Chapter 101
“What if…” Lucy began and then stopped, biting her lip for a second before she continued, “what if I didn’t like Jason, and I said no. Do you think Jess would be mad at me because the guy she likes asked me out?”
I scrunched up my forehead and stared at her for a long while. “No,” I said. “How would that be your fault? You can’t help it that you’re gorgeous and awesome.”
She gave me a cynical smile. “Still, I think she’d be mad. It’d be human nature to be jealous.”
“I agree,” Emma said, nodding. “I think she’ll be mad at you no matter what you say.”
“You think?” I asked, turning my gaze to Emma.
“Yeah, I mean, if Liam asked Lucy out, you’d be mad, wouldn’t you? Even if she said no?”
I expected Lucy to say her usual comment when it came to Liam, “barf,” but she was only staring at Emma like she had two heads or something. “What’s the matter, Lucy?”
“Nothing,” she said. “You wouldn’t get mad at me over that, would you?”
“Mad at you?” I repeated, weighing my response for a moment. “No, of course not. It wouldn’t be your fault.” I didn’t know if that was true, though. Part of me understood the logic; it really wouldn’t be Lucy’s fault if Liam asked her out. She did everything she could to try to repel him. Not that she needed to, because he didn’t like her. But then—if he did, would that make me mad at her? Or him? Or both? “No, I wouldn’t be,” I assured her.
“Lying,” Emma said, popping another Cheeto.
“What?” I asked incredulously. “No, I’m not.”
“I think you might be,” Lucy said. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t have to worry about it. I’m gonna go talk to Jess.”
“You are?” I asked, watching her gather up her tray of half eaten food. “Why?”
“I need to tell her myself,” Lucy shrugged. She walked off toward the trash can, and I glanced around the room. Jessica sat with Rachel, Jenny, and some of the other cheerleaders on the other side of the cafeteria. Luckily, Jason didn’t have this lunch period, so he would have no idea this was going down. Lucy pulled Jess to the side, and they talked for a few minutes. Lucy put her hand on Jessica’s shoulder, and the next thing I knew, Jessica was crying. She said something very animated to Lucy and then took off toward the bathroom.
Lucy stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips before heading back to us. She sat down and neither of us said a word to her until she finally said, “Well, that went well.”
“Sorry,” I said.
“Told you,” Emma said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Lucy shrugged. “I guess… I’ll just tell him no.”
“Give her some time,” I suggested. “She might come around and decide it’s dumb for her to keep the two of you from going together if he really doesn’t like her.”
“Maybe,” Lucy said, but she didn’t look convinced. “We need to go get our dresses next weekend.”
Homecoming was in three weeks. “Why so soon?”
“So, we get the best ones.”
I knew her dress budget would be significantly higher than mine, but going with her mom would be more fun than mine. “Okay,” I said. “You going Emma?” I knew the answer before I asked the question. She just wrinkled her nose at me. We both already knew that Emma wouldn’t be going to the dance or to pick out dresses with us.
“You had fun at the basketball game,” Lucy reminded her as Emma and I gathered up our trash.
“Yeah, because Elliott was there. Do you think he’ll go to the dance?”
“He could be a chaperone,” I offered, although it was weird to think of him attending the dance. I may as well volunteer my parents.
“Has he said anything else to you about, you know, anything?” Lucy asked.
“Not a thing,” I assured her. It’d been a while since we’d even talked about vampires, LIGHTS, Jack, any of it, because there was nothing new to tell. I hadn’t even done any more searches recently. CHENRY77 was much quicker than I was at finding, and destroying, anything anyone might post.
“Well, if he updates you on anything, let us know,” Lucy said. “I’m going to head to class.”
I checked the clock and agreed it was time to head out. Emma and I walked toward the trash cans. While Valentine’s Day was one of the more exciting days of the year, I was ready to call it a day. Hopefully, the rest of the afternoon would be mellow, and the only thing I’d have to worry about was how to get that giant balloon bouquet into my mom’s minivan.
Later that afternoon, my mom was quiet on the way home, and I could tell something was really bothering her. I had an idea it was more than my dad forgetting to order flowers or something silly like that. But I didn’t ask. I was sure she’d tell me when she was good and ready, and if that meant I had to wait until I was seventeen, well that birthday was going to be one heck of an update session.
As soon as our house came into view, I noticed Elliott’s motorcycle sitting in front of it. “Why is…?” I began, but my mom cut me off.
“He has some things he needs to explain to you,” she said, pushing the button to open the garage. “Your father and I agreed it would be best if you heard it from him.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked, my blood beginning to run cold. Surely, if something had happened to Cadence, my mom would be crying.
“Everything is fine,” she assured me, but I didn’t believe her. “I’ll get your flowers. You go on inside.”
