A Proscriptive Relationship (46 page)

I practically jogged to Lance’s room, getting strange looks from some of the nurses. I burst into his room, out of breath. Lance and Casey both gave me questioning looks.

“
Who were you visiting?” Lance asked. “Casey told me it was your mom’s friend.”

“
This woman named Haley,” I told him, using Holly’s old fake name.

“
Uh-huh,” Lance said, but his eyes held a hint of suspicion.

Sometimes Lance was too smart for his own good. I gave him a meaningful look that hopefully would prevent him from saying anything in front of Casey. The last thing I needed was to explain who Holly was, especially since Casey had no idea about the gang connection.

“
So here’s what I want to do,” Lance started, sweeping his hair out of his face. “I get out of here on Friday morning. Finally. And there’s a fall festival going on Friday night. I thought it’d be fun if a bunch of us went there to celebrate instead of just going to someone’s house.”

“
There’s a fall festival?” I repeated in surprise. “Where?”

“
Fair grounds,” Casey told me. “They’re going to have a bunch of rides and food booths and later there will be fireworks.”

I grimaced. “I’m not a fan of fireworks . . .”

Lance rolled his eyes. “C’mon Holly, the last time you watched fireworks was, like, five years ago. I’m sure it’ll be a different experience now.”

“
Fine, let’s go to the festival,” I responded. “And you’d better hope the fireworks are a good experience, or you might just end up in the hospital again.”

Lance laughed. “Trying to sound tough, eh?”

“
What time would we be meeting up?” I asked, ignoring Lance’s jibe.

“
The fireworks start at ten, so what if we met up around six?” Casey suggested. “That way we can hang out, do rides, and eat before they start.”

“
Who is ‘we’?”

“
You, me, and Casey, Willis, Sadie and Sam, and Danielle,” Lance told me. “The normal ‘us.’”

I smiled. “Sounds good . . . it’s been a while since we’ve all hung out together.”

“
It’ll be good to have a night with no worries,” Lance commented.

“
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty excited now,” Casey added, a grin on her face. “I can’t wait until Friday now.”

“
Neither can I. I want to get out of this damn hospital.”

I laughed, rolling my eyes at Lance. “If you get too overexcited, you might hurt yourself.”

“
I’ll try to be careful,” Lance responded mockingly. “I won’t randomly follow someone into the woods or anything . . .”

I sent him a glance of death look, which he returned with a smirk. Casey missed the exchange between us completely, which made me feel relieved. She was busy tapping away at her phone, probably texting to Willis.

“
Since when does the hospital have service?” I asked.

“
I don’t know, but I’m not complaining,” Casey responded, still gazing at her phone.

“
It doesn’t matter to me,” Lance said, suddenly sounding irritated. “My phone was stolen . . .”

Casey glanced up at Lance. “I thought you said you lost it?”

I shot Lance a warning look, and he quickly cleared his throat. “Stolen, lost, it’s the same thing. It would have still been at the scene if it wasn’t stolen, right?”

Casey nodded. “True. Whoever has it hasn’t responded to any of my text messages though.”

Wait, what? Casey was sending text messages to Lance’s phone? My eyes widened and I looked at Lance, who was giving me a questioning look. What if Shawn randomly decided to tell Casey who he was? Or what was going on? I chewed my lip, suddenly anxious. I hadn’t got any messages from Shawn lately, so hopefully he would never message Casey . . .

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a young nurse appeared, looking bored. “Visiting hours are over,” she told us. “And, Lance, you have to go to physiotherapy now.”

Lance groaned, slumping back onto his bed. “I hate PT.”

I laughed, patting his leg. “Have fun, Lance. I’ll see you Friday.”

“
Bye Lance!” Casey chirped, standing up. “I’ll come back tomorrow!”

“
Bye guys,” Lance said grumpily. “Enjoy your PT free day.”

I rolled my eyes at him before gesturing for Casey to follow me out of the room. Together we made our way to the hospital exit. The air was cool and crisp when we stepped outside, a refreshing scent after being in the hospital. Hospitals didn’t smell so good.

“
Do you have a ride home?” Casey asked, rubbing her hands together. “It’s cold . . .”

“
Yeah, my mom’s picking me up. Are you going home with me?”

Casey shook her head. “Willis will be here soon. We’re going to go to the mall for a little bit.”

I wagged my eyebrows. “How romantic.”

Casey jabbed her elbow into my side. “Shut up. Oh, look! Perfect timing. Here he is.”

A small white Honda Civic pulled up next to us and the window rolled down. Willis’s head appeared, grinning at Casey and me. “Hey guys.”

“
Hi,” I responded as Casey made a move for the passenger seat.

“
You need a ride somewhere?”

I shook my head. “Nope, my mom’s coming. Thanks for the offer.”

“
Want us to wait with you?”

“
I’m good. She’ll be here soon.”

Willis nodded, glancing over at Casey, who was now in the car. “Then I guess we’ll see you later?”

“
Bye Holly!” Casey called, leaning over Willis to see me. “See you in school tomorrow!”

“
Adios.”

“
See you,” I responded, waving as Willis closed his window.

As the car pulled away, I caught a glimpse of my mom’s car entering the hospital parking lot. Perfect timing. She drove all the way up to the entrance and I quickly hopped in the car, welcoming the warmth from the heater.

“
Hi honey,” my mom greeted, leaning to give me a kiss on the cheek. “How’s Lance?”

“
Same old, same old,” I responded with a shrug. “He’s doing a lot better. He’ll be out Friday.”

“
That’s good to hear!” my mom responded enthusiastically. “It’s too bad he can’t be out tomorrow so he could come with us.”

“
Come with us?” I repeated.

My mom looked at me in surprise. “Oh, did I forget to tell you?”

“
Tell me what?”

“
I made reservations at your favorite restaurant. Osaka.”

My eyes widened. “Really?”

“
It is your birthday, after all,” my mom responded with another smile. “The reservation is for four. I assumed Casey and Lance would be going.”

“
Oh,” I responded, frowning. “Well Lance will still be in the hospital, but I can ask Casey . . .”

“
Or how about inviting Mr. Heywood,” my mom commented in an off-hand way. “As a thank-you for watching you last weekend . . .”

I stared at my mom in shock. Invite Mr. Heywood to my birthday dinner? That had awkwardness written all over it. “But mom—”

“
Don’t you get along with him?”

“
Yeah . . .”

“
And don’t you think it’s fair to make it up to him because he watched you while I was away?”

A smile made its way onto my face. If she only knew it was the other way around. “I guess.”

My mom frowned, glancing at me quickly. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just feel like I owe him, and I thought it’d be fun.”

“
It’s not that!” I said quickly—too quickly. My mom gave me a suspicious look. “It’s just, um, I don’t know. I think it might be awkward.”

“
Well, what about that other guy you’re friends with? Todd?”

“
Todd?” I echoed. “I don’t know any Todd.”

My mom shook her head. “No, that’s not his name. Charlie? Jared?”

“
Jeremy,” I told my mom. “I’m pretty sure we’ve been over this before.”

“
Oh yeah! Jeremy! Why don’t you invite him too? Will that make it less awkward?”

Knowing Jeremy, he’d make it worse. But now I was feeling a little excited. Maybe with Jeremy there, Mr. Heywood would confess . . . I shook my head. I couldn’t get my hopes up. “Okay, I’ll call Jeremy and ask. You ask Mr. Heywood.”

“
Okay,” my mom said, sounding as excited as I felt.

“
Why are you so excited?” I asked curiously.

“
It’s nice to see you having an older male figure in your life,” she told me. “Especially since your dad isn’t around . . .”

I swallowed, suddenly feeling tense. Was my mom trying to hint at something? Did she think Mr. Heywood was like a father figure to me? A feeling of dread spread through me. I’d be in big trouble if that were what she thought . . .

“
I don’t really think of Mr. Heywood as my dad,” I told her, laughing nervously.

My mom laughed too, shaking her head. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“
What did you mean then?”

“
Nothing, never mind,” my mom told me. “Forget I said anything.”

I frowned slightly, but let it drop. “Okay.”

“
So,” my mom started. “How was school?”

I responded to my mom’s questions, but my mind was elsewhere. Would Mr. Heywood feel good enough to go out to eat tomorrow? I prayed silently that he would be able to. Maybe if I played my cards right and I didn’t confess, Jeremy would be right and Mr. Heywood would confess first. A small bubble of excitement and anxiousness appeared in my stomach. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

LESSON thirty-two

“
Happy birthday, Holly!” Casey cried, throwing her arms around me.

“
How many times are you going to say that to me today?” I responded with a laugh, pulling her arms around me. This was the fifth time today.

“
Every time I see you!” Casey notified me. “You’re officially a legal adult!”

“
Well, actually, she won’t be an
adult
adult until she’s twenty-one,” Sam corrected, grinning at me. “But it’s close enough.”

“
Hey, I can be thrown in jail for crimes now!” I said enthusiastically. “No more juvie!”

 “
And you can date anyone older than eighteen without any legal problems,” Casey told me with a wink.

My face grew hot and I looked away from her. “I guess so . . .”

“
So we’re all going to the fair tomorrow?” Sam asked, pulling my lunch towards him. “Are you going to eat your brownie?”

“
Taking the roll of Lance, I see,” Sadie commented, rolling her eyes. “It’s Holly’s birthday. Let her have her brownie.”

Sam frowned at Sadie. “You spoil all my fun.”

“
I’m your girlfriend, I’m supposed to.”

I laughed as Sam grinned. “Sam, you can have my brownie. I don’t like them. And I have cookies from Danielle, anyway.” I shook the bag of chocolate chip cookies Danielle had baked me for my birthday. “I’m set.”

“
Awesome,” Sam responded, taking my brownie off my tray. “You can keep the tray.”

“
Whoa! Highlight of my day!” I responded with mock excitement.

“
What are you doing tonight for your birthday?” Sadie asked. “Going somewhere with your mom?”

“
Yeah. My mom is taking me, Jeremy, and Mr.—Mr. Ross, Jeremy’s dad, out to eat,” I corrected myself, blushing. That was too close.

Sadie wagged her eyebrows. “Who’s Jeremy?”

“
Holly’s handsome elder companion,” Casey responded for me. “Holly likes older guys.”

“
Casey!”

Sadie laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed about that!”

“
I’m not!” I responded, my face still burning. “I not having a relationship with Jeremy, he’s just a friend.”

“
Or is he?”

“
Just a friend,” I assured Sadie.

She shrugged. “That’s too bad. You could use a boyfriend, Holly.”

Before I could respond someone tapped on my shoulder, making me jump. I twisted around in my seat to see an underclassman I didn’t recognize holding out a small, yellow piece of paper.

“
Holly Evers?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“
Yeah . . .?”

“
This is for you, from Mr. Heywood. He wants to see you.”

He thrust the piece of paper closer to my face and I quickly grabbed it from him before he could stab my eye out. As soon as the paper left his hand, he turned and walked away. My eyes went from the boy to the note and I smiled at the sight of Mr. Heywood’s sloppy handwriting.

“
Mr. Heywood is here today?” Sadie asked excitedly. “Yay! He’s been out sick for, like, forever.”

“
What’s it say?” Casey prodded, looking at it over my shoulder at the note.

“
Nothing much, he just wants to see me before lunch ends,” I told her, scanning over the note again. “I guess I can leave early . . .”

Casey smirked at me, coming closer, and lowering her voice. “You two alone, huh? And it’s your birthday . . .”

“
Casey! Shh!”

“
What? I’m just saying. You’re a legal adult now, Holly.”

Casey’s words sent a shock through my body. I was a legal adult now. I was eighteen. Mr. Heywood wanted me to go to his classroom, where we would be alone together . . . The perfect chance to confess?

“
You’re blushing,” Casey chirped, a grin spreading across her face. “What are you thinking?”

“
Nothing,” I snapped, turning my face down.

“
Sure, Holly, sure. What are you thinking?”