“You don’t want to listen to me, you just want to go over and see Frankie.”
“Yes, I do want to see Frankie. But I also want to listen if something’s bothering you.” I studied her. The only times she got like this was when she really wanted my advice but didn’t know how to ask for it. Four years didn’t seem like a big age difference some times, but at others? It seemed forever.
Pushing away from the door, Trina crossed to sit down next to me. The waft of ash and smoke still clung to her hair, even if she’d changed out of her clothes. It would probably be there until she showered.
“You sure you have time?” The skepticism in her tone nearly mocked the hope in her expression.
Retrieving my phone, I opened it to message Frankie where Trina could watch me typing.
Me:Sis needs me for a bit. Gonna be a few.
Frankie:We’ll be here. Tell her I said hi.
Me:Done.
“Frankie says ‘hi,’”I said, tone dry. Sis laughed and bumped my arm. She’d gotten taller over the last year, but she was only an inch taller than Frankie. That still made her shorter than me, and I was fine with that. “So, spill. What’s going on?”
Twisting, she sat sideways and stared at me. “Do you remember Noah Auburn?”
The name wasn’t familiar. “Nope.” But he was a boy so… “Should I?”
“Well, maybe. He’s kind of a sophomore.”
“Why are you hanging out with sophomores?” Trina was in eighth grade. She and Jake’s sister Becca had a couple of classes together. Weirdly, they weren’t that close.
“I’m not—well, just Noah. Really. His sister, Jenny, she’s in my class, and I’ve gotten to know him a little when I go over to Jenny’s.”
I knew most of her friends. This was the first I was hearing about a Jenny. “Sis, when do you go to Jenny’s?”
Trina bit her lower lip and worry swam across her expression. Oh, I was not going to like this answer. Tipping my head back, I considered her.
“Just tell me. I’m already irritated about the smoking, and whatever this is, it’s bugging you enough you want my advice.” Which in and of itself said it could be bad news.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to Frankie about it, but I don’t want to bother her right now.”
Some of my irritation evaporated. “Frankie would talk to you about anything,” I told her. Even if I wanted to shield Frankie from the rest of the world dumping on her, if Sis needed to talk to Frankie and I blocked that, Frankie would kick my ass.
Justifiably so.
“I know she would,” Sis said with a faint smile. “But I don’t want to bother her. I just want her to get better, and maybe I can talk to her about this later if you’re not any help.”
“Thanks?” I said, teasing just a little. “I think.”
A flash of a smile warmed Trina’s face. “You’re welcome.Anyway… Jenny lives across the street from Mandy. So a lot of the time when I’m at Mandy’s, we head over to Jenny’s or Jenny comes over to Mandy’s place.”
“Got it.”
“Noah is Jenny’s brother.”
“Got that part, too.”
“He… Well, he’s really cute.”
Kill me. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” She stared at me, doubt written all over her face. “Just okay?”
“He’s a guy, he’s cute. I don’t have much more to say to that than okay.” I was too busy keeping the rest of my responses in check if she was about to tell me what I thought she was about to tell me.