Page 94 of How We Fooled

“Yeah. He called me. I put my phone on silent, but you and Mom come through, no matter what. That’s why I got your call and not his.”

“Whose?” I place my hand on his arm, dying to know who he’s talking about.

Eli holds his finger up to me, and I grab it, not taking that for an answer.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“Okay, Dad. We’ll get ready and be right out.” There’s a pause in their conversation. “Okay. Bye.” He throws the phone down and covers his face with his hands, whispering, “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” under his breath.

“Eli! What is going on?”

“My agent called.”

I jump up in shock. “Your agent? How does he know?”

“Since I’m one of the top prospects for the draft, my name is on a list of people-watching for everything, good and bad.”

“I don’t understand. How could they find out so fast?”

“When I was arrested, it goes into a national database that triggered whatever reporting system they have.”

My eyes open wide. “What does that mean?”

He lets out a breath, keeping his eyes closed. “It means news cameras are on their way to the police station to try to figure out why I was arrested.”

I cover my mouth as I gasp in air.

He instantly sits up and wraps his arms around me. “Don’t panic.”

“How can we not panic? People are going to know who I am. Eli, everyone is going to find out.”

“We’ll figure this out.”

“I’m going to get fired. And …” I pause as realization really hits me. “Will this stop you from getting drafted?”

“We don’t know. I did nothing wrong. I was only protecting you. The truth will come out.”

I push him away from me. “Exactly. All of the truth will come out. I’m your teacher, remember? That will be a bigger story than you getting arrested once they know.”

“And we’ll deal with it.” He tries to comfort me, but there’s nothing he can do or say to help us now.

Here I was, worried the school would find out, but now, I need to worry that the entire world will find out. What have we done?

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Eli

My mom was nice enough to offer to drive Liza’s car back for her so we could be together. We drove home, not saying a word, just clasping each other’s hands, having no clue what our lives will be once we arrive back home.

When we get to her house, we spend a few minutes in her driveway, just holding each other, not caring one bit who sees us.

“I don’t want to leave,” I whisper, holding her tighter.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whispers back.

Tears prick my eyes as I inhale her scent one more time, then kiss the top of her head. “I love you. Don’t ever forget that.”

Now, it’s her turn to hold me tighter. “I love you more.”

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