“And you didn’t answer my question.” Larissa stood in the foyer, arms crossed. I’d never seen her mad before. It was kind of intimidating. “Who was that?” she asked again.
“That was Trent.” I set my bag on the floor.
“Trent who?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then snapped my jaw closed. How was I supposed to answer that? “I don’t know,” I said honestly.
She lifted a single, perfectly arched brow. “You don’t know?”
I shook my head. “He’s a friend from school, but I don’t know his last name. It’s not a big deal, okay?” I moved around her and headed for the kitchen.
“Don’t walk away from me young lady.” Her stern voice stopped me in my tracks. “You’re getting rides home from strange boys—boys whose last names you don’t even know—and you expect me to just be okay with that?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned toward her. “It was one boy, Larissa. One.” I held up my finger to emphasize my point. “Not multiple.”
“Do not get mouthy with me, Chloe.” She shook her head.
“Stop making it so easy,” I mumbled.
“Excuse me?” Her voice rose several octaves. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” I sighed.
“I think it’s best if you just go to your room until I call you down for dinner.”
“Fine. Whatever.” I snatched my bag from the floor. “Just remember one thing, Larissa. I never asked to be here, so if you don’t like my attitude, tell my father to let me go home.” I turned and stomped up to my room.
Who did Larissa think she was? She wasn’t my mother, and she had no right to yell at me when I didn’t even do anything wrong.
I tossed my bag into the corner and flopped down on my bed. So what if I didn’t know Trent’s last name? He wasn’t some stranger, and he wasn’t a bad guy. I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. A short laugh escaped, and I slapped my hand over my mouth. Maybe I really was crazy after all.
LATER, WHEN I HEARD someone standing outside my bedroom door, I rolled onto my side and pretended to be asleep. The last thing I wanted to do was sit through dinner with Larissa and my father—a lecture about how I’d spoken to Larissa earlier was inevitable, but the longer I could put it off, the better.
“Chloe?” Larissa said softly.
I kept up the charade of sleeping, and after a moment, she left, closing the door with a soft click. Blowing out a breath, I flopped over onto my back. I really shouldn’t have been so mean to her—she was only trying to be a concerned parent—but that was the problem. She wasn’t my parent.
I wondered how Ellie was doing. She said she’d call me later, but she hadn’t yet. At least, I didn’t think she had. I climbed out of bed and dug around in my backpack for my cell phone. No missed calls and no new messages. If that didn’t scream loser… I shook off the self-pity and called Ellie.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice low and strained with emotion.
“Hey,” I said, returning to my bed. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Ugh. What a ridiculous thing to say. Of course she wasn’t okay. Her parents were getting divorced, and her life as she knew it would never be the same.
“Yeah.” She sniffled. “They told me they’re not making any big changes until the school year is over.”
“That’s good, right?” I asked, trying to give her a little bit of hope.
“Maybe.” She paused. “I mean, they’re both still living here, just in separate bedrooms. That’s not really anything new.” She huffed, her pain and fear loud and clear in that one small sound.
“I’m so sorry, Ellie.” I stood and paced, unable to sit still.
I hated that I was stuck here, that I couldn’t even give my best friend a hug when she needed one the most. Fresh anger toward my father bubbled to the surface. Didn’t he realize how much he was ruining my life by forcing me to stay here? Did he even care?
“They also said I’d get to graduate from Keene Central. They’re not going to force me to move, unless I want to,” she said around another sniffle.
I stopped pacing. “That’s great! I mean, that they’re not going to make you switch schools. Trust me, that sucks so much.”
Ellie gave a small laugh. “I really wish you were here right now.”
My heart sank. “Me too,” I whispered. “But I’ll be home soon. I promise.”
And I’d do whatever it took to keep that promise, not to just her, but to Abby as well.
“So, distract me. What’s going on with you?” she asked. “Meet any celebrities yet?”
I laughed. “No. I literally go to school and come home.” I sat in my desk chair and spun around. “I did start tutoring, though, so that’s been keeping me busy.”
“Like, kids from your school? Isn’t that weird?”
“God, no,” I said on a rush of breath. “Kids at my school are awful. Well, except Simon, but his sister is the worst.”
“Um… who’s Simon?” she asked.
I cringed, only now realizing I hadn’t told her about Simon. In fact, I hadn’t told anyone about him. Or Jaxon. Or Trent. She said she needed a distraction, and if I was going to trust anyone with what was going on, it was her. I took a deep breath.
“Hope you’ve got time, because I have so much to tell you,” I said, settling comfortably in my chair.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Missing?
“HEY!” SIMON’S SMILING FACE GREETED ME when I arrived at school the following morning.
“Hi.”
“Everything okay?” he asked.
I gave him a confused look, and then remembered the lie I’d told him. “Oh, um, yeah. Just family stuff. You know how it is.” I laughed and stepped around him to open my locker.
Guilt gnawed at me. I hated lying to Simon—he didn’t deserve it, but he also didn’t deserve to have his feelings hurt because I’d spent yesterday
