36. Chapter 36
Chapter thirty-six
Bexley
A fter fighting for my life running the track, I'm promptly reminded of my own mortality. It can't be normal to have such pathetic stamina when I'm meant to be at the prime of my life. I'm fairly sure that I'm one more lap away from going into cardiac arrest and pissing myself in front of the cheerleaders.
On the plus side, Soph equally struggles and if it wasn't for her helping hold me up afterwards, we'd both be on the ground mimicking grass angels. To be fair, I also held her up, which was a little embarrassing when Rylan jogged past, barely a hair out of place as he flaunted his cardio God-like abilities.
Shamefully, I did spend an unhealthy amount of time perving on his ass as he ran ahead. But what can I say? I appreciate good muscles.
Even the catcalls couldn't bring me down, which was surprising. Sunday had been a blur, but I didn't expect to suddenly feel so different this week.
I still ache for my mom, but knowing she's at rest now, free from her demons, makes it a little easier. I don't think it will ever stop hurting, and in my mind, I still one-hundred percent blame Dad. But she's free now and I cherish those last few days where for a split second in time, things were normal.
Maybe she knew something was wrong and that's why she won against the demons, her old self reemerging to make me feel seen. Still, too many questions linger that keep me up at night.
On my break, I call Dr. Lavings and book in for that annual check-up I'm due for. I'm also planning on bringing up Mom. I deserve answers—I need to know what went wrong that things ended so quickly. If Grey's Anatomy has taught me anything, it's that shit can hit the fan awfully fast. But in my mind, it doesn't make sense. But then again, I'm not a doctor. And at the end of the day, Mom would want me to live—to take the chances that she never got.
Thankfully, I'm able to squeeze in an appointment tomorrow afternoon. Normally we have to wait for ages, but the receptionist said there had been a cancellation.
Cancellation, my ass. It was one-hundred percent a pity appointment. I'm not stupid enough to believe that divine timing has fixed the atrocious healthcare system. But I'll take what I can get. The sooner I can get peace of mind, the better.
The rest of the day goes relatively quick. There's a weird change of atmosphere around Willowbrook as the dance approaches. The cheerleaders are walking around, acting all high and mighty, while staff still beg for volunteers. I'm surprised they haven't just told Cedar Heights students that it's mandatory to assist. After all, they do love their free labor.
When I walk into my last class of the day, Biology, I'm surprised to see a familiar face. Mr. Martin hasn't changed in the slightest over the past two months, still rocking a mismatched jacket and lavender hair. He smiles at me when I enter, giving a little wave before scanning the rest of the class.
I can see the Willowbrook students sneering, some baffled at the newcomer. But the shit-eating grins on the Cedar students are the icing on the cake. Suddenly, I'm filled with hope. We might survive this torture after all.
"Hello friends!" Mr. Martin grins when I take my seat. "I bet some of you are wondering who I am." He pauses, winking at me.
I can't help but smirk in response, shaking my head as I look down. There's nothing but silence in response, quiet enough that you'd hear a pin drop.
"I'll be taking over from your regular Biology teacher for the next few weeks. As you might have guessed, I'm from Cedar Heights."
My hand covers my mouth quickly, muffling a laugh as someone scoffs in disgust. Mr. Martin grins in their direction, tugging on his jacket lapels. The black jacket has patches of blue sewed onto it—all different shapes, the quirky attire appearing out of place in the building of snobs.
I meet the eyes of a few Cedar peers, happy to see them react in the same way as me. Scanning the other faces, I realize where the sound of disgust emerged from. Liv is in the front row, leaning on one elbow as she sneers at Mr. Martin while whispering to Sierra. It takes all my willpower to stay calm, knowing if I start cackling like a hyena it's going to send the room into chaos.
It becomes my favorite lesson to date, and by the end of it, I'm practically skipping out of the room with a dopey grin on my face.
When I get back to my truck, I catch sight of Sophia sprawled over the bonnet, eyes closed like some kind of reptile in the sun. She cracks an eye open at the sound of my approaching footsteps, still not moving.
"Carry me home," she begs.
"Still fucked from gym?"
All I get in reply is a long groan and the sound of flesh sliding down metal. Crawling into the cab, she drops her head back with a frown.
"I'll never recover from that. My legs were already sore from Klein chasing a fox yesterday. And then Coach Carter had to make it worse."
"Well, at least you get to go home and rest now," I laugh.
She sighs blissfully. "Thanks for the lift again."
Pulling out of the parking lot, I put some music on. "I'm heading to your house anyway. Saves you from having to carpool with your brother."
"We should carpool on Friday," she says, finally straightening up. "You, me, Abby and Archer."
I groan playfully. "If you insist."
Sophia elbows me. "You're going to have fun. Don't try to bullshit me otherwise."
"A night with Willowbrook's finest? How can I resist?"
"Why, thank you! I am pretty fine."
We pull up in front of Sophia's—and Tai's—house, the two of us disembarking mid-conversation about hair and makeup for Friday. For a girl that hates attention and is a living definition of introvert, she sure is bossy. I guess when she has her sights set on something, she'll take charge and wear you down until you give in. Huh—She's like Tai after all.
Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. The crunch of gravel has us both turning our heads as we watch his car pull up behind mine. He flashes both of us a grin as he heads through the front door, apparently in a better mood than yesterday for our study date.
"Let's do this!" he excitedly shouts, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the stairs.
"Jesus, Beckett. Chill!" I beg, managing to catch my footing as I'm dragged toward his room.
I look over my shoulder, watching as Soph shakes her head with a snort before disappearing out of view.
"Why the madness?" I breathe out when we're in his bedroom. "I nearly died in gym today. You can't force me up stairs at that speed."
Tai flops down in his computer chair, placing his hands behind his head. "Because we're going to finish this stupid project today. I figured it out."
Laughing, I walk over and sit down at the desk. "Did you now?"
"Okay—maybe I overheard someone talking about it. But I think I know what to do."
"So, you cheated."
"I didn't cheat! He was just talking about the calculation steps. Sshh—trust me, Bexley."
I cock an eyebrow. "I trust you as much as a loaf of moldy bread."
"You wound me," he replies, and I'm hit with a sense of déjà vu.
"Alright, Einstein. Lead the way," I snort, pushing the paperwork toward him.
To my surprise, Tai did seem to know what he was doing. And I think he was equally as shocked.
Together, we managed to work through the series of steps, showing our working out strategies until we reached an agreement on our answer. I have no idea if we are right, but I'm fairly confident we've done it to the best of our ability. Tai looks like a little kid, grinning wildly as he writes his name on the top of the sheet.
"Done!"
"See… it wasn't so bad," I laugh. "Plus, you got to hang with me and learn from my wisdom."
"You're so full of yourself, Spencer," he snorts, relaxing back in his chair. "But yes. Solid teamwork."
I reach for another mini quiche. I've eaten five now, but who's counting? Mary brought them up shortly after I arrived and after I tasted one, I couldn't stop. I don't want to insult her cooking by leaving any crumbs behind. Yep—that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
As I shove an entire one in my mouth, Tai blinks in disbelief. I must resemble a squirrel, cheeks blown out and puffy but instead of nuts in my mouth, it's bacon and cheese quiche.
"What?" I grumble, words slurring through my full mouth. Oops—probably need to work on being more lady-like.
"I didn't think it was humanly possible for a mouth to stretch so wide," he taunts.
Chewing, I hold eye contact, determined to make him as uncomfortable as possible. Except the idiot just stares back with a smirk, waiting patiently for me to swallow.
"I'm not disrespecting Mary by sending food back," I start. "It would be rude of me. I'm the perfect guest."
Tai breaks out in laughter, messing up his hair with his hand. "I gained ten pounds in freshman year. I kept eating everything even though I was full. Eventually Mary caught on, realizing she was overcooking. Man—she scolded me good for not telling her. She thought I was just a growing boy . But it was enough to feed an entire class."
"I wish I had someone to cook for me," I murmur thoughtfully. "But I do love baking. Except I have zero self control and will eat an entire tray of cookies if I'm not careful."
"Cookies don't have calories," he says dismissively with a wave. "That's the rules—I don't make them."
I feel oddly at ease. Relieved that the project is done, I'm able to just relax. Thoughts of heading home quickly exit my mind when the bedroom door opens, and a new face surprises me.
"Knock knock," Rylan mutters, walking in without waiting for a reply. "You better be finished. I've been waiting all afternoon so we can get this sorted."
My gaze shifts between the two of them. "Sort what?"
Tai gives me a sheepish smile. "We're extending that team effort. Dream team and all."
"You've lost me," I mumble, turning to Rylan. "Please explain to me… in English."
I let out a yelp when Rylan lifts me off the chair, plonking his own ass down. Before I can rip him a new one, his hands grab my hips, pulling me down to his lap.
"Rylan!" I hiss, looking at Tai in alarm.
"Oh, he doesn't care. Do you, T?"
Tai shakes his head, amused. "I'm cool. Just try not to get too distracted. We need your full attention for this."
My eyes widen when Rylan jerks his hips slightly, absolutely pulling my focus to him. He laughs in my ear, tapping my thigh in resignation.
"We think it would be a good idea to join forces to investigate the fire. The three of us and you."
"I don't need your help," I start but the two of them just laugh like they are sharing an inside joke.
Tai strums his fingers along the desk. "I have no idea why they don't get along. They are practically the same person."
I narrow my eyes at him. "You better not be talking about Lannister."
Rylan hums in my ear, squeezing my thigh. "You seem stressed."
"About working with you three? Absolutely," I shoot back, ignoring the flames that travel through my body and light up my face.
"You need us," Tai points out. "We have access to things that you don't."
Rolling my eyes, I slap Rylan's hand—not that it does any good. He just squeezes tighter. "I'm more than capable of finding resources."
"We need you," Rylan answers sharply.
I can't help but focus on the husky tone, suddenly feeling like he's talking about more than a joint arson investigation project. I suppress a shiver, darting my gaze to Tai to assess his reaction. There's no way he didn't pick up on the same vibes. Men are idiots but not complex creatures.
Tai grins. "I know I need your expertise. No one knows Cedar Heights better than you."
Fingers dance up my skin, ducking under my Willowbrook skirt. I go to grab Rylan's hand in warning, but his other arm swings out, pinning me.
"Come on, Bex," he whispers, his warm breath sending goosebumps all over my skin. "Are you scared that you won't be able to handle all of us?"