Page 71 of More Than Chemical
“It won’t last,” said her friend.
I looked at Dallas, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention. I threw back my shoulders and remained strong. I had to get over this fear of being ridiculed. And there was no better time to start than right now.
“Where should we sit?” I asked him.
“With your friends is fine.” He headed in their direction without hesitation.
Priya and Emma scooted over to make room for us, their mouths twitching, and I wondered if they were going to burst out in a contagious laugh. So far, so good. I hadn’t known how they were going to act when Dallas and I showed up together.
“Ade, no energy drink this morning?” Priya had a twinkle in her eye.
Dallas looked at me strangely. “I thought you didn’t drink caffeine?”
“I do energy drinks, just not coffee,” I said to him. But then I focused back on Priya and winked at her, even though I probably could use some. “And no, no Red Bull this morning.”
Priya lit up like the string lights we’d hung up in our room in December. Her glow touched me, warming my insides.
Emma nudged me and smirked.
I smiled back at her.
I might not have slept like I’d wanted to, but I still had a surge of energy from just being with Dallas. He made me feel like I was capable of being the person I wanted to be. It could be that we simply needed to have more sex—a lot more sex—before it wasgood riddance, insomnia. Dean’s list, here I came. Unfortunately, I sensed that it was going to take some other personal feat to make my inability to sleep go away.
We finished eating, and after bussing our trays, we walked out of the cafeteria together. In my mind, I was figuring out what I needed to get ready for work when my phone rang.
Weird. No one ever called me, so I let it go to voicemail.
Dallas glanced at me. “Aren’t you going to get that?”
“Nah.”
“Not even going to see who it was?”
Crap.Eric still hadn’t called me back.
The phone started ringing again.
Dallas stopped.
I pulled out my phone and looked. The name “Dad” was in large font at the top.
My shoulders dropped, and I let out a sigh.
Nope. Not going to answer that.I declined the call and slid it back in my pocket. Good thing Mom had made me put his contact information in my phone—at least I knew that it was him.
I started up the stairs, but Dallas didn’t move. I looked back at him. “What?”
“It’s your dad.”
“So?”
“I thought you said you disowned him?”
“I did. I don’t talk to him anymore. That’s why I didn’t answer.” Not that Dallas would understand. He didn’t have a dad like mine. The kind who would make their kid a public laughingstock. There was a line between people of decency and those who had none.
Dallas’s face pinched, and he folded his arms across his chest. “But you have his number in your phone.”
“My mom made me take it. She probably gave my new number to him.”
