Page 49 of Love Me Steadfast
“Can we just drive?” she asks.
“Sure.” I start the engine and pull away from the curb. The clouds hanging low in the sky have dark gray underbellies now. It’s for sure going to rain later.
“Morgan didn’t come home last night,” Charlotte says after I’ve turned left out of their neighborhood.
“Oh shit. Is she okay?”
“She’s in one piece.”
I nod. If this is her definition ofokay, then it must be bad.
“Did she give a reason?” I accelerate, shifting into third, the new tires humming against the road.
“She’s been hanging out with these losers. I’m sure they pressured her into staying out. I just hope that’sallthey pressured her to do.”
I wince at how raw this sounds. “I’m sorry.”
“Mom’s, um, condition has been hardest on her.”
The tension in the air makes me want to tread carefully. “Is your mom…sick?”
Her eyes flash. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I swallow the tight knot in my throat.
She gives me a side-eye, then bursts out laughing.
“What?” I ask.
“That look on your face. Pure terror.”
I open my mouth in mock outrage. “I’m trying to be a supportive friend here, and you’re shoving it in my face?”
“I’m just calling your bluff, QB,” she says with a smirk. “So is that what we are?” She rubs her thumb along the seam of the windowsill. “Friends?”
“Yeah,” I say in an even tone even though inside, I’m wishing for a do-over of this conversation. I like being Charlotte’s friend, but I’d be lying if I said that’s all I want.
She lowers her leg and tucks a lock of stray hair behind her ear. “Morgan’s just acting out. It’ll be okay.”
“At Hazel Creek, she seemed to be having a good time.”
Charlotte’s face brightens. “We all did.”
“Theo said that clip of your duet is going viral.” Apparently Neve posted it to her 62,000 Instagram followers and to some new app called TikTok, and it started a chain reaction.
“It’s so weird,” Charlotte says. “I’ve had people come up to me in the halls, asking me about our band.”
“You’re in a band?”
She laughs. “No. It’s just something Mo and I do for fun.”
“Does it have a name?”
She laughs again, melting the worry from her eyes. “It’s not official or anything.”
“Maybe you shouldmake itofficial.”
Her lips twitch and she huffs a quick breath. “I get…nervous singing in front of people.”
