Page 33 of All In Good Time

He was a terrible influence. And one she would have to resist for now. “No.”

He groaned but pocketed his keys.

“It isn’t fair to Mal, and now I’m late for class. Besides, I want to talk to Marty.”

“You care too much about his feelings.”

“I’m sure he would say the same thing about you.” She shut her locker. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll wait, in case you need a ride,” he called after her, turning a few heads, but she ignored him and went into her classroom.

* * *

Once Ms. O’Malley started lecturing, Becca wished she had taken Derek up on his offer. The rest of the day went by so slowly, she wanted to jump out a window. But she made it, and when the final bell rang, she rushed out of the room to get out to the parking lot.

The time not spent paying attention to boring presentations had been spent planning what she would say to Marty. The first part of her plan revolved on getting to him before he could leave her and make her lose her chance.

When she was out to the lot, she was relieved to see that his car was still there, but he was nowhere in sight.

Derek’s car was still there, too, parked in the middle of the gravel. He stood against the hood, with his hands leaning back on it. She wasn’t oblivious to the fact that his eyes were already on her as she walked across the drop-off area to Marty’s car.

She nodded her head toward Marty’s car to let Derek know she would still be going ahead with her plan and mending things with her friend. He responded by getting in his car. She half expected him to drive away, but he didn’t. The Monte Carlo didn’t even roar to life as he sat inside.

Unlike Derek, she couldn’t get into Marty’s car unless he unlocked it for her, so she would have to wait. She stood next to the passenger door a few more minutes before he made an appearance.

His steps faltered when he saw her there, but he kept coming anyway. They said nothing as he unlocked his door, and for a horrible and embarrassing second, she thought he wasn’t going to let her in.

But then her lock clicked, and when she tried the handle, it opened. She hesitated, worried that her trying to mend things might make them worse.

“Can you hurry up? You’re letting all the cold air in.”

His words got her to move, and she slid into the seat like she had a thousand times. The engine turned on, and Marty started fiddling nervously with the air settings, making sure the dial was turned all the way to hot. He looked over his shoulder, back at where Derek’s car was parked. “I thought you were going to ride with him.”

Becca followed his gaze to where Derek sat in his car, watching them over the top of his steering wheel. “Why would you think that?”

“Someone heard him tell you to ride with him.”

“And I told him I didn’t need a ride because I was going to talk to you.”

He went silent but backed out of his spot. He passed Derek’s car on the way out, and Becca somehow resisted the urge to catch Derek’s eye out the window.

Now was the perfect time for the dozens of lines she’d rehearsed in her head. Taking a deep breath, she willed all her strength and started, “Marty, I’m—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His interruption caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered and changed tactics. “I was going to, but I know you hate him, and I wasn’t surehowto tell you.”

“Yeah, I hate him. But you know what I kind of hate more? The fact that I had to hear my best friend is messing with the worst prick in school from Brent fucking Duggan.”

God, Brent again? That kid was always getting her in business and causing her more trouble than he was worth. “I’m notmessingwith him.”

“And that’s just another thing I can’t figure out.” He shook his head. “Why? Why the hell would you even bearoundhim. I mean, when did this start?”

She closed her eyes. She’d promised herself she would be honest to Marty about this, but man, she wasn’t ready for the reaction. Her voice was hesitant as she spoke. “The first time we really met was after the Halloween party at Ruby’s.”

Marty’s head moved in slow motion toward her, disbelief contorting his face. She winced.

“For what it’s worth, we only talked, like, twice before last week.”

---