Chapter Seventeen
Jonathan avoided me for the rest of the day. So did Danika. I was beyond frustrated with the entire mess.
“Heard you’re going to homecoming with Collin. Things over with Jonathan already, or are you bouncing between the two?”
I close my eyes at the bathroom sink, letting the water pour over my hands. This is the last thing I need.
“Did you hear me?” Laurel persists. “Or are you too good to talk to me now?”
I wait for the door to swing closed, making sure the other girl who was washing her hands beside me left.
I whirl around and throw my soaked hands into the air.
“Why is my life that amusing to you, Laurel? Or is yours that boring?” She blinks, her cheeks instantly red.
“Listen. I’m sorry we couldn’t be friends.
I should’ve handled it better. If you’re upset with me, I get it.
But this whole gossiping thing has got to stop.
It doesn’t make you more popular. People will avoid being friends with you because they’ll be afraid you’ll talk about them behind their backs. ”
Laurel crosses her arms. She suddenly doesn’t have anything to say. My words hit harder than I realized, and my voice falters into something gentler.
“I really hope you like it here. I know it’s not Brooklyn, but most people are genuinely nice.
And we have some great restaurants downtown.
Maybe you can take your new friends to Brooklyn some weekend and show them what makes you miss it so much.
But, please, stop trying to cause trouble for me.
Because you’re not. It’s just annoying.”
Her lower lip trembles. Her face has blossomed to the color of a beet.
I let out a breath. “I’m not mad at you. I don’t not like you. I just think there are other people here you’ll have more in common with than me. I’m usually the least interesting person in this school, I promise.”
This gets a small laugh out of her. I smile back. “What? I am. Dating Jonathan is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me since I sat on a melted red Popsicle in seventh grade.”
Laurel covers her mouth to contain a burst of laughter.
“You can laugh. It was funny.” The bell rings in the hall. “I’ve got to get to class. I’ll see you around.”
I don’t wait for an apology. I’m not sure she’d give me one. It was more important that I apologize first. But finally confronting her has given me the burst of fire that I need.
Iyank open the door to the garage. “I don’t know what’s actually going on in your head, but you need to let me in before I drive myself insane!”
Jonathan hits his head on the hood of the car, startled by all of my ferocity. “Ow.” He sets a hand where he bumped it. Maybe my entrance had a little too much fire.
“Hi.” I scrunch my face in apology.
“Hi,” he replies with a hint of a smile. “Collin’s out getting smoothies.”
“I know. I told him to disappear for a while because we needed to talk.”
“His weirdness makes sense now,” Jonathan says in reflection. “Weirder than usual anyway. What do we need to talk about?”
“You tell me.” My tone is insistent. “Are you upset that Collin’s taking me to homecoming? I thought he told you before he asked. Besides, you said dancing isn’t your thing.”
“Right,” Jonathan says, redirecting his focus back under the hood of the car. “It’s fine.” I’ve lost him again.
I growl, frustration rushing to the surface. I’m tempted to slam the hood shut. Maybe that’ll get his attention. Not with his head underneath, of course.
“Jonathan! Talk to me!”
His sigh fills the entire garage. Grabbing a towel to wipe his hands, he comes around to the back of the car. “I’m fine. Really. I was surprised at first, but it makes sense that you go with Collin. I wouldn’t be any fun, and I don’t want you not to go.”
I study his impassive face. “You’re sure?”
He nods. “Come here.” He extends his arms. I step into them, and he holds me against his chest. The tension dissipates as we melt together. “I’m worried about the whole Oren thing. Not sure if he’s going to press charges or not. I’m dreading his father calling mine too.”
“That wouldn’t be good, huh?” I tilt my head up without lifting it from his chest.
“No. Not good.” His words are clipped and weighted with unpredictable consequences.
And I’m worried about a dumb dance.
“Does he really have a concussion?” Danika still won’t talk to me, and I refuse to believe the whispers in the halls.
“I don’t know. I hope not. I didn’t mean to hit him that hard. I was just… so pissed.”
I swallow. That scares me. But I’m not about to tell him that. “Has that happened before?”
He shrugs, not willing to fully admit it.
“Have you ever tried to walk away?”
He laughs, like just the idea of it is absurd.
I pull back to tilt my head up at him. “What? That doesn’t make you weak, you know?”
He nods. “I know.” Jonathan kisses my forehead. “I’ll try. I promise.”
There isn’t any conviction in his voice, and he won’t meet my eyes. I decide not to push it—for now.
“So…” I smile mischievously and flutter my lashes.
“Uh-oh.” He chuckles. “I know I’m in trouble when you do that.”
“I was thinking… to make up for the whole homecoming thing… be my date next Friday night? We’d miss the homecoming game, but I figured you wouldn’t care.”
“What’s next Friday?”
I smile wider. “A fundraiser for my father’s campaign.”
Jonathan groans.
Before he can tell me no, I make an urgent, maybe even pathetic plea. “You’ll be saving me. I can’t do another night of smiling like a doll and nodding my head like I care what any of these people have to say. Please. Please. Please go with me.”
“Begging now, huh? It must be bad.” Jonathan gives me a crooked smile.
“The worst,” I say dramatically.
“Sounds like exactly where I don’t want to be.” He chuckles.
I pinch his side. He jumps away from me. “Hey! Look who’s getting violent now.”
I cross my arms and sulk. “Fine. I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t go either if I had a choice.”
He lifts my chin. “I don’t want to go, but I will.”
“You will?” I can’t hide the surprise in my voice. I am serious about wanting him to go, but wasn’t honestly expecting him to say yes.
Jonathan wraps me in his arms and lifts me off the ground, swinging me. “For you, I’ll do anything.” He nuzzles his face into my neck. I squeal in laughter. “Even if it kills me.”
“Dramatic much?”
He lowers me in front of him, and my breath shudders when I see the conviction in his eyes. “I’m serious. I’ll do anything for you, Sadie. I swear it.” His mouth seals his promise, igniting another type of fire within me.
Collin bursts in, sipping a smoothie. “Did I give you enough time?” I pull away like I’ve been doused with ice water and shoot him an annoyed look. “Stop. You made up. That’s all that matters. Kiss on your own time. We have a carburetor to install.”
J
onathan is waiting for me by my assigned parking spot at school the next morning with Collin… and Oren.
“Hi,” I say, my eyes roaming from one guy to the next. Jonathan comes up beside me with a kiss to my temple. Collin lingers a step behind Oren, who has his hands stuffed into his varsity jacket, looking like he wants to be anywhere in the world other than here.
“Hey, Sadie. I just wanted to apologize for what went down the other night at your place. I shouldn’t have laid my hands on you. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” My voice sounds small and uncertain. I glance up at Jonathan, trying to understand what’s happening right now. He slides a hand in mine and squeezes.
Oren redirects his attention to Jonathan as well, standing taller. “We all good?”
Jonathan nods. Oren shuffles off toward the school. I notice Danika in the distance, leaning against his car, waiting for him. She knows I’m watching her and pointedly ignores me when she tucks her arm through Oren’s and walks with him into the building.
“What was that about?” I ask the guys, who haven’t made a step toward the school, like they’re waiting for everyone to clear out first.
Jonathan’s voice is low, confirming the desire for discretion. “I met up with Oren last night, and he apologized. Said he wants to keep what happened between us.”
“Coach heard the rumors and called his house. Oren told him he wasn’t drunk, that he tripped while playing catch in the dark after your party. That he hit his head on the ground. He doesn’t have a concussion; he got cleared. But he’ll be benched for playoffs if he’s caught drinking.”
“Oh,” I respond, not sure I like covering for him. Then again, it sounds like this lie also protects Jonathan.
“Do you think you could talk to Jaz and Darcy? Make sure they won’t say anything?”
“They don’t gossip,” I tell him. “But I’ll let them know.”
“What about your brother?” Jonathan sounds worried. “Will he tell your parents?”
“He won’t,” is echoed by Collin’s, “He wouldn’t.” Jonathan and I look at Collin. He quickly recovers. “You know how he is.”
That doesn’t explain his response, but I nod. “Yeah, he’s never been one to tell. It’s an unwritten agreement between us. I have way too much on him. But it doesn’t stop him from telling me how to live my life.”
“What does that mean?” Jonathan asks, finally moving toward the school at the sound of the bell.
“We’re going to be late,” I say, avoiding answering as I rush to get to class. The last thing I want to get into is my brother’s demand that I stop dating Jonathan. It’s not like he has any power over me.
He wouldn’t tell our parents what Jonathan did.
But… he could tell Jonathan’s. Except I don’t really know what Jonathan’s parents would do.
If his father is the only one who’s hard on him or if his mother is just as strict.
The thing is… I don’t know them. I’ll send Gavin a message, just in case.
I don’t want my brother’s sense of entitlement to cause any problems for Jonathan.
I wish I knew how bad it truly was between Jonathan and his dad.
My mind keeps replaying every bruise. Every cut. Questioning where they all came from.
And even if every single mark was at the hands of his father, what can I do? I don’t have proof, not if Jonathan won’t admit to it. I’ve done enough menial work in my father’s law office in the summers to know that saying it doesn’t prove it.
I need to talk to Jonathan again and hope he’s as open and honest as he was the night of my party.
I want to understand. And then we can figure out what to do.
And, more than anything… I want to meet his father.
Honestly, not really. I’m afraid to meet him.
But if we’re going to do anything, I need to know who I’m up against.