Page 145 of Seeds of Malice

"This is thousands of dollars."

She rolls her eyes. "Ivy, you realize I'm the beneficiary of a very large trust fund, right?"

My chest tightens.

She groans. "Sorry. I didn't say that to throw it in your face. I'm just saying that I have a lot of money. Oh, shoot. That sounds bad too."

I stay quiet.

"Look, I'm not even going to notice the money out of my account. But I wanted to get you something nice and, like I said, I thought it belonged to you. It literally was screaming on the shelf, 'I'm Ivy's. I'm Ivy's. I'm Ivy's.'" She grabs my hand and puts it on the leather. "Feel it. It's nice, isn't it?"

I can't help but laugh again. " Avery, it's beautiful. I've never had anything like this before."

"Well, it's time you did," she asserts, pointing to my book bag and adding, "Maybe you should retire that. What do you think?"

I glanced at the bag I'd had all through high school. It's tattered and ripped in places. I even put a patch on one spot. "Are you sure?" I question, looking at the bag again, loving how the leather feels against my fingers.

"Yes. Don't be silly. Here. Change it out before we get there." She grabs the box, tosses it in the back seat and then puts the car in sports mode. She speeds off, reminding me again of how Dax drives.

I ask, "Does Dax know you picked me up?"

"Duh. Who do you think asked me to get you?"

"He did?" I question, my nerves reappearing in my belly.

Why would Dax do that?

"Yes." She puts on her blinker and veers left. "We had a really good conversation last night. I got to his house today, and he was upset that you hadn't told your dad about him."

Dax told her that?

"Sorry. I walked in, and he was all upset, and I told him before he could say anything more that I was coming to get you."

I hate I've upset Dax, but my father is a tricky situation. I state, "Well, thank you. That was nice of you."

"Well, you don't want your dad dropping you off at college. I mean, your dad's really nice, and he's quite the looker too, isn't he?" she adds.

I groan. "Avery, come on. He's double your age. Plus, he's my dad."

She laughs. "What? I can't say that he's a good-looking guy?"

"Yes, that's fine. As long as it doesn't go further than that," I declare, wondering if she would actually do something with someone my dad's age.

She wrinkles her nose. "I go for people our age. I'm not really into the whole daddy thing and wrinkled balls," she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Eww, gross." I mock gag, then laugh. Relief fills me, not that I think my dad would do anything, but still, everyone around me, including my dad, seems charmed by Avery.

"Plus, we're friends. Do you really think I'd want to jeopardize our friendship like that?" she questions, glancing at me.

More relief fills me. "No, that'd be a bad thing."

She accelerates down the road and questions, "So, are you going to rush my sorority?"

"Sorority? I have no plans of rushing any sorority. I never even thought about it. Besides, I don't have the money for that," I confess.

"Don't be silly. Dax will pay for you."

"I-I don't want him to pay for something like that."

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