36. Lilah
LILAH
Paige rushed up to me flushed and a little sweaty. “Did you see Mason’s parking spot?”
“No, why would I see his parking spot?” I didn’t even know where he parked, since he usually dropped me off curbside.
Paige hooked her arm with mine and marched me toward the doors at the end of the hallway. “Come on, let’s go.”
The bright, humid mid-day heat beaded sweat on my forehead immediately. I shielded my eyes and let Paige guide-drag me toward the lot filled with 90 percent luxury cars. “Was there an accident?” A hitch in my heart turned her dragging into me speed-walking.
“No, if there was an accident, I’d have said there was an accident.”
“Then what exactly is going on with the parking spot?”
“You’ll see.”
There were dozens of people crowded around the parking lot.
Traditionally, seniors painted their spots as a final send off before they were repainted over the summer.
Most schools did it at the beginning of the year, but Hawthorne Prep didn’t want unsightly self-painted spots marring their parking lot for more than a couple weeks before graduation.
I’d never come out here because I barely knew other seniors, let alone the previous years’ seniors.
But one spot had triple the visitors of the others.
When we got closer, a couple of the girls eyed me with daggers in their expressions while others offered small smiles.
“Lucky bitch,” one mumbled under her breath after she’d passed me.
“What the hell is going on?”
Paige elbowed her way through the assembled Hawthorne Prep students until we got to the front.
Mason crouched with a bucket of paint beside him and he added a stroke of green to the last word. He had his blazer off, as usual, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his sinew and vein-wrapped forearms.
No wonder he was drawing a crowd. I couldn’t even be jealous because my boyfriend only ever seemed to have eyes for me. It did a lot to soothe any angry feelings at the girls taking the cleavage-first stance while admiring his artwork.
Only then did it register what he’d been working on.
“Property of Lilah Byrd.” Painted in a sage-green. A color forbidden around here since it was one of Verona’s colors. My favorite color. He’d be lucky if his car wasn’t vandalized, but then again, they’d won the championship. Plus, it was Mason.
He set the paintbrush down into the can and turned to face me with a squint against the sun. “How did I do?”
“For a test I didn’t know was happening, pretty damn good.”
Hitting me with a knee-buckling smile, he stood and wrapped an arm around my waist before his lips met mine.
“You coming to lunch?”
“You’re just declaring yourself my property and asking if I want to eat?”
“Serving you will be an honor.” He bowed deeply with one hand extended.
I tugged on his shoulder. “People are going to think I used a love potion or a spell on you if you keep this up.”
“But I am under your spell.” He drew me close.
A thrill sparked through me at how open he was about wanting me. No confusion. No question. No doubt.
“So, food?” he asked.
“Maybe. My guidance counselor wants to meet with me during lunch, so I don’t know how long that’ll take.”
“About what?”
“The counselor told me last week the board met this week to finalize all the awards. So that’s probably it.
” An excited thrill rushed through me. “I’ll meet you after.
” The ranks had been officially locked in with most of us at the top of the class already taking our AP exams, which meant we were exempted from finals.
Maybe they were going to give me the official award letter.
Mason walked me inside and opened the Guidance Office door for me.
I turned to face the receptionist and the stern look on her face sent my heart into overdrive. The door closed behind me and a gnawing churn twisted my stomach. Something was wrong.
My blood whooshed in my ears while the drum of discord hammered behind my eyes.
An hour later, I staggered out of the building into the bright, sunny day. Birds swooped overhead, the sun shone, the world carried on, so why did I feel like my chest had been caved in with a pickaxe?
Mason rushed to me and cupped my face, his calluses brushing against my cheeks.
I didn’t know how long I’d been wandering, practically stumbling, around aimlessly outside when he found me.
“What happened, Lilah?” With worried eyes, he scanned my face.
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and I struggled to form the words. “They’re auditing my grades.”
He snapped up straight. “What?”
I licked my lips, trying to clear my head.
The guidance counselor, vice principal and principal had stared down at me with accusatory stares.
“They said they’d received reports of irregularities with my grades.
And they were investigating. I don’t know.
They think I bribed my teachers with nonexistent money or something.
They said in light of me being the first choice for the Windsor Award, they had to be sure that whatever they thought was wrong was investigated and they’re going to have to do a full audit. ”
This was my fault. I’d gotten too happy. Too excited. Too comfortable with how good things were. Why hadn’t I learned my lesson by now? Too-good-to-be-true things didn’t happen to me.
What if word got back to Bellevue and they reconsidered my acceptance? I’d only squeaked in off the wait-list anyway.
My lungs burned. I couldn’t breathe. Drawing in air was impossible.
Mason’s warm hands on the back of my neck were gentle, pushing me to put my head between my legs. I collapsed, but he got himself under me, and instead of hitting the grass, I was curled up in his lap.
“Why would they think I cheated? I’ve worked my butt off for every single grade. Why would they do this?”
Other people could probably see me, but I didn’t care. I clung to his chest, fingers clutching at his shirt. He was steady, here, warm. The only thing keeping me centered in the eye of this storm that was trying to chuck me out into churning dark water with circling sharks.
He pressed his lips against my cheek and held on tight. “They made a mistake. We’ll get it figured out. You did nothing wrong. No matter what happens, know you did nothing wrong.”
I released a breath, inhaling his scent and trying to get my rapidly pounding heart rate under control.
At some point, he picked me up off the ground and brought me back to his car.
We sat in the back seat over the painted declaration that had been another great moment stacked up on all the others.
I didn’t care if I missed classes at this point.
I’d pull the concussion card one last time.
Or would that only get me in even more trouble?
None of my work seemed to matter. I’d busted my butt, scrapping and clawing my way to the top of the class, facing down every obstacle without flinching, and now they were calling it all into question.
“When we’re in Seattle, none of this will matter.” Mason’s fierce voice broke the silence.
“If I don’t get this scholarship, I don’t even know if I can go.” My voice cracked and I couldn’t stop shaking. My plan. Now what was it? Nothing.
“Take out loans—that’s what everyone else does. They have to offer you some financial aid. Take out loans for the rest.” He ran heavy, reassuring brushes along my back like a live weighted blanket.
“The point of the Windsor Award was so I didn’t end up crushed under college and med school loans.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars, Mason.
” Even with the AC cranked, the air in the car sweltered.
Sweat prickled along my skin. My muscles light-switched between clenched so tight my teeth ached and trembling.
“Then I’ll pay them.”
I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me. “Don’t—”
“I’m serious. I’ll sign a contract. I’ll do whatever it takes. This is your dream and you’ve worked hard for it. You deserve this.” He shifted, so I had to look up at him. “Do you trust me?”
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nodded.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“I trust you.” My voice cracked. There was a break in my tears, a shining moment of relief—even though I wouldn’t let him—that he loved me enough to offer.
A shudder of release found me. This was where I belonged.
With Mason, and in his arms it felt like nothing bad in the world could ever touch me.
Mason made whatever excuses needed to be made and got me home early. I never even had to leave the car. But when we arrived at the house and he saw his father’s car in the driveway, tension radiated off him.
“You won the championship. He won’t make you practice more, right?
” I hated the way his dad forced Mason to train.
Breaking him down with over-practice and injuries wasn’t the way to get him to perform better on the ice.
If anything, I was shocked Mason’s body had held out through the normal season punishment with his dad’s extra servings heaped on top.
“No.” The sharp, tight response was accompanied by a searing stare at his house.
I squeezed his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“No. I just can’t believe what they’re pulling.” His tone dripped with viciousness.
“Why do you seem more upset about it than I am now?” My chuckle came out like a choked rasp.
“Let’s get you home, then I’ll go see what my dad wants.”
We got into the quiet house, and instead of feeling relieved like I usually was, I wished I had a parent I could go to. I wished my mom were here to march into the principal’s office and fight for me. Or that my dad even remembered I existed.
“Go take a shower. I’ll get you some food.”
To my credit, I didn’t break down in the shower. I let the warm water cascade over my body and down my face. It stung from what felt like hours of crying.
When I got out, my favorite pajamas were on the counter.
My heart squeezed. I didn’t think this level of being seen was possible. Whatever happened, I’d be okay. With Mason and me together, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do.
He heated up some water and made me a cup of tea.
Feeling a little silly for being in my PJs at three p.m. on a school day, I sat at the kitchen table and hugged my knees to my chest.
He set down the steaming cup of tea and scooped in three spoonfuls of sugar, then set down half a sandwich.
“Come away with me this weekend.” He toyed with the end of the tea bag dangling from my cup.
I fished the bag out with a spoon and burned myself trying to wring the last of the water out. “You don’t have to do anything special because I’m a mess right now.”
“I’d planned this before. A weekend away for us. I was going to tell you after school today.” Mason took my hand and kissed the tip of my stinging finger.
I stopped with my mug halfway to my face. “Really?”
“If you’re not up for it, then—”
“No. If I stay here, all I’ll be doing is freaking out about my grades, and there’s nothing I can do about it right now. Leaving it all behind for a couple of days is a great plan. Anything to distract me. You really planned a trip for us?”
“I did.”
“What are we going to be doing?”
“It’s a surprise. Do you feel up to packing? We don’t have to leave until tonight, but we’ve got an early thing tomorrow morning.”
“What early morning thing? What should I pack?”
“Whatever you want. Enough for two nights.” He kissed me, careful and so tender it almost hurt. Exactly what I needed.
“You really had this planned ahead of time?”
“A graduation present for you.”
A spark of excitement I hadn’t thought possible an hour ago ran through me. “Okay, I’ll pack.”
“I need to go check in with my dad about this thing tonight, so I might not be able to answer any texts for a while.”
“I can handle a few hours on my own. Packing will keep my mind occupied.”
He kissed me once more, this time a little more unrestrained. His tongue dragged across mine, then he was gulping me down before breaking away. “Ten o’clock.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Then he left. A little while later, Kelsey and Eliza got home, so the emptiness of the house wasn’t reverberating in my head.
I no longer felt achy. My level of calm was probably a defense mechanism my brain had worked up to keep me from losing it, but I needed to do something, anything to keep my mind off whatever was going on in my head once I was packed, so I picked up my design sketchbook.
A text from Rye popped up on my phone.
Rye: I need to tell you something.