“Nothing out of the ordinary, I promise you,” I said lightly, trying to play it off.
“Then why were you trying to start a revolution at Wade’s Clothing?” Tia asked, half joking, half serious. “You know I’d be down to throw a couple bricks.”
“I wasn’t ‘starting a revolution’ at Wade’s Clothing,” I replied. We started walking towards class. “I’m working on an art project with Mom…and we needed some material.”
“Uh huh,” Tia said, still not buying it. “Whatever’s going on, you know you can talk to me, right?”
“Right.” I let out a breath while Tia’s eyes lingered on me. I couldn’t tell her about Clay, and buying him clothes. How safe would that be?
“You know I’m the one who breaks the rules, right?” She grinned. “Because I’m the one who knows how to not get caught.”
She was right about that. Tia takes school seriously, but she also knows how to get away with just about anything. I threw my bag over my shoulder and a piece of paper fluttered from it.
Tia bent to pick it up and said, “Wait, what?” She scanned the paper again. “You got an invitation to Bobby Noah’s party?” She looked stunned.
“Yeah, he came up to my truck yesterday like a dork,” I explained as we walked into the classroom. We sat down at our desks. The bell still hadn’t rung, and we had a few minutes before class actually started.
Tia looked at me eagerly. “And? Are you going?” Did getting an invitation from Bobby Noah save me from being interrogated about my shopping habits? Because if so, I was okay with that.
“I don’t know…parties aren’t really my thing.” I sighed.
“What?! No way.” Tia’s face lit up with excitement. “I’m going to be your plus one!”
That made me laugh. “Why do you even wanna go?”
“To ruin his night, of course. He hasn’t invited me to any parties since…the incident.”
It was clear that it was Tia’s mission to ruin Bobby Noah’s life, and girls have to stick together, so I was in. After all, I had never gotten over the irony of a dude with two first names having the nerve to make fun of mine.
“All right, all right.” I laughed. “Looks like you’ll be my plus one.”
“That’s the spirit.” Tia smiled.
Once the bell rang, the classroom filled with students. I didn’t plan to stay, I just wanted to keep my head down long enough to be checked off as present during attendance.
As if she read my mind, Tia asked, “Are you staying the full day today?” She poked me. We were in English and the teacher was new, unprepared, and wasn’t coming across well. This was supposed to be Grampy’s class; that was reason enough for me to not want to be there.
“Actually, I think I’m going to get out of here,” I told her.
“Dude…you can’t keep leaving. They’ll call your house eventually, I bet you’re already on thin ice.”
I scoffed. “What are they going to do? Expel me? My grandfather’s photo is in the lobby.”
Tia didn’t reply, but I heard her sigh. I shouldn’t have said that. Tia just wanted to help.
The new teacher was a younger-looking white dude named Mr. Davis. I could tell he didn’t have much experience. He could barely keep the room under control—students were throwing paper balls back and forth, talking over him, and clowning how high he wore his pants. It wasn’t funny but I couldn’t help giggling at Travis, the class clown, standing up and pulling his jogging pants up to his chest. There was enough commotion after that for me to sneak out and make my way back to the truck.
Once I got in, I rolled down the window and drove towards the waterfront. I hoped I had been in the classroom long enough to be marked present, but when I heard my phone ping, I had a feeling it was a text from Tia. I pulled into a parking lot outside of an empty bar.
Tia: FYI. Mr. Davis just had a major meltdown and left. Ms. Anderson came to take attendance.
Shit. That meant the principal was probably going to call home. I hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal; I would explain to Mom that it was a mistake.
Tia: Listen, I know you’re going through a lot. But please, if things get heavy you always have me. Never feel like you have to go through this alone.
I couldn’t reply. I didn’t want to take advantage of Tia’s kindness with my dishonesty. It just didn’t feel right. I tossed my phone on the passenger seat and scanned the parking lot.
I had planned on spending the day looking through more of Grampy’s journal entries, trying to decipher his handwriting. I still couldn’t believe he lied to me about how he met Nan. There had to be more in there. I had put the journal back in the glove compartment and was hoping Clay could show me more of my grandfather’s past. I grabbed the old journal and noticed that the cracked leather spine was barely held together.
“This thing really got worn down over the years, didn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Clay appeared without warning.
I jumped and shouted, “Shit, man! You gotta stop doing things like that!”
“It’s the only way I can.” He shrugged. “But yeah, the journal is in rough shape. I need you to be gentle with it. Don’t be one of those people who breaks the spines of books, please.”
“I promise I’ll be gentle.”
He nodded. “Good.”
I put the truck in drive and continued on my way. I hoped no one would see Clay in my passenger seat. I drove down to towards the water and parked out of view behind a bar no one went to during the day.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school right now?” Clay asked.
“You sound like Grampy.” I sighed.
“I partly am.”
I rolled my eyes and opened the journal. I wonder what had kept Grampy journalling in the later years. For most people, the idea of journalling faded away before they
