“Calculating,” she agrees with a nod, finally understanding.
“Exactly.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
I shake my head. “I have no freaking idea.”
Tully nudges me with her elbow. “You know I’m in, right? She let my brother think she was having his baby and beat the shit out of you. I’m so far in.”
“Are you sure?” I murmur quietly for no one else to hear. “I don’t have a plan yet, but I’m going to make her pay and it’s not going to be nice. I don’t want you committing to something that you’re not comfortable doing.”
She nods her head, her eyes zoning in on mine. “I’m in,” she says slowly, making sure I understand her very clearly. “That bitch is going down and I’m am going to be there every step of the way. Hell, I’ll take the fall for it if I have to. That’s how bad I want this.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you take the fall for this. I want her to know it was me who takes her down.”
“I know, but just saying.” I roll my eyes as the bell rings for the end of lunch and push myself up out of my chair. “You know if you don’t strike soon, Noah is going to try and talk you out of it,” she continues.
“I know,” I tell her as we head for the big double doors of the cafeteria. “He’s still burning from what she did and I can tell he doesn’t like the idea of me fighting back, but he can’t stop me. He promised I’ll get a chance to get payback and I don’t think he could stand in the way of that.”
“He’ll try though. He doesn’t like you getting yourself in trouble.”
“He sure likes it when he’s the one I’m getting in trouble with,” I chuckle.
“I don’t want to know about your dirty sex stories.”
“Yeah, you do,” I laugh.
Tully shoves my shoulder and before I know it, she’s taking off down the hall in the opposite direction, smiling back over her shoulder. “Meet me in the parking lot after school,” she reminds me. “Rivers is driving us home.”
With that, I turn and head down the opposite way, dragging my feet as my mind instantly reverts back to wondering what the hell Noah and Rivers have got themselves involved in.
It feels like the longest history lesson of the day, but when the bell finally rings for the end of the day, I’ve never been so relieved. I need to see him. So, the second I dive into Rivers car, I’ll be telling him not to bother stopping at my place.
This shit between us needs to end. It’s been three days of nothing from him and it’s slowly tearing me apart from within.
My heart can’t handle it, no matter how tough I try to appear. He’s cutting me down. Hell, I don’t care if he’s still angry with me, I just need something from him to let me know that we’ll be ok.
I hurry out of class and grab my things from my locker before rushing out past the metal detectors and through the front doors of Haven Falls Private.
I turn to my left and right there in the middle of the student parking lot is Noah’s Camaro.
I falter, suddenly not feeling so brave. What’s he doing here? Has there been a change of plans? Tully hasn’t texted to let me know. Has he come to pick me up or is he here for other reasons? Is Rivers still coming or do I need to swallow my pride and walk down there, asking for a ride home?
Maybe I should just slip through the back gates and walk my sorry ass home.
No, that’s just stupid. He’s my boyfriend, well, I’m assuming he’s still my boyfriend, though I didn’t think I fucked up that badly. I mean, it was just one joint and it’s not like I had it all to myself. Really, it was only a third of a joint. Not that bad at all.
I suck in a breath and pull on my big girl panties before raising my shoulders. I can do this. It’s just Noah. What’s he going to do? Drive away? Make me look like a fool in front of the whole student body? What’s new?
Noah wouldn’t do that to me anyway. If anything, the worst possible scenario is that he welcomes me into his car and he drives me home in silence while we sit next to each other both desperate to reach out to the other.
I make my way towards him and the closer I get, the more my nerves sit on edge. I need this to be ok. I need us to be ok. I don’t see Tully anywhere so I’ll at least have a few moments of privacy with him before she comes bombarding down to his car, demanding attention and howling about whatever ridiculous thing that happened during class. Though to be honest, she’s probably going to be disappointed when she sees Noah’s car. I’d bet every last cent in my jewelry box that she’s been secretly excited about having Rivers come back just to take her home.