Chapter 27
I met Wes in the library to study that night.
I’d missed my afternoon classes, so it was the first time I’d emerged from my dorm room since Veronica’s stunt with the posters.
I received more than a few judgmental looks on my way to the library, and even as I sat down at the study table, people kept looking my way.
I hated the attention. It felt like people’s interest in the new girl had only just died down, and now I’d been thrown back into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
“People will get over it,” Wes said, noticing I was distracted by a group of girls who were clearly talking about me as they walked past. “I’m sure by tomorrow there will be some other piece of gossip that’s captured their attention.”
“I guess you saw the posters then?” He hadn’t brought it up yet, and he’d been acting so normal I thought perhaps he’d somehow missed the whole thing.
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “And Anna told Sawyer who told me all the details, so you don’t have to explain.
I totally get it. I just didn’t want to say anything unless you brought it up.
You must be having a crappy enough time as it is, and none of that stuff matters to me, so we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want. ”
I let out a breath and smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“Though, be warned, Sawyer’s probably going to ask you to wear your work uniform to school. He thought you looked hot in it.”
I laughed. “At least, he’s got his priorities straight.”
“Yeah, I really wonder about my brother sometimes.” Wes shook his head. “I sometimes think I might have been better off staying at school in New York just to get some space from him.”
“Oh yeah, you were there this weekend, right? How did it go?” I knew Wes had been nervous to visit his girlfriend because she hadn’t been answering his phone calls, so I was hoping his trip went well.
“It was okay.” His expression didn’t light up the way it normally did when he was talking about his girlfriend.
“Sarah was happy to see me, so I was definitely worrying about nothing. But since she wasn’t expecting me, her weekend was already packed.
She couldn’t cancel everything last minute, so I didn’t end up spending as much time with her as I’d hoped. ”
“Ah, that sucks.”
He pushed a hand through his hair and glanced down at the desk in front of him. “I probably shouldn’t have surprised her. She’s always got a million things going on.”
“Still, you went all that way to see her.”
“I know, but maybe I’ll give her a heads-up next time.”
I nodded, but I didn’t really agree. I loved that he’d tried to surprise her.
It was super sweet how he’d gone to so much trouble, and I was shocked his girlfriend hadn’t made more effort to spend time with him.
She was lucky she had such a great guy who cared so much about her.
I kept my thoughts to myself as I didn’t want to upset Wes more.
We tried to focus on studying, but I was really struggling to get my mind in the right place to concentrate. It had been a horrible day, and homework was the last thing I felt like doing. Especially when I could see and hear people gossiping about me at the next table over.
All I wanted was to go back to my bed and bury myself under the covers. I was desperate to talk to my mom too. We kept missing each other’s calls, so it had been days since we’d talked, and I really needed to hear her voice right now.
Wes placed his hands down on his book and looked across the table at me. “We don’t have to study in here if you don’t want.”
“What? No, it’s fine.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “You’re distracted and rightly so.
We could go back to the dorms or even set up in the dining hall.
No one really goes in there this time of night.
Hell, we can abandon our study session altogether if you want.
I can finish off the questions and give you the answers to copy at breakfast.”
“You’d do that?”
“Well, yeah.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “You’re my friend, and you’ve had a really rough day.”
I shook my head as I tried to fight back tears. I was still feeling so emotional, and just hearing Wes’s offer to do my homework was triggering the waterworks.
“That’s really sweet, Wes. But I want to stay. I have to get over the fact people are gossiping about me.”
“Not tonight, you don’t.”
“I know, but I also don’t want Veronica to win. And if I bail on our study session, it feels like she has, you know?”
“Okay, got it.” He nodded. “How about we just take a break instead? I’ll go grab us coffees so we’re adequately juiced to finish off these problems.”
My shoulders relaxed at his suggestion. “Yeah, a break sounds great. I might try to call my mom.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you back here in ten.” Wes shared a warm smile with me before he rose from his seat and headed for the library doors.
I pulled my phone out to dial my mom’s number, but as I unlocked the screen, I heard sniggers at the next table. I glanced up and saw the girls were still watching me, and I decided this probably wasn’t the best place to call my mom.
I got up from the table and wandered into the stacks. There were a few people scattered about, so I kept roaming until I found a nice quiet section. It was deep in the back of the library and led to a dead end, so the chances of someone bothering me were small.
I settled myself down on the floor, pulled out my phone, and tried my mom again. I held my breath for six rings before it clicked over to her voice mail. I exhaled as I ended the call and stared at my phone. Mom didn’t usually work Monday nights, so I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t answering.
I tried to call the café instead. She didn’t like it when I called there because it monopolized the line, and she didn’t want to miss any telephone orders.
I was beginning to feel a little desperate though.
I couldn’t remember ever going such a long time without speaking to my mom, and I really needed to hear a familiar voice.
“Hello?” An answer came after the first ring, and I immediately recognized the soft husky tone of my favorite waitress.
“Norma, it’s me.”
“Isobel, sugar, it’s so good to hear your voice.”
Tears touched my eyes as she spoke. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her until now. It might not have been my mom who’d answered, but Norma was definitely second best. “It’s good to hear your voice too.”
“How’s that ritzy school of yours treating you?”
“So far, so good,” I lied. The last thing Norma needed was a reason to worry about me, and if I told her the truth, I’d have to explain that I’d been ashamed of my home life, and it broke my heart to imagine telling her that.
I’d never once been embarrassed of where I came from, and I hated that this school had briefly changed that in me.
If there was one lesson I’d learned from this whole hideous experience, it was that I should be proud of who I was, no matter what.
“Well, we’ve missed your pretty face around the café, but we’re all so gosh darn proud of you for being so brave and facing a new school in your senior year all by yourself.”
“It’s not all that brave.”
“It is if you ask me.”
“How is everyone?” I asked, not wanting to talk so much about myself.
“They’re all good,” she said. “We’ve got a new waitress to cover for you. She started today and can’t remember an order to save her life, but she’s sweet, and the customers seem to like her.”
I didn’t know my mom had hired a new recruit, and I was surprised she hadn’t mentioned it.
Perhaps if we’d actually talked this week, she might have brought it up.
Then again, maybe not. I knew Mom wanted me to be at Weybridge Academy, but I felt like I was letting her down by not being at home.
The café really didn’t need any added expenses right now, and it was my fault she’d had to go and hire someone new.
I should have been there to help her out.
“And that ex-best friend of yours has also been sniffing around the place,” she continued.
“Nina?”
“That’s the one. Though I thought her name was Dory.”
I snorted. “She’s not a fish.”
“Well, after what she did, she’s always going to be wet and slimy in my books,” Norma said. “Anyway, she’s come by several times asking after you. She said everyone at school was worried as no one has seen or heard from you.”
“Oh.” I was surprised they’d given me a second thought.
I had been doing my best to forget my old school and the people I once thought were my friends.
“I blocked their numbers. After everything that happened, I wanted this year to be a fresh start.” Though after today, things didn’t feel quite so fresh.
“So, what did you tell her about where I’ve gone? ” I continued.
“The truth. I said you’d been whisked away by your father and were at one of the most prestigious schools in the country. She seemed hurt to hear you left without saying goodbye.”
“I don’t know why.” She certainly hadn’t missed me over the summer or worried about me when she’d stolen my boyfriend. And a goodbye was the last thing I expected she’d want from me after our encounter at the café on my final day there.
“Well, I might have overheard her talking with one of the girls she was with,” Norma replied. “It seems like things aren’t going too well with the boy. They broke up.”
It didn’t shock me to hear the news, but I was surprised by how little I cared.
I should have felt a sense of vindication, but I just felt sad.
Nina and Levi had caused me so much pain, and in the end, it was all for nothing.
I wondered if that was why Nina was checking on me.
Had she finally come to her senses and realized how stupid it was to throw away years of friendship over a guy?