.”

“And the debate team,” he reminded me, pride replacing the earlier tension.

“Which you so rightfully earned.” A smile tugged at my lips. I was proud of him. He’d faced his fears and doubts. He focused on what was really important to him, what he wanted above all else, and he got it.

A knock sounded at my
door, and I looked up to find Taylor peeking in.

Taylor never knocked.

Something had to be seriously off in her self-absorbed universe for her to evoke some semblance of politeness. I could only assume it was connected to Mom’s big announcements.

“I’ve got to go, Richard,” I said, my gaze never straying from my sister. “See you tomorrow.”

Even after I hung up, Taylor stayed where she was,
silently waiting for my invitation like a vampire in those old tales. If I let her in, would she suck me dry?

We stared at each other for nearly a minute before I decided to end the standoff. “Come in.”

“Gee, took you long enough.” Taylor flounced onto my bed, splaying across the comforter with one arm flung dramatically across her eyes. “We so need to talk.”

“About what?” It was far easier
to ask directly than guess and potentially offer up information I didn’t want her passing on to Summer.

“Mom.”

My guard lowered ever so slightly, and I sat up straighter. “Where do you want to start?”

Taylor snapped her head up. “Well, for starters, having a baby? At her age? Do you have any idea what my friends will say?”

“I thought you’d be more worried about losing your place as the baby
of the family.”

“Don’t even get me started on that. I already have it out for this kid, and it’s not even here yet. I mean, I totally expect Mom to try to turn me into her free babysitter, and my social life is already too full as it is. How am I going to make head cheerleader if I’m stuck at home changing poopy diapers?”

“Well, that helps me narrow down my college choices a bit.”

Hope softened
Taylor’s ire. “You mean you’d be willing to stay at home to help out so it doesn’t all fall on me?”

“Nope. It just means I’m going as far away as I can.”

Taylor grabbed my pillow and bopped me on my head. “Not funny. I’m being serious here. And then there’s Mom getting all fat and pregnant. My guy friends think she’s a MILF, and if they see her like that, they won’t want to come over.”

“Probably
a good thing. Plus, they can witness what happens when they have unprotected sex.”

We were both dancing around the subject neither one of wanted to broach, which was Pete. It had been just us girls for so long that having a guy here would destroy the dynamic we’d built. No more running around in our underwear while we were getting ready in the morning. No more leaving tampon boxes out in the
bathroom. No more counters covered with makeup and beauty supplies. No more girls’ movie nights where we gathered on the couch with popcorn to watch movies with super-thin plots but lots of eye candy.

Our home was being invaded by an XY.

That is, if we didn’t have to move to his place.

I decided I’d try to get the conversation rolling. “Has Mom mentioned what’s going to happen after the wedding?”

Taylor shook her head and inspected her flawless manicure. “He lives in Kirkland.”

Translation: He lives two towns over, which would mean we’d have to change schools if Mom moved in with him. And Taylor would lose all the momentum she’d built the last year and a half kissing the popular kids’ asses.

“You can infiltrate the in-crowd there. You already know what games to play.”

“I’m being serious
here, Lexi! Mom is trying to ruin my life, and maybe you don’t care because you’re on your way out of here, but I have almost three more years of high school. I refuse to be the new kid. This guy is threatening to turn my life into a living hell.”

“You have no idea what a living hell is, Taylor. I’ve been there—remember?”

She guiltily looked up at me through her lashes. I didn’t need to mention
what Summer and her cronies had done to me throughout junior high. I didn’t even need to mention the bullshit Richard was going through thanks to those harassing notes in his locker. Taylor had always been near the top of the social pyramid, had always been one of the popular kids, and she had no idea what lurked beyond her privileged realm.

“You know, there’s one way to resolve this,” I said,
a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice.

“Forbid Mom from marrying Pete?”

I remembered how happy Mom seemed to be with him, how she practically glowed from joy and how they just seemed to click with a glance. “No, Taylor, I think Mom really loves him, and he feels the same way about her.”

“But what about us? We were here before him.”

“Then maybe tell Mom why it’s so important for you to
stay here, at least until you graduate.”

“What about you? Don’t you care about being forced to switch schools in the middle of your senior year? Mom said they were getting married in December.”

The idea of moving before graduation hadn’t occurred to me.
Shit.
My tongue froze in a moment of reflection. Like my sister, I’d spent over three years carving out my place at Eastline. I was feared and
revered. I had a blog that had a reputation outside our school and that was turning into an instrument of good by bringing important issues to people’s attention. I had Richard. And now, I even had a boyfriend. If I changed schools, I’d still be able to drive back and see them, but it wouldn’t be the same as seeing them in the hallways every day.

Taylor gave me a smug smile. “I thought so, especially
now that you’re dating the most popular guy in school. And speaking of Brett…”

My spine stiffened, and my guard went on high alert. After lowering my defenses with all her whining, she was getting down to the real reason for her visit.

She was phishing for information on Brett.

“Did Summer send her little minion to gather information?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I might actually
be asking because I
care
about him, too. He’s a nice guy—far nicer than someone like you deserves. And yes, Summer wants details, but I can control how much she hears.”

I’d forgotten how underneath my sister’s airhead cheerleader façade lay a mind Machiavelli would be proud of. “He had surgery yesterday.”

“We know that, and I heard he came home from the hospital today. I figured that since you’re
his girlfriend, you’d already gone by his place and seen him.”

I weighed the consequences of revealing too much information to her and shaped my reply with care. “I did, but he was sleeping. Pain meds and all.”

“But you will see him soon, right?”

“Of course. As you said, I’m his girlfriend.”

“And the only person who’s actually been inside his home,” she reminded me.

I almost laughed. Apparently,
I was the only person Brett felt comfortable sharing his secret geek side with. “Jealous?”

“Hardly. But now that it’s pretty much a given that Brett won’t be going to Homecoming, Summer already secured Sanchez as her date, which means I’m having to decide between Ren and Cody.”

“Are you asking my advice? Because I think Ren’s right up there with Sanchez on the major asshole list. Cody, I don’t
know.”

“He’s a sophomore like me. Brett’s backup on the team, which means he’ll be the starting quarterback from this week on. Nice and all. But he doesn’t have a car.”

“Ah, the life of the licenseless. Always needing to bum rides off of people.”

“It sucks! Just three more months until my birthday, though, and then I won’t need to get a ride with anyone. Mom’s already promised me a car.”

“And you can even play taxi service for the new baby.”

A look of horror flashed across Taylor’s face.

“Relax, Taylor. It’s not like Cody can’t go in with a few of his buddies to rent a limo for the night.”

“True.” She rose from my bed, appearing to be genuinely considering going with Cody before adding, “Besides, since he’ll be starting quarterback, going out with him will only help raise my
status.”

I resisted the urge to bang my head against the wall as she left my room. For Taylor, everything revolved around her making head cheerleader. I didn’t think she had any aspirations beyond that, which worried me. I could see her trying to get through life on her beauty and being lost when it eventually faded. Or becoming addicted to Botox like most of our mom’s patients.

I pulled out
my phone and texted the guy I was dating not because of who he was at school, but because of the person he was when no one was watching.

How are you doing?

Wasted
, he texted back a moment later. I laughed as I tried to imagine Brett wasted. He refused to drink because he hated being out of control.

Will you be accepting visitors tomorrow?

Depends.

Me?

Doubt crept into my chest, and I worried
that his pain meds had given him enough clarity to make him wonder what the hell he was doing with me. I held my breath until he typed back,
Always you
.

I released my anxious breath. He may not have wanted to see his other friends, but I’d still be welcome.
Want me to take notes for you in 4
th
period?

Thanks.

See you tomorrow.

I waited a good ten minutes for Brett to reply, but my phone remained
silent for the rest of the night. I hadn’t seen him since Friday, and my lonely ache intensified every hour we were apart. I missed him. But hopefully, all that would end tomorrow.

Chapter Thirteen

I arrived at school in the morning with a feeling of apprehension much like last Monday, but for different reasons. I was still Brett’s girlfriend. The whole school knew it. But Brett wasn’t there, and I was under an even bigger microscope.

The moment I was inside, a half dozen of Brett’s teammates and friends stopped me wanting status updates. I was glad I’d taken a few
extra minutes to get ready. My frizz was tamed. The CC cream Taylor had given me concealed the dark circles under my eyes. And instead of my usual T-shirt and jeans, I’d decided to wear a more mature ensemble of leggings and a tunic that had actually earned a thumbs-up from my sister.

Taylor wasn’t the only one who approved of my outfit. Richard gave me a once-over when I met him at his locker
and gave me a curt nod. “Finally, you’re dressing like someone older than seven.”