Page 94 of August Lane
She rolled her eyes. “You’re always so uptight. Like a hot Quaker. I kind of miss it.” She pointed to his arm. “Did Ava do that?”
Luke was thrown by the question. Ava loved Jessica and had fawned over her the few times he’d brought her home. “Why would you ask?”
Jessica gave him an impatient look, like this was a race and he needed to catch up. “She called my dad and told him you were running around with Silas King.”
It never occurred to Luke that staying at Delta Blue would put Silas in Ava’s crosshairs. She was probably afraid he knew what she’d done. Luke could imagine her spinning some sob story about her troubled son in case there was a police report. “What did your dad say?”
“He asked if I had seen you. I said yes, you were fine.” She picked a loose thread in her jeans. “I also said Ava was paranoid, and that you were probably staying at Shane’s to get away from her.” She paused. “Have you really been hanging out with Silas King?”
Luke thought of Silas’s Cadillac, currently sitting in the parking lot. It was damning evidence. “I’m staying with him,” he admitted. “Ava and I got into it. I can’t go back.”
She looked at his arm again. “I knew she was awful. Even though she was nice to me, with some people, you can tell.”
Luke didn’t respond. Despite everything, agreeing with Jessica feltlike a betrayal. Ava was his mother. Nothing would change that. “Thank you for covering for me. Especially with how we left things.”
“You’re welcome. But you’ll ruin all my efforts if you keep freaking out and disappearing. People are noticing. You can’t hide forever, Luke.”
She was right. Jessica’s lies would be easy for her father to verify, starting with the football suspension. Next he’d speak to Luke’s teachers, who would probably get the district involved if they looked too closely at his poor attendance records. Then came his worst nightmares: Ava’s drugs being discovered. Her getting dragged away in handcuffs. Ethan being sent to some group home. Luke would be powerless to stop it all from happening.
Every box he’d worked so hard to fit inside was collapsing. His reputation used to protect him, make people see him the way he wanted. It was naive to believe he didn’t need that anymore. “It’s hard being back,” he admitted. “Everyone wants me to be some guy I don’t even know anymore.”
Jessica slumped in her chair. “My mom walked in on me making out with Shirley last week.”
Luke stared with wide eyes. “The girl that’s obsessed with horses?”
She nodded. “It’s not serious. We were just fooling around, but Mom freaked out. Started crying.” She tried to sound flippant, like it wasn’t a big deal, but he knew it was. Jessica referred to her mother as her first best friend. “When I reminded her that homecoming was this weekend, she said she didn’t trust me to make good decisions.”
Luke thought of Ethan, and how long he’d had to hide who he was from their mother. Jessica had been forced into the exact situation his brother was desperate to avoid. He didn’t know how that felt. But Jessica looked like she was slowly drowning. “Your parents trust me, right? What if I took you?”
“To homecoming?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’ll help us both. People will see me out having fun like normal, and your parents will think you’re…” He trailed because he wasn’t sure how to phrase it.
“Still having fun like normal?” She smiled. “Let’s do it.”
The door opened again. This time it was August. Luke stood soquickly he nearly stumbled while trying to distance himself from Jessica. August kept her hand on the door, as if she didn’t plan to stay. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Luke wanted to laugh because the idea was ridiculous. He’d been waiting for her. But he knew how bad this looked. Jessica, the interloper, lounging in August’s chair like she planned to stay awhile. Luke felt like he’d been caught at the scene of a crime.
“You should go,” he told Jessica.
She ignored him and focused on August. “What’s for lunch?”
“Jess.” His voice was harsh enough to capture her attention. “I’ll see you Saturday.”
A tense silence followed. Jessica took her time sliding her backpack over her shoulder. When she finally left, August shoved a bagged lunch into Luke’s hands and sat in a wobbly chair to avoid the one Jessica had just abandoned. She started eating like nothing had happened.
Luke sat on the couch. “That wasn’t—”
“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. You and I arefriends. That’s all.” The way she saidfriendsimplied the opposite, that they were so much more. “Don’t do that whole, this isn’t what it looks like thing, because it’ll be embarrassing.” She glanced at him. “For you. Not me.”
Luke remained silent. All the feelings he was hiding had gummed up his brain. If he tried to speak, he’d say I love you, which was the last thing she’d want to hear, especially once she knew what he was doing for Jessica.
August stared at him, her expression growing colder the longer he remained silent. “You know she’s a terrible person, right? Please tell me you know that.” It sounded like she was begging him to prove he wasn’t a complete idiot.
“People are complicated.”
“Not her. She wants you back.”
