Page 46 of Zero Chance

“You didn’t answer your phone,” she repeated.

“I know.”I gripped a handful of my hair in defeat as I made my way back toward the others.“I forgot it on my bed.”

“I thought?—”

She didn’t finish the sentence.But I knew exactly what she’d thought.That I’d tried to kill myself again.And maybe even succeeded this time.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.“I’m okay.I swear.Everything is fine.”

“So how did you get home?”she wanted to know.“You couldn’t call a ride if you left your phone on your bed.Oh God.Please tell me you didn’t walk the streets alone after dark.”

“No.Parker gave me a ride.He was over there too.”

“Parker?ParkerOhrley?”

I bit my lip.“Yes.”

“Is he still there?”

“Yeah.Both he and his girlfriend Hope are here.”

“I want to talk to him,” Mom demanded just as I reached the others.

“But—”

“Put him on the phone.Now.”

With a sickened wince, I looked up at Parker, who lifted both eyebrows in question.

Holding out my phone, I said, “My mom wants to talk to you.”

He paused, clearly confused.“Tome?”

I nodded.

“Okay,” he said slowly, then took the phone.“Hey, Katherine.”

After listening for a moment and nodding at whatever my mother was telling him, he finally explained to her, “I can’t tell you much.She was at the house I was at, visiting with the same friends I was there to see, and she was ready to go home at the same time my girl and I were, so we drove her home.End of story.”

After furrowing his brow through my mother’s reply, he then lifted his eyebrows and said, “Uh, you’ll have to askherthat.”

My mother must’ve demanded more—asking questions Parker wasn’t too fond of.His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened, telling me he was beginning to get annoyed.

He muttered, “Again, you’ll have to ask your daughter.I was just visiting my friends, and she happened to show up to hang out with Xander, who is cousins with my buddy Foster Union.Yes, Foster Union the football player.No, Foster doesn’t live there.His cousinXanderdoes.And Waverly was ready to head home whenwewere, so we offered to drop her off.That’s all I know.No.She was fine the whole time.These are my closest friends.They’re safe.Everything was okay.I don’t?—”

After hissing out a breath, he pulled the phone from his ear.“Thank fuck.”He handed the phone back to me.“She’s ready to talk to you again.”

“Joy,” I muttered sarcastically, causing him to smirk in understanding as I pressed the phone back to my ear.

“Whosehouse were you at again?”Mom asked before I could even speak.

“I told you, Xander Union’s.She takes Early American Lit with me, and we sit next to each other in class.She invited me to come over to help celebrate her cousin’s football win.”

“So you were at a party?”

“A…get-together,” I hedged, agreeing without really agreeing.“Yes.”

“You were at a party,” she decided.“Why didn’t you just tell us that’s what you were doing?”

---