Not exactly a lie, more like a half-truth. Her distrusting ass didn’t look convinced, but one of her girls came over maybe to spread more shit from the gleam in her eye, and Paul took the opportunity to slip me some of his fries. Me, being the complete ass that I’ve become, shook my head no and continued to eat the tasteless shit on my plate.
“Oh, now I feel almost bad for her. If these things are true, not so much, but if even part of it’s a lie then…”
“Why what happened? What did your girl say?”
“Sherry just left. I guess it got to be too much. Some of the girls were planning to beat her up later, so maybe it’s a good thing…”
“Why did she leave now instead of earlier when the rumors started? Did something else happen?” Maybe I was some kind of torturer in the past because I was having way too much fun with this shit. I, of course, knew why she’d left and had a pretty good idea where she was headed. Since dad’s at home these days to help with my little sister, I wasn’t worried about my stepmom having to deal with the twit alone.
“I don’t know if something else happened, but isn’t what I just told you enough? If this gets back to the adults, she could be in serious trouble. Somehow I don’t think it’s true though, wouldn’t they know? I mean she transferred here, wouldn’t her past have shown up somewhere on paper if that stuff was true?”
“Beats me, but listen, do you remember what I asked you this morning?”
“What?” She stole one of my carrot sticks. I guess she needed some flavor to add to her lettuce. Now I was the one rolling my eyes at her.
“I asked you if you were sure that this is what you want? We can’t fuck up our family dynamic for a quick fling and think things will go back to normal if you decide you no longer want this.”
“Oh, that, I already told you. Why do you keep bringing it up? Are you having second thoughts?”
“Not a chance.” But I’m sure after my little display earlier that Sherry was headed to the house to spill the beans. Yes, I did that shit on purpose. Why not use her to broach a subject that wasn’t exactly easy for me.
Dad has his new daughter now sure, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d wanted to adopt Lora. It wasn’t just about having a daughter to add to the son he already had, but his way of making her part of the family, as connected as the rest of us. Now he doesn’t have to worry about her feeling left out.
“What are you smirking about now? What devious schemes are you plotting in that head of yours?”
“You slay me, babe, I’ve never had a devious thought in my life. You know, after a while, these carrot sticks actually do taste good.” My ass! But it got her to go off on her spiel about the benefits of eating healthy. I’m good.
Tyler
I could barely sit through the rest of my classes and actually skipped football practice for what had to be the first time since I started playing the game. I was in too much of a hurry to see if I was right if I’d calculated Sherry’s next move as perfectly as I think I did. If I’m right, then things are about to change in a big way for Lora and me.
I should warn Lora, give her a heads-up as to what we’re about to walk into, but then I’d have to explain how I backed Sherry into a corner and pushed her crazy ass over the edge to get her to go blabbing to our parents. She’s already side-eyeing my ass, so that’s gonna be a hard no.
Nothing’s going to happen to her anyway, not with me here, so there’s no danger to her. Dad might plant his foot in my ass, though, which I’m more than willing to accept as long as I get my girl in the end. Nothing else matters but that. “Why aren’t you going to practice?” I ignored the onlookers and strapped her into the car.
Since my little display at lunch, I see no reason to carry on with the pretense. I’m pretty sure if we act like there’s something wrong with us being together, that’s what everyone else will pick up on, so I’m going with the opposite. The people I care about here have already been told the truth not because I need their acceptance, but because I’m no longer going to be treating her like my damn sister when all of us are together. None of them gave much of a damn, which is pretty much what I expected.