Chapter 21
“Admit it,” Tee said as they pulled out onto the open road, one that I recognized as the main route to Jefferson. “You were surprised to see me, weren’t you?”
“I was,” I agreed, settling deeper into the passenger’s seat.
Tee’s car was considerably nicer than Derrick’s, without all the clutter along the footboards, too.
As we picked up speed, the wind began to howl as it wove itself through each of the open windows, chilling off the interior.
“But pleasantly surprised. Where are we going?”
“My house again,” Tee said over the noise, casting me a look that glowed with the dashboard lights. “We’re not like the outcasts that hang out behind dumpsters at night. Is that cool?”
I spread my fingers out along my skirt, smoothing out a wrinkle. “Beyond cool.” Anywhere was cool, as long as it wasn’t my house. It was my first Friday night in a very, very long time that I’d be doing something other than staring up at my ceiling.
Tee’s hair flicked around mildly in the wind, tugged this way and that, and it looked like they barely noticed.
I smoothed as many of my flyaways behind my ears as possible, keeping the majority of it trapped behind my shoulder blades.
“The boys are already there, playing whatever zombie game they could steal from my little brother,” they said, and a corner of their mouth quirked up a little.
“So, Hudson will be there? Here I thought he was bailing on pulling an all-nighter in favor of his beauty sleep.”
“He needs it, doesn’t he?” They snorted, tapping their painted nails against the steering wheel. “Yeah, he’ll be there. Simon wanted him to play a campaign with him, and I like driving at night.”
I nodded lightly, tucking my hair back again.
“I stopped by the store on my way over,” they said after a moment of silence, gesturing a hand toward the backseat. “Hopefully there’s something you like. Hudson said you’re pulling an all-nighter, so I got a few energy drinks.”
“I’ve never had one before,” I said, twisting around and grabbing the plastic bag from the floor. It was heavy, and the straps felt like they’d give out before I dropped it into my lap. “My mom won’t even let me have coffee.”
“Coffee’s overhyped,” Tee said. “Energy drinks are where it’s at.”
I pulled out a brightly colored can and turned it over, feeling my eyes bug when I looked at how much sugar it contained.
“Yeah, you’re not supposed to read the labels. And don’t drink it all. You definitely don’t need that big of a caffeine rush your first time.”
My parents would freak if they found out I drank such a thing—then again, this probably would’ve fallen at the bottom of their list of worries.
“So,” I dragged the word out, as if making the single syllable longer would make my question sound more natural. “I have a weird question. There’s this girl at school who hangs around Hudson. She’s about my height, brownish-blonde hair—”
“You mean Lacey Churchill?” Tee glanced over, checking my expression. “With a nose ring? Usually has red lipstick on? Yeah, I know her. She’s Hudson’s cousin.”
Cousin. That was the cousin he always mentioned? The one fixing up the van? Oh my gosh, had I really been jealous of his cousin? No, not jealous, my thoughts scoffed. We’re not jealous.
Then a new realization hit me. “Did you say Lacey?”
“Yep. Lacey.”
Wait, wait, wait. Lacey…like the Lacey my brother was dating?
My brother’s girlfriend, Lacey? Could that really be?
I balked at the idea. Not that Lacey wasn’t pretty, because she was, but she was so different than who I’d expected Landon to be with.
Her leather jacket looked like a hand-me-down, well-worn and well-loved, and the tights underneath her denim shorts were ripped high up on her thigh.
A complete opposite of Madison, who I always thought he’d been crushing on.
And plus, my brother, dating Hudson Bishop’s cousin? Did Landon know? I spiraled silently, and Tee was waiting for a reply, so I mumbled, “I didn’t realize that’s who that was.”
“They weren’t really that close, at least not before this past summer when she moved in. Something went down with her mom, I guess, so they took her in.” A smirk formed on their lips. “Why? Were you jealous, thinking she was a girl interested in him?”
“No,” I rushed to say, though it sounded like a lie. “I just think…I think she’s dating my brother.”
Tee looked over with their eyebrows raised, chuckling as they readjusted their grip on the wheel. “The plot thickens. Man, I guess it was fate that made you a part of our pack, huh?”
Fate. Was it fate that Hudson was the one who stumbled upon me that day on the bridge?
Was it fate that had Hudson crashing into me in the hallway?
Fate that Principal Oliphant paired us together for the buddy program?
Surely I’d never have met Tee or Simon or Derrick without Hudson.
I would’ve been stuck at my own lunch table, listening to conversations and never joining in on them. Maybe it was fate.
We drove the rest of the way to their house in a comfortable quiet, filled with the noise of the wind and stereo. Even in the dark, Tee knew exactly how to swerve and when to avoid the massive potholes in their driveway, and they took the route much slower than Derrick’s high speed last time.
“Thank you for letting me come tonight,” I said softly, my voice barely audible over the music. “I’ve never really had friends that I could hang out with like this, so it means a lot.”
I thought Tee didn’t hear me at first, since their silence stretched out. “Hudson’s never really gotten close with anyone besides us. So it kind of feels like, really, I should be thanking you.”
I clutched the plastic bag tightly, watching the corn pass by in a blur.
“Hudson is very touchy,” Tee went on. “He’s had more hurt in his lifetime than anyone should. Losing his mom so young, not growing up with many friends. He’s used to pushing people away. He’ll push you, too, if you let him.”
“I told him he’s stuck with me.” Tee’s words echoed in my head, though. He’d mentioned that his mother died, and then there was the rumor about what happened over the summer, but I didn’t know too much about his past.
Derrick sat on the porch steps when Tee pulled up in front of the house, the headlights blinding him, but he stared into them as if it were a challenge. He was barefoot, elbows digging into his knees, chin propped up by his fists. “Took you long enough,” he said glumly when we got out.
Tee rolled their keys around a finger. “Sorry to give you separation anxiety.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“It’s called sarcasm.”
Tee joined Derrick on the porch, and he slung his arm over their shoulders, tucking Tee close.
Their height difference seemed close to the one Hudson and I shared, and that thought had my heart skipping.
I was jittery, unable to stand still, almost as if I’d already drunk the energy drinks from the bag.
Derrick led me down into the basement after Tee ran upstairs to grab something from their room. As we descended the creaky steps, I could hear the sound of gunfire get louder and louder, along with Simon’s voice. “Get into a corner, get into a corner!”
“They’re playing a video game,” Derrick said before I could ask, and then gave a sad sigh. “It’s a two-player game. We take turns every campaign.”
“No wonder you were waiting for Tee to get back.”
“And you,” he added, looking over his shoulder. In the dark stairwell, his grin was bright. “You’re another person to talk to.”
Tee’s basement wasn’t that wide, but it was deep.
It was only half-finished, with the drywall up but the ceiling left exposing the beams and air ducts.
Despite that, it was cozy, with mismatched rugs and a sectional in the farthest corner of the room.
Simon lounged along the L part of the sofa, and Hudson sat in the middle seat of the other section, both of their attention focused on the giant TV screen in front of them.
“Dude, dodge the freaking cars!” Simon’s voice rose an octave. “How many times do we have to play this game for you to realize that if you hit the car, it alerts the horde?”
“That was so not me,” Hudson said defensively, clicking the controller rapidly. “I swear it was the CPU.”
“Dude, it says right there on the screen, ‘BishopBoy1463 alerted the horde.’”
Hudson shook his head but leaned forward, squinting at the screen.
Derrick and I hung out of their peripheral, watching the TV as the zombies surrounded both of their characters, blood spattering on the screen with each gunshot.
It was quickly easy to figure out which side of the split screen was which boy—Hudson’s health dropped into the danger zone while Simon’s still remained in the green.
In the end, though, the zombie horde won, and both of the screens flashed red as the scene faded to black. “And we died.” Simon threw his hands up in disgust, dropping the controller into his lap. “You suck at this game.”
“Yeah, dude,” Derrick piped up, taking a step forward. “You didn’t even last one level.”
Simon looked over, and his scowl disappeared. “Gemma! You’re here!”
When Hudson looked up, my fingers instinctively clutched the bag tighter.
He had his glasses on and his cotton candy sweatshirt, the same one he’d worn that day on the bridge.
He had his hair tucked behind his ears, giving a perfect view of the expression that crossed his face.
“You made it,” he said in a voice that came out soft.
My heart swelled almost uncomfortably at the sight of him, and in each beat it thumped, it whispered, I like this version of him best. “I did,” I said. “All in one piece.”
“And she and Tee brought the goods.” Derrick jerked the plastic bag from my arms and carried it over to the coffee table, leaving me to trail behind.