Page 159 of Filthy Liar

There was no need. Rory wouldn’t have applied for a school she wouldn’t have sent me to.

“This is it, isn’t it?” I asked, turning my attention to the remains of our house. “Our life in the Heights is over. We actually got out. Everything’s going to change now.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Logan asked, and I smiled slightly as I shook my head.

“I guess not. It was just yesterday we had no electricity because we couldn’t afford the bill. How am I going to college?”

“And buying a house,” Ander said as he stretched out. “As of today, we’re going to start saving to buy some place nice. It’s nice of Rory to let us crash at the little house she’s renting us, but it’s tiny. We can live anywhere we want. I know you won’t let me just buy one, so I’ll do you a deal. I chuck in towards a deposit, then we all work our asses off to pay it off.”

“Deal,” Reid replied without hesitation, but Ander put a hand up.

“I’m not done. Raven lets me buy her a car this week. I don’t want to see a cent.”

That made me uncomfortable, and I winced. “Can’t I save for one?”

“No. You’re going to be needing transport with everyone else working. You have babysitting at Rory’s sometimes, friends you like to spend time with, and you’ll be starting tutoring, then college. You need your own car, Bluebird.”

“I don’t want an expensive one. You know that.”

“And I respect your request. It needs to be safe though,” he hummed, seeming deep in thought. “How about I pull something out of my wrecking yard and we build it together? The guys mentioned you might be okay with that.”

“That depends. What does it cost to build a car?” I asked suspiciously, making him grin.

“Don’t you worry about that.”

I did worry because I knew the insanely expensive Supra of his came from the wrecking yard too.

“Surprise me,” I finally said, trying to force the discomfort down. “We all pitch in for a house, and you find me a bucket of shit with wheels that we can fix.”

“Deal,” he replied brightly, and I didn’t trust him in the slightest. He was going to pull something like a fucking corvette out of the damn scrap yard.

“What will you do when Raven’s at college, Lavaro?” Reid teased. “She won’t be around to occupy you, and neither will we.”

“Me? Oh, I have plenty of things to do. I could relax or work at the wrecking yard, go back to school myself, or set up some new businesses. The possibilities are endless,” he smirked, getting to his feet and grabbing the loose papers. “What I want to know is which school do I have to get Cruz to hack the security for so I can spy on Raven?”

He was joking, I hoped.

“Kingslake,” I murmured, thinking about it for a second before nodding, trying not to let my nerves show. “I’m going to go to Kingslake University.”

I squealed as Logan stood and grabbed me, twirling me in a circle. “My girl’s going to college!”

“They heard you the first time,” Reid deadpanned as he got to his feet too, but he was smiling.

“Let’s get home and celebrate by having something to eat and going to bed, I’m dead on my feet,” Zavier said with a yawn as Logan put me down.

“Bluebird’s coming with me,” Ander exclaimed, jiggling his keys and tossing them to me. “Let’s race Reid, baby. Really embarrass him.”

I knew Reid would beat me in a heartbeat, but I laughed, snatching my letters and making a break for it to the car.

They piled into Reid’s car while Ander and I jumped into his, the car rumbling under me as I started the engine. I stalled it three times trying to turn it around, but once we were facing Ashburn Valley I put my foot down a little, snorting when Ander stuck his head out the window and flipped the guys off as they followed.

I glanced back in the rearview, warmth spreading through me as I watched the house disappear. The further out of the Heights we got, the more I welcomed the feeling in my chest.

Josh wasn’t stuck here like I’d always felt, the house had been a curse that I’d refused to let go of, which had only held me back.

He was with us every minute of the day, and he’d be there on my first day of college.

Reid closed the distance and encouraged me to go a little faster, Ander cheering me on as if we were going super fast, but we were barely going over the speed limit.

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