Waiting Fate (4 page)

It was quiet for about ten minutes, when Jay reached over and scribbled on Ivy’s paper with highlighter. Ivy shrieked, shoving him away as she giggled. “I get enough of that from my baby!”

Gigi grinned mischievously, drawing a huge G across his paper while his back was turned.

“Hey!” he yelled.

Gunner looked over from the TV, watched for a minute, and rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be the mature ones?”

They settled down for about half an hour, until Gigi threw a paperclip at Jay and started a war even Gunner got into. It was nearing one o’clock in the morning, and Ivy hadn’t gotten much done at all. She groaned. “You guys are a terrible influence.”

“Yeah,” Jay agreed, glancing over at the clock. “And I have to get up in three hours.”

“You what? Are you insane?” Ivy exclaimed, sleepy eyes widening almost against their will.

“He doesn’t sleep,” Gigi said, shaking her head, blond hair falling around her face. By this point, her once-messy bun was more of a half-up-messy-bun-that-was-not-a-bun-anymore.

“That’s not healthy.” Ivy frowned. Her hair was still in a boring old ponytail. At least it was behaving.

Jay shrugged. “I’ll sleep when I’m a dentist and making a ton of money.”

Ivy sat back, studying him. “Yeah, Gigi mentioned you wanted to be a dentist.”

As Jay nodded, she said, “I totally didn’t see you wanting to be a dentist. I didn’t know you liked teeth.” Ivy mentally gagged. Mouths were gross. Teeth were gross. Breath was gross.

“I don’t,” Jay said.

“He doesn’t,” Gigi answered at the same time. Ivy got the distinct impression that Gigi and Jay were close. But Gigi had told her earlier that she wasn’t dating anyone. Ivy’s brow scrunched up as she tried to figure out what their deal was. There had to be
something
going on between them.

Realizing they were both still staring at her, waiting for an answer, she snapped back into the conversation.
I’m here!
“Then why…?” Ivy frowned, looking from one to the other.

“They make a lot of money and it’s easy work.”

“Easy.” Ivy raised an eyebrow. Jay grinned at her. She shook her head and started packing up her bag. “I’ve gotta get up in five hours. And I
do
sleep.”

“Oh. You’re my ride back to my car. I gotta go, too,” Gigi said, sitting up from where she’d been lounging on the floor. She’d abandoned the table over an hour earlier.

Ivy snickered, nodding. “Yes, yes, you do.”

As he walked them to the door, Jay said, “See ya tonight then?”

“What’s tonight?” Ivy paused, shivering as she tried to adjust to the cooler outside temperature. It was a mild October, but it was a bit chilly at the darkest hour of the night. Or morning. Whichever.

“Homework.” Jay rolled his eyes at Gigi, as if Ivy should somehow already have known this.

“You guys do this every night? How do you get anything done?” Ivy asked.

“Not every night. Just the nights we have homework,” Gigi answered her.

“But I have homework every night. Don’t you guys?” Ivy felt like somehow she had missed a massive part of this conversation.

“Jay’s house is kinda the group hangout,” Gunner said, shrugging on his coat and sliding past them into the dark night.

“Oh.” Ivy followed Gunner out. She didn’t know if she wanted to see their whole group. She’d have to explain her situation again, and they would think about how she was getting what she deserved for being such a brat in high school.

****

The next several times she went, Gunner and Jay were there, but Jay explained that the rest of his boys only came around on weekends. Gunner came because he and Jay were best friends, and because he liked to make fun of Gunner’s dad, as far as Ivy could tell.

He was watching them work, flipping a pencil across his knuckles. Ivy had always wanted to be able to do that but only succeeded in stabbing herself in the fingers. She had given up trying. “We should do something fun tomorrow,” he said.

“It
is
October,” Ivy said without looking up. “My favorite month.”

“Jay, call the boys. Let’s do something.” Gigi sat back in her chair, her bright eyes dancing. “We could go to a haunted house!” Ivy glanced at her and smiled before turning back to her homework. Since she’d started doing her homework at Jay’s, she’d gotten a lot less done. Which wasn’t acceptable, so she was trying to work harder and talk less. Not as much fun, but that’s the way it had to be.

“Sounds good to me,” Ivy mumbled, when she realized no one else had answered.

Jay and Gunner started texting. “I hope Archer doesn’t bring his girlfriend this time,” Gunner muttered, half-distracted.

Ivy looked up, her pencil freezing mid-word. “Archer?” She bit her lip, hoping no one had noticed her sudden interest.

“Yeah. His girlfriend is a witch,” Gunner answered, thankfully unaware of her sudden enthusiasm. Her heart dropped. Of course he had a girlfriend. Why wouldn’t he? It was Archer. Broad shoulders, dark eyes, dark hair, sweet smile, nicest guy in school…

Besides, she was done with guys. They were bad, so bad.
Don’t forget that, s
he told herself sternly. Even if it
was
Archer — the one guy in the world she’d wanted since third grade. But fate, evil as it seemed to be, had always been determined to keep them apart, changing school boundaries, neither of them being single at the same time, something. Always something. When they’d made it to high school together, Archer was determined that they stay friends. She hadn’t pushed it. Now she wished she had.
What if…?

Several text messages later, Jay sat back. “Okay. Tomorrow night, eight o’clock. Pumpkin Maze in West Haven. We’ll meet here.”

Gigi frowned. “We should meet at Ivy’s. It’s right by the Pumpkin Maze.”

Ivy looked from one to the other, shrugging. “Whatever.” Eight o’clock was good. Desee would be in bed by then. It hadn’t taken Jay long to realize she didn’t do anything before seven-thirty. “I just need to check with my mom and make sure they’ll be home.”
Please Mom, have plans. I can’t handle a group of high school friends.

Ivy had been miserable in high school, and she’d taken it out on everyone else. When she graduated, she was pretty sure there had been parties thrown by girls who were glad she was gone.

Gigi had never stopped being her friend, thank goodness. Ivy would have been lost without her.

Her parents were both retired and seldom left the house after dark. Ivy found them watching a movie when she got home an hour later. “Hey.” She waved from the dim entranceway to the TV room. They both turned, squinting at her in the darkness.

“You’re home early,” Bev called from her favorite armchair, raising her voice to be heard over the blaring TV. Jack glanced at her and reached for the remote. He was mostly deaf, and to be heard over his TV usually involved lots of yelling. Ivy was always grateful when he turned it down. She didn’t like yelling.

“Yeah, got done early tonight.” She shifted her weight. “Hey, my friends want to go out tomorrow night. Would you be okay watching Desee after she goes to bed?” Bev started to nod but Ivy cut her off. “If not, that’s fine. I completely understand. You know what, I’ll just tell them I can’t go.” She nodded, in complete agreement with herself, and turned to go, but Bev called after her.

“I am more than happy to keep an eye on Desee. She’ll be asleep, Ivy. It’s not like I have to do anything but carry a baby monitor around with me.” When Ivy opened her mouth to object, Bev held up a hand. “I’ve got this, Ivy. Go have fun.”

“Why does everyone assume this is going to be fun?” Ivy muttered as she trudged up the stairs to bed.

Chapter Three

Ivy’s hands shook while she attempted to curl life into her long, brown hair. She hadn’t hung out with a group of friends for so long. And Archer would be there. “I’m sure he doesn’t even remember you,” she told her reflection. And he would have his girlfriend with him, more than likely. Even so, the thought of seeing him made her heart pound, no matter how much she told it not to.

“Ivy! They’re here!” Jack yelled up the stairs, and she resisted the urge to shush him. He didn’t like being shushed in his own house, no matter how often he woke Desee.

“Coming,” she whispered, hoping he’d learn by example. It was a lost cause, but she refused to give up trying.

She shot one last, annoyed look at her reflection.
No one’s gonna want you, s
he heard Vick’s voice whisper harshly through her head, and she watched her reflection flinch. “He’s not here. He’s not here,” she muttered under her breath as she flipped the light off and bounced down the stairs, tugging nervously at the hem of her black shirt.

She jogged around the corner and froze mid-step, squeaking in alarm. There were half a dozen people in her living room.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jay asked, frowning. He waited not far from where she still stood, statuesque. “I didn’t realize your group was so large,” she whispered.

But Jay had drawn their attention, and everyone in the room stared at her. “Hey Ivy.” One boy waved, and she forced herself to look up from the floor at the friendly face.

“Austin. Hey.” She smiled, relief flooding through her. He hadn’t changed a whole lot, either. Did these people not
age
? Still the spiky blond hair and different colored eyes — one blue, one brown. He was the only person she had ever met with eyes like that. Ivy relaxed, just a bit. Austin had always been the nice guy in school.

He… and Archer.

Her eyes moved, as if in slow motion, to where he stood next to Austin. “Hey, Ivy,” he said, nodding. Archer had definitely changed, so much that she barely recognized him. He was taller and darker with much broader shoulders than she remembered. When she finally met his honey brown eyes, she was lost. Even her breath stilled in her throat.

“Hi Archer. It’s been a long time,” she murmured, half-aware that her lips were moving of their own accord.
Holy Hannah, that boy is gorgeous.
His lips quirked in the barest of smiles, and Ivy felt her pulse leap through the ceiling.

The girl standing next to him cleared her throat, glaring, her arms crossed over her chest.
Ah. The girlfriend,
Ivy realized. Her heart sank.

“What’s wrong now?” Archer sighed, turning from Ivy to look at the girl with wild brown hair and too much eye makeup.

She gave him a pointed look and jerked her head toward Ivy. “This is Mary,” Archer said.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Ivy tried to sound friendly.

Mary gave her a frosty smile and said nothing.

“Ivy. Ready to go?” Gunner asked, appearing at her side like a ghost.

She jumped, biting back a squeal. “Gunner! Where’d you come from?”

“I’m sneaky like that.” He smirked.

She raised an eyebrow in amusement, nodding. “Yep, all ready.”

“Nope, not ready. I have a friend coming. She isn’t here yet. She’s on her way,” Gigi said. Ivy hadn’t even seen her amidst all the other unfamiliar faces… although now that she dared look, she realized they weren’t, in fact, all unfamiliar. Almost all of them were people from high school, and although Austin and Archer had both seemed happy enough to see her, several of the others didn’t. It was her own fault. She’d been a beast in high school. In her defense, someone had once told her misery loved company. That was her only excuse.

She grabbed her keys off the corner table by the door. “It’s okay, I’ll drive,” Gunner said, putting his hand over hers, but Ivy shook her head, sliding her fist, keys intact, free from his grasp.

“I like having my own transportation. Just in case.” She tried to sound apologetic. She didn’t want to offend him, but she had too often been left stranded because she’d made her husband mad and he wouldn’t let her in the car.
Never again
, she thought, tucking her keys tightly between her fingers.

“Whatever,” Gunner said, giving her an odd look.
Yeah, yeah. I’m a freak. These things happen,
she told him. Mentally, of course.

Archer and his girlfriend seemed to be having a heated discussion in fierce whispers across the room. Ivy glanced over, uncomfortable, and tried to find something else to talk about. She gave up though, when Archer suddenly flung his hands up, drawing everyone’s attention. “Get in the truck. I’m taking you home.”

“What? Why?” Mary gasped.

“You don’t want to be here. You don’t like these people. Then I’ll take you home,” Archer snapped.

“Well. That was harsh. What’s wrong with these people?” Jay asked. No one answered him, although Austin started to snicker. He turned it into a half-hearted cough, when Mary threw him a furious glare.

Ivy glanced at Gunner, distressed. “I told ya. Witch.” He grimaced, although he seemed torn between discomfort and amusement.

Mary stormed out of the room and Archer followed her. “I’ll be back,” he said gruffly without looking at any of them. Outside, thunder seemed to reverberate through the house as an engine roared to life.

“What in the world?” Ivy hurried to the window to peer outside.

“Archer has a big truck,” Gunner said mildly.

Of course he does. Could he be any more perfect?
Ivy had loved big trucks since she was teeny tiny. Shoving the thought from her head with fierceness she didn’t know she had, she changed the subject. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she said, “So. Anyone wanna play foosball?” Within minutes they had teams of three playing a vicious game of table soccer.

“Hey. I’m here,” Gigi’s friend announced, coming in the sliding back door. Ivy was fairly positive she’d never met her before, which meant the girl couldn’t hate her. Ivy immediately liked her.

“Hey, girl. You’re just in time. Take my place.” Austin guided the new girl to his spot at the table and he sat at the head, making random catcalls while he watched.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Ivy told him while she waited for the other team to fetch her ball. She was
good
at foosball. Unbeatable.

“Oh, I’ve changed. You’ll have to trust me on that one,” Austin said with a wink.