Forever Changed

“That good with you?” I asked Kassandra.

“I’m game for anything,” she said, sounding preoccupied.

“You okay?” I asked, helping her climb into the vehicle, trying not to focus on how good she looked in the jeans she was wearing.

“I like your friends,” she whispered, avoiding the question.

“Kass, are you okay?” I repeated.

She shook her head, looking ready to cry.

“Whoa, did someone say something to you?” I said, ready to jump out of the vehicle to hunt down the person that had hurt her.

“No, it’s not that. My mom wants to meet you.”

“She knows about me?” I asked, feeling that was a good sign if she knew about me and still let Kassandra come.

“She knows I’m seeing someone outside my ‘normal’ group,” she said, using air quotes with her hands.

“Oh,” I said, suddenly understanding.

“She’s happy I’m seeing someone, but I’m pretty sure that will change when she finds out.”

“Maybe she won’t recognize me,” I suggested.

“You and your dad were plastered across the news almost as much as we were after the accident.”

“Crap, I forgot about that. Maybe it’ll be okay babe. After all, I’m the hero right?”

She smiled at my word choice and linked her fingers through mine as Carrie and Drake climbed into the front seats, bickering about whether or not Bruno Mars was a legit artist.

I studied the back of Drake’s head as sudden inspiration hit me. “We could always use a decoy,” I suggested, indicating Drake.

She laughed. “That’s an idea.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I said, draping an arm around her. “We have to because I’m not ready to give you up when I just found you.

Hanging out with Maddon and his friends the rest of the night was fun, but still didn’t help the fear lingering in the back of my head. Drake was a playboy through and through. He flirted with anyone and everyone of the opposite sex, but I couldn’t help laughing at his charm. Carrie was a crack up too as she entertained me with harebrained ideas Maddon and Drake had when they were twelve and thirteen.

“They always had some grand scheme about how they could become millionaires. Like the one time they decided they were going to sell candy bars at little league games. They had to hide the candy bars in the pockets of oversized jackets they snagged from Drake’s dad since the concession stand didn’t allow other vendors to sell during games. So there was Drake and Maddon, flashing spectators the different kinds of candy bars they had, like a drug dealer or something. The only problem with their plan, though, was that it was ninety degrees out, so by the time they even rode their bikes over there, all the candy had melted,” she said giggling as the guys looked put out.

“Hey, it was a good plan,” Drake said defensively, making me join in with Carrie’s giggles.

“Even if the candy wouldn’t have melted, you still wouldn’t have sold anything. How much were you guys charging?” she teased.

“Five dollars,” Maddon mumbled.

“What?” I asked, not sure I heard him right.

“Five dollars,” Drake said louder. “Look, it was a good idea. We heard it was all about the markup. That’s how all the bigwigs make it.” We sat in silence for a moment until finally Carrie cracked, and we all laughed uncontrollably, bringing the attention of everyone at the restaurant in our direction.

“Look, you don’t think iPads actually cost six hundred bucks to make, right,” Drake said defensively.

“Hey, yeah, we could get iPads and sell them at prom for five thousand dollars apiece, we’ll clean up,” Maddon teased, making the sip of water I had just taken spray across the table.

“Whatever, asses, my motto is ‘go big or go home,’” Drake grumbled, not ready to admit defeat.

“Well, you definitely went home,” Carrie said, still laughing. “Just empty handed.”