Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) (18 page)

To his credit, Travis didn’t pester her with any questions, but only guided her outside. They were cutting class, and a part of Adrian wanted to turn back, but it would only be more of the same. She’d only stew with Vaughn’s comments circulating and circulating until she went stark raving mad.

They walked across the grass. As always, the heat rose up as a suffocating vise all around her, but this time she welcomed it. She was so tired of feeling barren and cold. Travis’s arm was a solid weight around her waist.

“Convenience store’s at the end of this block. How about a Slurpee?”

She had to laugh. “Why not?”

They stashed their backpacks in his car, so they wouldn’t be burdened, but instead of driving, they walked to the store. As he’d said, it wasn’t that far, and the exercise helped to clear some cobwebs from her brain.

“I had a fight with Vaughn,” she said abruptly.

He bobbed his head to music that only he could hear, but when she was done telling him her version, he straightened. “I thought you didn’t like her. You don’t care what she thinks. So why are you upset about it?”

It was a good question.

“Or maybe you do care what she thinks.”

She sighed. “Maybe.” A pebble was in her way, so she kicked it off the sidewalk. “She said she was trying to be friendly, but seriously—”

“Dude, you bite people’s heads off. You scare them.”

Her back stiffened. She knew people had stayed away from her at the beginning because Alex hadn’t exactly welcomed her. She also knew Mandy Fitzpatrick had said things. They’d certainly heard about her and Mr. Melbourne, but what else could she have done? Be a professional doormat?

“I’m not a monster,” she said.

“You don’t want to be. Frankenstein’s ugly as shit. And he smells.”

Some of her ire faded. Shaking her head, she smiled up at the morning sky. Was it even possible to get upset with Travis Cates? She didn’t think so.

The convenience store was a cool blast of air-conditioning haven when they walked inside. She’d never really cared much for junk food, but now she went straight for the Slurpee machine. She grabbed a cup and filled it with cherry flavored slush before getting a couple of bags of chips. Might as well go wild.

Travis’s haul was bigger than hers. He had a few Twinkies and chocolate bars and gummy worms. That, and a gigantic Slurpee.

“Can you finish all of that?” she asked, amused.

“Oh yeah. Watch me.”

They sat on the curb outside the store. Luckily, there was an overhanging canopy, so they weren’t sitting directly in the sun. Now that she was chilling, she crossed her legs and sat on the pavement. “Why do I scare them?” she asked. “I mean, it’s not like I jumped out of the bushes and shouted ‘boo!’ at the whole school.”

“You’re the Big Enchilada.” Travis hefted his drink. “The Big Slurpee. If you do or say something, it’s like a royal … um, rule. No, that’s not it. Royal …”

“Decree?”

“Yeah. Montgomery’s the king, and you’re the queen, see? Before, it was just girls who didn’t last long. People weren’t scared. Now that it’s you …” Travis waved a hand. “No one knows what to say anymore.”

“Sucks for them.”

Grinning, he bit on his straw. “You gotta think, dude. Even kings and queens have their courts. Or else it gets lonely.”

Adrian looked away. She didn’t think he’d meant it as a pointed reference, but sometimes it was easy to forget how surprisingly shrewd he could be under that guileless exterior.

Even kings and queens have their courts. Or else it gets lonely.

She knew what she had to do next. Or rather, she’d always known, but now she needed to gather enough courage. She’d never liked eating humble pie, but maybe, just maybe, she was in the wrong this time.

It was almost lunch time when she cornered Vaughn in the hallway. They had most classes together, but the blonde was always surrounded by friends, and the last thing Adrian wanted was an audience.

Vaughn glanced up from her backpack. She stilled when she saw Adrian, then she bent her head and dug through her books again.

Adrian supposed she deserved that silent snub. “I’ve thought about what you said,” she began, determined to finish this. “I do have a knee-jerk defensive reaction to people, and you were right about that.”

It was a speech she’d rehearsed, and while it had sounded fine in the privacy of her mind, every word came out coldly.

A little smile tugged at Vaughn’s mouth. “Is that all you have to say? I deserve a prize for being right?”

Adrian held onto her temper. “No, that’s not it.” God, this part was harder than she’d thought it would be. “I guess I am a bitch, Vaughn. I don’t really apologize for that, because if you went through what I’ve gone through, you’d probably understand. But it’s not always what I want to be. I … I don’t make friends easily. Even back at home, most of my friends were my boyfriend’s. And, well, I am—”

Vaughn lifted a hand. “You don’t have to tell me all of this.”

“Good. It was getting a little awkward.”

The blonde chuckled, but then she sobered. “If we’re doing confession time …” she said, the mockery gone from her voice, “I do love gossiping about other people. It’s not always pretty, and it’s not always right. It’s my vice, you could say. And yes, I did gossip a lot about you when you first got here.” She grimaced. “Actually, I’m the chief one who spread all the rumors. Almost all of them anyway.”

Adrian opened her mouth, but Vaughn continued. “I’m the opposite of you, Adrian. I’m used to being liked. And … yes, I’ll admit that I’m hurt because you don’t like me.” Her smile was self-deprecating. “That doesn’t usually happen.”

A sliver of bitterness flashed through Adrian. “I wish I was used to being liked.”

Vaughn looked at her for a long moment. “So what now?” she said finally.

Adrian hesitated. She’d said her piece, and Vaughn had said hers. After this, she didn’t think she’d be able to see the other girl as a shallow blonde. And she didn’t think Vaughn would be spreading so many rumors about her in the future. So they technically did have a truce, but …

Or else it gets lonely.

Adrian took a deep breath and smiled. “So what can you tell me about Alex and Lindsay Melbourne?”

She was rewarded by a flashing smile. “Oh, you’ve asked the right person, honey.” Vaughn kicked her locker shut. “It is a tawdry tale of abundant sex, teenage melodrama, hysterical mothers, angry fathers …”

Still talking, they walked to the cafeteria together.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“I’m telling you, Alex Montgomery got him fired.”

“No, he quit because Alex and Lindsay got back together, and he’s moving his whole family to the other side of the country, just to get her away from Alex.”

Adrian trudged to her locker. Who would have thought Mr. Melbourne’s leave of absence would set off a minor firestorm of gossip and speculation? He hadn’t seemed that popular, but much to her surprise, she heard some regretful comments. Apparently he’d worked with many Spanish-speaking students to improve their English.

There could be only one victor in the court of public opinion, however, and it most certainly wasn’t Mr. Melbourne. Vaughn had confirmed as much when she’d briefly stopped Adrian in the hallway after lunch.

“It is crazy out here!” she’d said, beaming. “At last count, there were at least fifteen rumors, and only half of them started by me. God, Alex’s added to his own legend. There are probably some gullible fools who think he killed the poor man.”

“Maybe he can use Quentin’s money to get good defense lawyers,” Adrian had said.

“Oh, Adrian, you’ve added to your own legend too, you know. Some people think you got rid of Mr. Melbourne. I swear, there is never a boring moment with you around.”

Vaughn had hurried off to snatch up the latest morsel of gossip, so Adrian hadn’t had time to digest the implications of what she’d said. Oddly enough, it seemed to echo what Travis had said about her being the so-called queen of the Varner High social jungle, but that wasn’t what she’d set out to be.

All the same, Adrian was grateful when the final bell rang. No more classes today, thank God. She packed up her books and found her sister.

Nicky was overflowing with indignation when Adrian dragged her away from her friends. “Did you hear what they’re saying?” she demanded. “They think you got your English teacher fired!”

Adrian stifled a sigh. “Or maybe he just quit.”

“Well, maybe. Grant thinks the teacher has health problems. He says Mr. Melbourne rubs his chest a lot when nobody’s looking.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said Grant thinks—”

Adrian eyed her sister. “I didn’t think you talked to him.”

“He took me to the dance,” Nicky reminded her. “He knows everything because he’s so spooky and quiet. He’s like a blue-eyed cyborg.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Come on, let’s go home.”

The parking lot was clogged with dozens of students trying to escape the school as fast as they could. Nicky was chattering away happily, but Adrian half-listened and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She didn’t have detention anymore, so she had nothing to do. As strange as it sounded, detention had served as her routine. Now she had to go home to a terrifyingly empty house that wasn’t even her home. Oh, it was never really empty in a technical sense. Nicky and Meg were around, and so were the boys.

But it still wasn’t the same.

Nicky’s voice sharpened in distress. “Daddy’s home,” she said, leaning forward in her seat as far as her seatbelt would allow. “Do you think something’s wrong?”

Alarm spiked through Adrian. She’d just seen his car in the driveway too. Her father never came home early. He was a creature of habit.

“Oh, hurry!” Nicky said.

“It’s okay,” Adrian lied, but even as she said it, she reached over and gripped her sister’s cold fingers with her free hand. They
remembered
. People had said they would forget because they had been so young at the time, but what did they know?

She floored the accelerator. There might have been the sound of squealing rubber, but she didn’t bother with the niceties. She parked the car and killed the engine and threw off her seatbelt with her sister close on her heels. Their father had to be all right. He had to be. Oh God, what about Meg?

The combined smell of orange chicken and rice hit Adrian. She sniffed at the air cautiously as she followed the trail of discarded backpacks and jackets. Yes, that was Meg’s backpack, and yes, that was Isaac’s and Owen’s.

Their father was sitting on a stool near the kitchen counter when they came in. He was rubbing his eyes, and for the first time Adrian noticed he was graying prematurely.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Nicky blurted.

He looked up from his perch. “What? Oh.” He jerked his head at Meg who was at the table, her arms crossed. Isaac was also there, although his hunched posture screamed silent displeasure. “Her school called.”

Nicky visibly wilted in relief. “Well, as long as she doesn’t kill anybody.”

This statement didn’t please Isaac because he lifted his head. “She almost killed me!” He pointed at his black eye.

Meg smirked. “Not my problem if you’re a wimp.”

“That’s enough!” Adrian’s father said before Isaac could fire back a heated rejoinder. “Go to your room, Megara, and don’t come out until I say so. Same goes for you, Isaac. Your parents will be here soon.”

The combatants leveled burning glares at each other, but they pushed away from the table and trudged upstairs. Owen was nowhere to be seen, and Adrian guessed he was already upstairs.

“Sit down, Adrian. I’d like to talk to you.”

She was about to leave for her room, but she looked over her shoulder at her father with some surprise. “Is something wrong, Dad?”

Sighing, he gestured at the seat across from him. “That depends on your definition, I suppose.” He waited until she’d obeyed. “I’m aware that we haven’t talked much lately. Some of that is my fault, but I still thought you’d have told me.”

Adrian stiffened. A part of it was so instinctual that she didn’t realize she’d straightened her shoulders and clenched her fists until the pain in her fingers told her otherwise.

“What do you mean?” she said.

A dozen what-if scenarios played out in her mind, but there was only one that alarmed her. Did he know about her and Alex?

“You and Jason.”

She nearly laughed with relief. “Oh. Well, he’s old news. Honestly, Dad, that isn’t important.”

“You are my daughter.”

That silenced her.

Her father glanced away. He reddened and fixed his gaze on the calendar hanging on the opposite wall. “I’m not stupid or naïve, Adrian. I know how serious you and Jason were.”

Now she was averting her gaze. “Dad—”

“Like you said, he’s old news. I can understand that, but I thought you would have told me. I deserved to hear it from you.”

As embarrassing as it was to have him ever so obliquely hint at her sex life, it was the disappointment in his voice that pierced her heart. She’d tried so hard to be the perfect daughter, the perfect person that everyone expected to see, but all it had garnered was her father looking away from her.

And it cut deep.

“How did you find out?” she asked.

He grimaced. “Jason’s mother posted a picture of him and that girl he’s seeing. I asked Nicky and she told me.”

Nicky!

Even as Adrian glanced around the kitchen, she discovered her sister had vanished. No doubt Nicky had sensed trouble coming and fled before it could find her.

“That’s not all, Adrian. You didn’t tell me about Mr. Melbourne.”

The disapproval in his voice was heavier than ever, and by now, she could feel the faint smudge of moisture in her eyes. Her father had never been a screamer, but this was his version of shouting.

“From all accounts I’ve heard, that man made your life for hell for weeks, and I never heard a word from you. Why, Adrian? Is this a teenage phase I don’t know about? Keeping secrets from your own father? Because I have to tell you, this kind of behavior was not what I’d have expected from you.”