That caught my attention as we headed for the cafeteria. I felt a thrill run through me at the prospect of finally finding out who my father was, but at the same time, Echo rose to the surface, and if she could have jumped out of my body, she would have strangled Drew on the spot.
You know I'm really starting to hate your little boy toy, Eden. Why the hell can’t you two leave the past in the damn past?
I could hear the disdain dripping from her voice as she spat the words in my head. To simply say she was mad would have been a lie, and to say that she was scared at the same time would be the grossest of understatements. Oh no, what she was feeling at that moment was an unadulterated terror. For whatever reason finding my father scared the shit out of her.
“Echo is not happy. I don’t know what's wrapped up in this business with my biological father, but whatever it is, she doesn’t want me finding out—so much so that the very idea of it is scaring the crap out of her.”
“I wonder what she’s trying to hide from you,” Drew said absently.
I really didn’t know, but the sooner I was able to look at the contents of the box and find out what Aiden had discovered, the closer I’d be to cracking whatever secret Echo was keeping. By the time we made it to the cafeteria, Jennifer and Aiden were so involved in whatever it was they were talking about that they didn’t even notice that we’d walked up. Drew cleared his throat, and they both jumped.
“Why are you looking at me like you just caught me doing something wrong, Drew,” Aiden said with a smile.
Drew just shook his head and laughed, “Never mind, man it’s nothing. I’m gonna walk Eden to class, can you tell Mr. Masson I might be a few minutes late because I am helping Eden carry stuff?”
Aiden huffed and threw, “Yeah sure,” over his shoulder as he walked away. “See you later, Jen.”
Jennifer scowled, and the tips of her ears reddened, “My name is Jennifer, Aiden, not Jen!”
“Eh, same difference.”
“No—no, it’s not,” she said staring at his retreating back.
If there was one thing that Jennifer hated, it was when people shortened her name like that. She wasn’t a Jen or a Jenny; she was Jennifer. She watched him disappear out into the hall and then glanced at me with an agitated roll of her eyes.
“I’m heading to art. See you in English, Eden.”
I watched her leave, and instead of heading toward the art building, she went the opposite way—in the direction Aiden had gone, and I knew she was going to give him a piece of her mind. I felt sorry for him.
“Shall we, my lady?”
I giggled and looked up at Drew. I could tell by the grin on his face and the glint in his eye that he found the whole situation we just watched unfold between Jennifer and Aiden as funny as I did.
“We shall. So how long do you think it will be before those two try ripping each other apart? Honestly, they are way too much alike to be anything more than annoyed acquaintances.” I sighed at the thought of the end of the school day because I knew Jennifer would be chewing my ear off about how Aiden was an ass on the way to our cars. I had to admit he had an irritating habit of getting under people’s skin.
“I can’t believe that Mr. Masson is back. He was my favorite teacher freshman year,” Drew told me as we reached my first-period class.
“Back?”
“Yeah, the first week of my sophomore year, he just up and quit. He didn’t give a reason or notice, just up and walked the hell out in a hurry. No one knew why. He’s back now, though. I heard that there’d been a death in his family.”
I thought back to my freshman year, and vaguely remembered hearing something about a science teacher just quitting halfway through a school day. The rumors that had circulated the school about it ranged from him having an emotional break down to him getting fired for having a relationship with a student. Apparently, the latter of the two was a fabrication because he was back. I was lost in my own thoughts when Drew leaned in and brushed a kiss across my lips.
“See you after class,” he said and then bolted down the hall.
I walked through the classroom door, and the stern glare of Mrs. Camden greeted me. I hated it when she looked at me in such a disapproving way. It bothered me when I felt like I’d disappointed her.
“Garrows, you know the policy on PDA. It won’t happen again—will it?”
“Sorry, Coach, and no ma’am, it won’t.”
“See that it doesn’t. Have a seat.”
Chapter Twenty
Pictures and Passages
Dearest Echora, Friday- January 19th, 2001
I was up all night thinking about what you told me. I’m not going to lie, this changes everything, and I’d be a fool if I said I wasn’t scared. I know you’re scared too. We need to think about this like adults. We need to weigh our options. You know how much I care about you, and I hope you know that I would never suggest anything that wasn’t in
