I need to talk to you. Can you meet me after school? I don’t want to be alone right now.
I read Ainsley’s text twice as I sat down at my desk. Did she remember something from the other night?
My best friend needed me, the same friend who had always been there for me, and here I was thinking only about myself, that all the problems in the world revolved around me. Selfish. That’s what I was being. And after what happened to her on Friday night, I’d be a shitty friend not to help her with whatever she was going through.
Of course. Are you okay? Should I be worried?
While I waited for her to respond, I leaned into the aisle toward the desk next to mine. “Hey, Mads. I need a favor.”
She lifted a brow, popping a piece of gum into her mouth. “Anything.”
I lowered my voice. “Can I borrow your car after school? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
She raised a slim brow. “Everything all right?”
“I don’t know. Ainsley texted me. She needs me.”
“Enough said, girl. Here….” She dug out her keys and handed them to me. “I’ll cover for you for as long as I can.”
The second the bell sounded, announcing the end of class, I shot out of my seat before the teacher could excuse the class. I had only a small window of opportunity to sneak out of school without the guys knowing. Word traveled like a bad STD around here. They had practice and expected me to be there.
Brock would be livid but this was Ainsley. And now that I had a moment to dwell over her text, I was concerned.
Just meet me at Tommy’s.
Chapter Twelve
Tommy’s was a local food joint on the other side of town not far from where I used to live. Lots of kids from Public hung out there after school. They had the best hotdogs on the planet. It was also where Ainsley worked part-time after school, so meeting her here wasn’t a surprise.
From the Academy, it would take me twenty minutes to get to downtown Elmwood. By the time I sped out of the Academy parking lot, the Elite would realize I was gone.
I drove carefully across town, afraid to put so much as a fingerprint on Mads’s car. At this time of the day, the roads were light until I got closer to downtown Elmwood, close to where Tommy’s was. I found a parking spot with little difficulty and made sure to lock up as I got out. A car like this stuck out like an orange in a basket of bananas on this side of town.
Scanning the one-way parking slots, I didn’t see Ainsley’s car. My fingers flew over the keys, sending her a text.I’m here, where are you?
Her reply came a moment later.Around back.
I left my stuff in the car, grabbing just my phone and Mads’s keys. A gust of wind tainted with the scent of fried food brushed over me, tossing my hair off my shoulders. Dry leaves blew over the sidewalk, crunching and swirling at my feet as I made my way toward the employee entrance.
There was something so familiar and comforting being back in my old stomping ground. I knew every inch of old downtown. If you could look past some of the run-down buildings and debris littered on the ground, it had a charm about it that I found quaint and comforting.
Hooking a left at the corner of Tommy’s, I waved at the shopkeeper from the next building who was outside straightening her sale rack of vintage clothes. I wasn’t too far from Mads’s mom’s shop, just a few blocks.
The sun still provided plenty of sunlight, but shadows darkened the back of the alley. For a split second, a tingle of unease tapped over the nape of my neck but I brushed it off. It was the middle of the day, only a handful of steps from the main road, with people popping in and out of shops and restaurants.
How unsafe could it be?
This was my town.
And from what I’d learned living in the upper part of Elmwood, it was more dangerous there than it was here. My shoulders relaxed as I glanced past the dumpsters and folding chairs used for smoke breaks, looking for my friend.
“Ainsley?” I called, my voice echoing off the brick alley walls.
Footsteps clattered over the blacktop behind me, where I had entered the alley. I turned around expecting to see my friend’s rainbow hair shining in the sun.
Not Ainsley.
Ava.