I laughed, and then slapped my hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
“But whatever Trent did worked because I didn’t tell Rector anything about him or you or Ivy. And believe me, he asked. A lot. He kept asking if I knew any of the Halsteads, and I kept telling him that asking me repeatedly wouldn’t change my answer. I don’t think he liked that.” Abby frowned.
I sighed with relief. “But you remember everything now?” I asked cautiously.
“It’s a little fuzzy, and I feel very disoriented, but yeah. I remember why I couldn’t say anything about you, and I remember Trent and his family.” She yawned.
“So, is everything cool with Rector now? Is he going to unground Isach and let you two be together?” I asked.
Abby shrugged again. “He said he liked me, but that was it. I’m hoping Isach calls me later, but if not, then I guess we keep pretending we don’t know each other.” Her shoulders sagged.
“I’m sorry, Abby,” I said. I knew a big part of the reason she’d agreed to do this was because she’d been hoping it would make things easier for her and Isach to be together.
“Also, it’s super weird to kiss Trent.” She laughed. “I mean, this is now three times, and I really don’t like it.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that ever again.” I laughed, too.
“Girls! Dinner,” Aunt Beth hollered.
I stood and stretched. Abby stood, too, and I gave her another hug. “Thank you for doing this today. You have no idea how much it means to me. And I’m really glad you’re okay,” I said sincerely.
She hugged me back. “You owe me big time for this.”
“Whatever you want, just ask.” I followed her downstairs.
While everything seemed to be okay, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I couldn’t shake the fear that nothing was okay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
Back to Normal
A LITTLE OVER A MONTH HAD passed since Abby met Rector and took his truth test. Despite my constant worries and bad feelings, everything still seemed to be fine. Abby wasn’t acting differently, and she was able to remember details about me, Trent, Ivy, and our plans.
Unfortunately, her meeting with Rector didn’t change much between her and Isach. He was still too paranoid to make their relationship public again, and the rest of us continued to avoid him as if we didn’t even know him. It sucked.
“Final projects are due Friday,” Mr. Gordon said as he walked down the rows of desks. “I suggest if you have any questions or need clarification, you get it from me today.”
The room was silent. We’d been working on these projects all semester. Jax and I were almost finished—thank God—and all we had left to do was write a final summary of what we learned.
“Today’s a workday, folks.” Mr. Gordon clapped his hands, then sank down in the chair behind his desk.
Rolling my eyes, I twisted around in my seat to face Jax. He grinned, and I couldn’t stop from smiling in return. “I will be so glad when this class is over,” I said.
“Oh, c’mon. It hasn’t been that bad being in a loveless marriage with me, has it?” He winked, and my face heated.
Part of the assignment was to come up with a scenario for our home life. Jax and I had agreed to be husband and wife, but it was a loveless marriage. He was an alcoholic, and I was cheating on him.
I was sure Mr. Gordon wouldn’t be too happy, but our situation offered quite a few unexpected monthly expenses that we needed to deal with, and that was something Mr. Gordon would love to see. Jax consistently blew our monthly budget on booze, and I maxed out our credit cards on hotel rooms so I could rendezvous with my lover.
“I should probably tell you I overdrew our checking account to pay for a divorce lawyer,” I said. “Our mortgage payment is probably going to bounce. We’ll be homeless soon.”
Jax flung his head back and laughed.
Other students gave us dirty looks. Apparently, no one else was having as much fun with this project as we were. They really needed to lighten up.
I laughed, too. “Okay, I might miss this class a little.”
“We should probably come up with a contingency plan for when that happens.” Jax nodded as if he were giving this some serious thought. “We could buy a camper. Park it in my dad’s backyard. Run an extension cord for power.”
I swatted at him, laughing even harder now. “You’re ridiculous.”
His gaze lingered on my face, then darted above my head. “You’re yellow,” he said.
Yellow meant happy. For the first time in a very long time, I had a lot to be happy about. I’d be graduating high school in little over a month. Two months after that, I’d be marrying Trent, and then conceiving our child. Just the thought of that had a thrill shooting up my back.
The Zoya hadn’t bothered us. Neither was Ivy. Things were as close to perfect as they’d ever been—which meant something bad was bound to happen soon. But I refused to dwell on that thought.
Jax averted his gaze to his hands that were folded on top of the desk. “Despite how much it still hurts, I’m glad you’re finally happy,” he said, his voice sad.
Hesitantly, I placed my hand over his. He glanced up, and whatever I wanted to say died on my lips. I still hated how much I’d hurt him, and I wished there was something I could do to ease his pain.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“I know.” The corner of his mouth lifted in an almost smile, but his eyes were dark and brooding.
The bell rang, saving me from having to think of something else to say to him, because I was at a complete loss. I gathered my stuff and stood. Jax stood, too, and we headed out of class.
When we walked past Mr. Gordon’s desk, Jax nudged me and whispered,
