Chapter 31
There’s a lot of whooping and hollering at the skatepark. I’m overly energized with the thought of Tabitha showing up. I don’t know what the other guys’ excuses are.
But it makes it crystal clear Jamie’s mood is at a minus one.
“Hey, what’s up with you?” I latch onto her elbow. “Why do you seem so down?”
“No, it’s nothing,” she says, and I spot her fake tone right away. “I’m good. It’s your birthday. I don’t want to get into it.”
I plant my hands on my hips. “Jamie, if something’s wrong with you, it’s wrong with me, too.”
Her teeth grit with apprehension. “Are you sure?”
“Tell me,” I insist. “What’s happened?”
She swipes a hand over her face and averts her eyes. “The school sent Aunt Maddy a letter. My grades are too low and they’re threatening to take away my scholarship.”
My jaw drops. “What? They can’t do that.”
Her frown is ironclad. “They can. My grade average is a condition of my scholarship.”
My shoulders broaden as my outrage grows. “But the school sets the grades. They’re forcing you to fail.”
She chews a fingernail, and I hate how the school is robbing her of her confidence. “You think?”
“You have to follow their rules and what they make you learn.” My eyes dart about as I dig into the conspiracy. “They want to kick you out because you won’t follow their rules. Since when do we all need to be robots?”
“But if I don’t follow the rules, I have to go to another school.”
“So they have set an arbitrary number for you to hit?” The fire in my belly roars.
“School is already filled with facts they want us to swallow without question. Now they’re forcing you to memorize the curriculum to the point they find satisfactory?
And if you don’t, they’ll punish you by forcing you out? This is bull, James.”
“I knew you’d see it my way.” Her mood doesn’t lift. “But what can I do? Aunt Maddy can’t pay the tuition, and I don’t want to change schools.”
“Yeah, not an option. You can’t leave school.”
Jamie’s rollerblades crawl alongside a guard rail as she stares at the cloudy grey sky. “Maybe dropping out will be the easiest option.”
“And then what?” I drag my skateboard alongside her. “You want to work now and be a slave to the man? Nope, you gotta figure out a way to stay at Ashworth Academy.”
“It’s impossible. I’m so used to tuning out everything our teacher’s drone on about.”
“You’re not dumb. If you do listen, you’ll get it. Just look at me and Tabitha. We didn’t want to be paired up together, but now we’re actually rocking our chemistry assignment.”
Jamie grimaces. “That’s your pep talk? Be more like Tabitha?”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “Is that all you heard?”
“Well, you’re the one who brought her up.”
“I told you she’s part of my life now.”
“Part of your life? That’s how you’re defining your mean-girl lab partner?”
“Ugh. She’s not a mean girl. She’ll prove it to you.”
“Prove it to me? You say it like she’s about to show up here.”
“Maybe it’s the fact the school dropped this bomb on you that you’re unusually slow on the uptake.”
“Well, if I didn’t make it clear, I like my life the way it is.”
“No one said your life was changing. Look, I get that this scholarship thing has thrown you through a loop. But you’ll get there. It just sucks you have to feed on their version of facts and history.”
“If only I could be like you and have parents who can pay for my education.”
“If that were the case, you’d be boring like everyone else. Don’t let anyone turn you into the version they want you to be.”
“I’m not interesting, I’m poor.”
“You’re not poor anymore. You and Maddy have made the café one of the most popular places in town.”
“We still don’t fit in. Most people in Victoria Falls have ten times the money we do.”
“Don’t compare yourself to the masses. You’re better than that.”
She rolls away from me, shaking off the bad vibes. “Ugh. Why are we talking about this? I don’t want my problems turning your birthday into a downer.”
I can’t help grinning. “Don’t worry. My birthday will be super fun.”
Surprise sends her smiling. “You look sure about that.”
I board away from her, letting the thought of Tabitha send me into a daze. If I blab her name one more time to Jamie, she’s gonna erupt. Call me selfish, but I don’t want to be arguing with Jamie when Tabitha shows up. Surely, Jamie is well and truly clocked onto the fact Tabitha is on her way.
Okay, yeah, I’m literally skating around the issue. But Jamie leaves bruises when she punches my arm. I just got my stitches out, and I don’t want a reason to see Dr. Jones again.
I move around the park, my eyes fixed on the parking lot.
Once Tabby is here, there’s no going back.
Jamie can push back on the issue all she likes, but once she sees Tabby at my side, she’ll see her sweetness.
Maybe not right off the mark, but we have all afternoon.
The girls have to get along. Oh man, I hope they find some common ground.
Cars pass the skatepark, and my adrenaline is buzzing for a fix. But I avoid pulling a stunt on the big ramp because I don’t want to miss Tabitha’s entrance. I assume Freddy is dropping her off, but I’m trying to remember what Dr. Jones’s car looks like, just in case it’s the worst-case scenario.
As my board passes the lonely-looking ramp, Tyler gains on Jamie as they round the rails. Soon, Parker and Lewis join them and their competition heats into overdrive. Dang it, I must be nervous. I don’t want to put them all in their place as inferior to me.
When I see a red hatchback pull into the nearby parking lot, my heart stills for a beat. I let myself breathe when I spy Tabby leaving the front passenger seat.
She’s here. She’s here. She’s here.
Okay, we’re doing this.
I flick my board up and hike it under my arm as I walk away from the skatepark’s obstacles. Tabby tucks a curl behind her ear on her approach. Her lips are painted that dark color they were at the Chinese restaurant and it makes my belly flip-flop.
Tabby waits for me under a shady tree and her body shifts from side to side with nervousness.
“Ah, am I glad you’re here,” I say breathily, practically floating toward her.
Tabby giggles, and her knee pops as she continues to sway. Her anxiousness sheds as I step in close.
I smile, taking in her floral perfume. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she whispers. “Happy birthday.”
I wink. “It is now.”
Her grin grows. “Can I give you your birthday present?”
My anticipation heightens. “Yeah.”
Closing her eyes, she leans in with those pouty lips, and I gladly meet her in our kiss. An electric current pulses from her, into my mouth and down to my toes. I hold her waist and feel her shiver under my palms.
Dang, she’s so beautiful.
Unfortunately, I feel four pairs of eyes burning holes into me. I fidget in the kiss, and Tabby seems to pick up on it too. We pull out of the kiss and both laugh. Tabby looks so freaking cute as she cups her mouth, her precious giggle playing like music.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispers behind her hands. “All your friends are totally staring. How embarrassing.”
I turn toward my goofball friends and find all four of them gawking. “Would you guys quit it? Man, get a life.”
I turn back to Tabby and a pretty shade of pink dusts her olive complexion. “I can’t believe they all just saw that.”
I clasp her hands in mine. “You wanna join them?”
“Hmm. Maybe you should field some questions first?”
“Knowing these guys, they’re all falling over each other with wild stories.”
“And what about Jamie?”
“I’m expecting the volcano to finally erupt.”
Tabitha winces. “I’ll park it on a bench until they chill.”
I take Tabby by the hand and leave her to sit on a bench and then approach my friends. The guys are fast on their approach, but Jamie is already backing away like I have the plague.
Her expression is unreadable. Her focus flashes from me, to Tabitha, and back to me.
Holy cow, has the penny only just dropped for her?
I had hoped Jamie was deflecting conversations around Tabitha because she didn’t want to accept that she and I were together.
But was she blocking it out so much that it didn’t even come up as a possibility for her?
Jamie moves down a ramp and blurts, “I gotta go.”
I reach out for her. “Hey, where are you going?”
She backs away from me, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “There’s a bus leaving in five minutes. I’m gonna catch it because Maddy is with Mr. Stuffy.”
“Don’t go.” This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. “Hang out with us. One of my parents can drive you home if Maddy is still out by the time we get back to my place.”
“No, it’s okay.” She rushes forward and flings her arms around me in a hug. “Have a great rest of your birthday.”
“You’re really leaving?”
This is worse than when she punches me.
She shrugs, and it’s doing a bad job of masking her uncomfortableness. “It’s getting late, and it was a long shift at the cafe.”
Maybe if I coax her into ribbing me, she’ll lighten up? “Aw, lil Jamie is tired,” I mock, pinching her cheek.
She takes a breath, and for a moment, I think she’ll stay. But when she zeroes in on our friends, ogling Tabitha, she’s on flight-mode again. Jamie utters a few syllables, her skin growing a paler shade as she squirms to get away from the situation. Away from me.
I give her a pleading look, but she doesn’t budge.
What else am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to get on my knees and plead that she accepts the girl I like? No. If I got on my knees, she’d surely pin me in a headlock.
I huff with a shrug. “Okay, you go. But tomorrow you won’t need the bus. I’ll be able to drive us.”
She smiles and her tone is more upbeat. “What time is your test?”
“I get to skip third period. Then I can drive us around after school.”
“Yes,” she cheers. “I’m so excited.”
Thank goodness, she’s still acting like my friend. I need to take another stab at this. It’s worth risking a bruise if she’ll stay. I tease her with, “I’m not gonna flunk out like you.”
She socks my arm. “Hey!”