Page 8 of Disorderly

What else did I not know about my friends because I’d been too caught up in Jason and Peter—and Jarrod when he was around?

I mean, I was involved in the community, helping when people were in need. But that tended to be for the adults. Like when I helped Is after she’d injured her knee and leg as she prepared to open her tea shop. That showed I knew what was happening in my town, right?

I jumped, banging my knee on the underside of the table when a hand clasped my shoulder. “Shit, Katy. Are you okay?”

Once my heart calmed down enough from both the fright and the sudden onset of pain, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just zoned out.”

“Massive amounts of carbs will do that,” Kailee snarked, but her shoulders shook with her restrained giggles. My massive amount of carbs had been cut in half because little miss I-don’t-eat-carbs ate half my food.

“It wasn’t the carbs.” I wrinkled my nose and pretended to glare at her. I needed to get her back and there was only one thing I could think of that would take away her glee. “I was thinking about school. And how it starts on Tuesday. Didn’t Mr. Oswald say that he was going to guarantee that you’d be in his math classes until you graduated for that stunt you pulled?” I batted my eyelashes innocently as everyone, but Mason, chuckled at the stunned look on Kailee’s face.

“What stunt was that, Kailee?” Dave hip checked her, sending her into Chris and nearly knocking him to the ground.

“Yeah, how come I don’t know about it?” Deena pouted. “You’re always leaving me out.”

Sasha rolled her eyes at her twin as she grinned. She knew exactly what I was talking about since we’d been walking back to our lockers from the library when we saw Kailee hiding a number of little voice recorders that they have in cards around Mr. Oswald’s desk. As we watched, she hit a button on her phone and one of them played Mr. Oswald saying, “Now when you have an X and a Y comes in…” We’d bit our lips to keep from laughing. She’d taped him saying all these different math concepts but cut them off and played with their timing until they all sounded a little risqué. Something that you would never expect from the dour-faced, old man who was within years of retirement.

But before we could leave Kailee there to finish planning her prank, Mr. Oswald slid into the classroom on silent feet from the attached supply room. “Miss Kailee Foster, just what do you think you’re doing? Do you think it’s fun to turn my math class into some sex club? I think that you, I, and these recordings should take a little walk to go visit Principal Kostiak. What do you think?”

Kailee had stammered out an apology, saying that it had just been a prank, but that it wasn’t anything sexual. At that Mr. Oswald’s eyebrows climbed his forehead until they were hidden up his receding grey hair as he glared at her. Mr. Oswald may have been old, but he’d been a former football player and coach for many years, having only retired from coaching the boys’ teams a couple of years earlier. And in the intervening years, he hadn’t lost his joy at working out. The man was a tank. And scary when he glared at you.

She’d shook under his glare, losing some of her bravado.

Finally, he’d uncrossed his arms and told her that since her prank hadn’t been completed, he’d not tell the principal so long as she removed everyone that she’d hidden. If even one went off during any of his classes, he’d ensure that she was punished. And to make sure of that, she’d been in his math classes until she graduated. She’d quickly agreed, and as she turned away from him to remove all her devices, we’d watched as his mouth twitched and his eyes danced with amusement. Something we never told her.

And since her prank had never been completed, no one but us—me and Sasha— and whoever Mr. Oswald and Kailee told knew about it… until now.

“I don’t know whatshe’stalking about. Mr. Oswald and I are like this.” Kailee held up her hand with her index and middle fingers crossed. “Let’s go on some rides.” She reached across the open space in the circle, snatching Mason’s forearm. “Come join us, Mason. We can catch up some more.”

Everyone knew that Kailee had a secret she wasn’t willing to share, but they followed her discussion change eagerly, rapidly throwing out ideas as to which rides, we should hit up first. But I knew I’d opened a can of worms. Not one of my friends would be willing to let it go. They’d all hound me until they pried the story from my cold, dead fingers because dead is what I was going to be if Kailee had her way.

“—be fun.” Mason reached back, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to his side. “But first I need to catch up with Danny and the guys. They were going to watch Jake and Josh receive some honour for their rodeo season and then we were all going on the rides together.”

“D-Danny’s here? But I thought…” Daisy’s voice trailed off as she stuck her index finger near her lip and began to chew on the end. My heart broke for her. From the way she’d spoken earlier, it sounded like she was really into Danny, and she thought he felt the same way if he’d brought her to hang out with the seniors. But now it sounded like she didn’t know he was going to be here or that maybe he said he wouldn’t.

“Yeah, he’s here. It was last minute as his uncle’s ranch hand was able to make it back in time to help him transport and look after the livestock for the rodeo.” Mason shifted direction, towing me and the others towards the grandstand.

Today might have been a rough start, but right now, I felt like I could conquer the world. Thoughts about what happened at the waterpark didn’t even cross my mind. Nor did my concerns about being surrounded by people. Instead, with Mason holding my hand and my friends surrounding me, I relaxed and allowed myself to have fun. Only having Jason and Jarrod—and Peter despite how he’d made himself scarce since the hospital—with us would have made it better. My fingers itched to call Jarrod on the phone and ask him to come join us, but I knew too many questions would be asked. Besides, why would a grown man like him want to hang around with a bunch of teenagers?

The answer: he wouldn’t.

And even if he did, I doubted I could handle watching Deena, and most likely Kailee, try to throw themselves at him. He’d been doing me a nice favour when he talked me into coming with him so I wouldn’t throw him to the crazies.

But that still didn’t stop me from wishing that it was his hand holding mine as we experienced the fair.

Chapter Six

Peter

My head slammedagainst the back of my car seat as I stared at my house. Too chicken to go in, but too needy to stay away any longer.

The lights were on, so I knew Jarrod was home, finished with his first shift at the fair. I’d missed him these last couple of years when I’d been here, and he’d been back in Winnipeg. Not being around each other 24/7 as we had been for seven years made me feel like a part of me was missing. It had been the same with Jason when I moved away from home.

So I was excited to have Jarrod here… for the most part. At least until he found out what a fucking screw-up I was for hurting Katy. Then he’d leave me in a flash like Jason did. It’s why I was still sitting in the car ten minutes after I pulled into my driveway. I didn’t want to see the disappointment and anger on his face when he confronted me because there was no way in hell that Jason didn’t tell him. Not when his leaving coincided with my work trip to Winnipeg and Toronto, leaving Katy all alone without either of us being here for her.

Not that I was reallyherefor her anyway. I was too wrapped up in kicking my own ass and throwing myself a jerk-of-the-year-party-for-one to be any good for her. Besides, if it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have been attacked like she was, gotten heat stroke, and ended up in the emergency department.

“Fuck.” My head bounced again off the headrest. Again. Maybe if I hit it enough times, I’d suffer enough brain damage to keep me from being the royal fuck up that I was. Yet I knew it wouldn’t work. My luck wasn’t that great.

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