Breaking Walls (8 page)

“How are you?”

“I’m okay,” she said formally, and then there was a long pause. “What brings you to Sugar Creek today? You guys have a function at the school or something?”

Of course she already knew we didn’t. She had plans to hang out with me and Jones this evening. She was just being nosy, God love her.

“Yep.”

Yep
? What did he mean
yep
?
We didn’t have anything.

“I got to town a little early this afternoon, so I thought I’d stop by and check out the Book Nook I’ve heard so much about. Lashell loves this place, and I’ve been meaning to check it out every time I’m in town. I had a few minutes, thought it couldn’t hurt to browse the shelves before we head out on our mission later.”

What mission?
I hadn’t heard anything from any of the volunteers about a scheduled event, and if I’d been left out of the loop, did that mean—

“Carla’s organized a Neighborhood Enhancement project for the evening,” he explained. “We’re going door-to-door to take on small projects for the community—trash pick-up, yard clean-up, paint touch-ups
, and whatnot.” Bailey shook her head, still trying to digest it. “I’m surprised your sister didn’t tell you. It’s a shame she had to work. She’ll be missing the fun. But you’re more than welcome to pitch in if you’d like.”

“Hold on, I’m confused,” Bailey said, sounding just as blindsided as I felt. I couldn’t believe Carla had arranged a volunteer opportunity for the district and she hadn’t bothered telling me! “Mandy never mentioned anything. In fact, I was just waiting on her and Jones
. We are all going to hang out tonight because she has the evening off. I don’t think she knows anything about it.”

“Well
, that can’t be right,” he said. “Carla said she spread the word, and Mandy couldn’t make it. She and Fletcher are the only no-shows for the evening, and it sucks because this will be the first event he’s missed from the beginning.”

And suddenly it became clear why I hadn’t heard, even through the grapevine. I generally got all my information about events directly from Carla and Fletcher, and if she wanted to ensure that I didn’t hear about this particular gathering, then I’m certain she left Fletcher out of the loop, too. Sneaky little—

“How is she, your sister?” Gabe asked, and his voice grew quieter. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s okay,” she said. “She misses you.”

“Oh, God. Shut up Bailey. Don’t tell him that,” I mumbled under my breath, and Jones elbowed me in the side.

“Keep it down,” he whispered almost so quietly that I could barely hear him. “If they hear us now, they’ll know we’ve been listening. You wanted to hide, so we’re hiding. Lips zipped.”

I missed Gabe’s reaction to Bailey’s revelation, and I wish I hadn’t because whatever it was that he said led her to say, “So then why don’t you call her, you idiot? Or better yet, throw a look or two in her direction every now and then. Stop by and say
hi
whenever you’re in the same room. The little things can mean so much.” There was a short silence. “
Yeah, Gabe
. She told me. You’re avoiding her. Imagine my shock.”

“You Parker girls have a copious amount of
snark, don’t you?”

“Yes
, we do, thank you for noticing,” she said. “Listen, no one’s going to point fingers or raise an eyebrow at an innocent hello. Are you really that worried that Mandy will tarnish your reputation?”

“It’s more complicated than that, and you know it, Bailey.”

“You know, I think if you just put your fears aside and opened up to her, you guys could be in a really good place,” Bailey said. “Gabe, I’ve watched that park video a hundred times—on repeat, some days. I saw the way you looked at her, the pain in your eyes when you had to shut it out. I see even the things you’re not vocalizing. You didn’t want it to end like that. So why let her think that you did? Mandy’s the most honest person I know, almost to an annoying extreme, and because of that, she kinda demands the same in return from everyone else. I mean, you should see how she’s torturing Dad right now. She’s given him a full-on silent treatment for
a week
because he lied to her about . . . something, I don’t know. She hates being lied to or misled. She’ll have nothing but respect for you if you just open up and tell it like it is.”

Oh—my—God!
What did she know?

“Yeah, even if I did, you’re forgetting that the reputation thing
still
comes into play,” he said. “I have a million eyes on me right now: the public, the papers, the competing schools. The other districts are watching closely, waiting for me to screw this thing up. After what happened at the park . . . the future of the foundation is at stake. Your sister’s trying to a win a scholarship that I’m responsible for awarding. I have to be careful. The moment people start dropping the word
favoritism
, then that’s it—program’s over for her and for your district.”

“You know, that’s actually not a terrible excuse,” she said, rubbing her chin. “It’s not perfect, mind you. But it’s still believable.”

“It’s not an excuse.”

“It sounds like one,” she said. “Sounds like you’ve spent quite a long time thinking up the perfect justification for hiding behind that wall of yours.”

“All right,” he said, sighing. “You can choose to believe me, or you can choose to think I’m lying. But the program, and the sake of Mandy’s future in it, are a huge part of why I walked away. It was necessary.”

“But what about that other part, Gabe?” she asked. “You ever plan to face that?”

“I knew I’d regret confiding in you.” Again, there was another long, awkward pause. “Listen, I’ve gotta get over to the school to meet the group. Let your sister know we’re setting out at four to start working. She’s welcome to join us, as are you. We’re meeting outside the gym in fifteen.”

“I’ll make sure she gets the message,” Bailey said.

“See ya.”

“See
ya,” she said, and then I distinctly heard him walk away and out the door. I was frozen in place, still stunned by what I heard. It wasn’t until I was certain that he was gone that I finally stood up. Jones beat me around the corner, turning to look at Bailey.

“Hey,” she said, smiling. “I was just wondering where—”

“I’d stop talking if I were you,” he said, and then I turned the corner behind him, glaring at my sister.

She slowly turned her chair in my
direction, her stare meeting mine a lot slower than she’d turned around.

“Uh-oh,” she said under her breath.

“
What—was—that
?”

“
Hmm
?” she asked, feigning the most pathetic look of innocence.

“Bailey,
what the heck
?” I asked. “What were guys talking about just now?”

“I don’t know,” she said, pretending to search her brain. “What are you referring to, exactly?”

“Stop playing cute and fess up. What do you know? What has he told you?”

“It’s nothing—”

“It’s not
nothing
,” I said. “I want to know!”

“I’m not really in a position to disclose that information,” she said formally. “He told me those things in confidence. I gave him my word.”

“Things that he couldn’t tell me?”

“I’m sure he’ll tell you—”

“I can’t believe you!”
I said. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“It’s not my place to tell you anything. It’s his. And I’m trying to help you. I’m doing what I can to nudge him in that direction, but in the meantime, you need to be patient. He’s a real piece of work, that guy.”

“I just. . .” I searched my brain. When had Bailey and Gabe even had the time to strike up a friendship and swap secrets? “When did this happen? When did you guys go and get all buddy-buddy?”

She twisted her lips and looked down to the floor. Jones perked up, almost looking as interested in learning the answer as I was. It was clear he was just as uninformed as me.

“Remember back when you had that English essay to finish and I filled in for you at the soup kitchen?” Vividly. It was the same night I’d found out that Dad was moving us to LA, leaving us with only one week to pack and say our goodbyes. I was an emotional wreck, and I ran down the streets of Sugar Creek in the pouring rain to track down my sister. “He came by the church that evening. We worked together on the line in the dining room, and when food started to run low, he asked if I’d come with him to the grocery store. We spent a lot of time together that night, and we bonded. We’ve just stayed in touch ever since.”

I sank into the chair that Gabe had just vacated. Her story sounded far too familiar. Gabe and I had also worked pretty closely together, doing things RI related, talking, sharing. And then when everything started to fall apart, he walked away from me. But
they’d
stayed in touch?

Jones stepped forward, eyeing my sister a little closer. “Is there something going on between you and Gabe?”

“Ew, no, gross,” she said. “Guys, it’s not like that. Gabe’s my friend.”

“Oh, and isn’t that just lovely? So
perfect
that you’re friends now,” I said, aggravated that she would even say that to me, knowing that I’d already blown my chance at having any kind of friendship with Gabe. “That’s just wonderful. I hope you guys are enjoying all the time you get to spend together.”

Because I didn’t get
any
of his time. It was impossible to keep my cool. I’d gone above and beyond, respecting Gabe’s wishes to ignore my feelings and let him walk away. Since he’d made up his mind to shut me out, I hadn’t asked him for anything. I’d never once asked him to change his mind, to reconsider. In the week since he’d turned his back, I’d stood idly by and waited. Just—like—I—promised—I—would! And then I find out that he and Bailey had maintained some kind of friendship behind my back? That wasn’t okay.

“Mandy, don’t be mad,” she said, standing up. “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it
was that big a deal.”

“
Bull
! You’re just as bad as Dad,” I said, standing up. “You’ve had a hundred opportunities to tell me the truth, to come clean about whatever it is that you and Gabe are so easily able to share with one another. You didn’t lie to me to protect Gabe’s secrets or because you didn’t think it was no big deal! You only lied to me because you knew that I’d be angry when I found out. And guess what?
I am
.”

“I never lied to you!”

“A lie by omission is still a lie, Bailey!” I said, turning away from her. I charged over to the door before whipping back around. “I hope you enjoy the position you’ve just put yourself in because I am
so
done with you.”

“Mandy—”

“No! Don’t look at me, don’t talk to me, and
don’t you dare
expect me to say another word to you. Dad’ll be happy to know that you’ve officially taken his spot, Bailey:
you
can now consider yourself Public Enemy Number One. I’m done.”

Chapter Six

I wanted to scream.

Gabe and Bailey were friends?
No. No way.

I promised myself that I’d be patient and wait. It had been my intention all along to be nice to him, to be there for him whenever he was ready to talk. All along I prepared myself to do exactly that. But how was I expected to keep standing by? I’d never felt more lied to, more kept in the dark—and by people who supposedly cared most about me, nonetheless!

Learning that Gabe was more comfortable talking to my sister than he was talking to me—especially knowing how rocky my relationship with Bailey had been for so long—was unfathomable. If Bailey was the kind of girl that Gabe could open up to so easily, the kind of girl he could talk to, then maybe I’d been wrong about him all along . . . because my sister and I were
nothing
alike.

Every impulse in my body urged me to go straight home and let Carla have her way. The
last
thing I wanted was to participate in the Neighborhood Enhancement Project, especially considering she’d gone above and beyond to make sure that I wouldn’t show my face.

As spiteful and vengeful as I was feeling, I knew I was better off going home and stewing alone. I needed to calm down. I needed to sort out my feelings, and I knew I couldn’t do that by facing Gabe or my teammates. But in spite of my inherent disposition to hide away and shut everyone out, some unknowable force still compelled me to drive out to the school. Whether it was the fact that I wanted to prove she couldn’t scare me off, or maybe just so that I didn’t risk my opportunity at winning the scholarship, I’d never know for sure. I just knew I had to go.

I was going to show up, put in the time, and do what had to be done. And I wasn’t going to let one of my friends suffer just because Carla had some personal vendetta with
me
. Picking on me was one thing, but targeting my friends was a whole other story. I wouldn’t stand for it. I sent a short text to Fletcher to let him know that the group had scheduled a last-minute event, gave him the details as I knew them, and hoped that he would be able to do with that information whatever he could. He sent a quick
thanks
, but I had no idea whether or not he would be able to make it to the school on such short notice.