“You’re officially my favorite person.” I beam at her and move through the crowd to the front, where some of Blair’s bitch squad are simping over East. Damn, these girls need to pick one guy and stick to him. They call me a whore, and yet they’re drooling fucking everywhere they go.
“Ready!” East shouts before he blows his whistle, and I shoot off, ignoring the entire fucking world except the track beneath my feet. I run, not paying any attention to one damn thing until the whistle sounds again. It’s not until I stop that I realize the cheer team, which includes Blair and the rest of her bitch squad, and the football team are all out here too. Who knew cheer was a replacement for Gym?
By the time I make it back to where East is standing, pretty much everyone else has already headed back to the locker room. “I see you still like to run.”
The look on his face is a total contradiction to his cheery, laid-back tone. He sounds light and breezy, but he looks at me like he’s haunted. “Running soothes my soul. Usually it’s music, but I haven’t been able to play since…” I trail off, and I hate the pity I see in his eyes. But I can’t play right now, I’ve tried picking up my guitar a dozen times over, and I just can’t do it. Even in Music today I just mumbled my way through. Music has always been the thing I did with my dad.
“I guess that explains a lot. You did good today, though I didn’t realize you were back. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d ever come back here.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m only here for the year,” I tell him, trying not to focus on just how much even hinting about my dad hurts. It’s like a stab straight through the heart—the sting of a thousand cuts. It’s fucking unbearable, and I can barely breathe.
“Yeah, I heard about your dad. I’m sorry, V. That sucks. Where are you staying?”
“With Blair.” I sigh, rolling my eyes. “I’m in the pool house at least. Their McMansion is just weird. It’s like a fucking museum.”
“Yeah, that place has always been creepy,” he laughs, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, you better head to the showers, otherwise you’ll be late. We should catch up sometime, though.”
“I’d like that.” I smile at him. “Drop me a text, and we’ll sort something out.”
I give him my number before heading to the locker rooms. Indi is the only one hanging around, clearly waiting for me, so I haul ass in the shower. I leave my hair up because I can’t make myself care enough to wash it just to go home.
“You want to grab milkshakes before heading home?” Indi asks when I reappear in nothing but my underwear. I’ve never been particularly shy about my body, especially since growing up on a tour bus meant that privacy wasn’t exactly something there was an abundance of.
“Sure, as long as there are burgers. I’m fucking starving.”
“After leaving us all in your dust out there, I’m not surprised. Though why Coach Saint let you just keep running rather than doing sprints like the rest of us was unusual.” Her observation isn’t much of a surprise. My hello with East wasn’t exactly discreet, but then, I didn’t realize he was our Gym teacher. I have to admit that hearing him called Coach Saint is pretty fucking hilarious.
“East and I go way back, actually. Let me finish getting dressed, and I’ll explain everything over food.” I grin widely as I shimmy back into this ridiculous uniform. She just nods and swings her car keys around on her finger.
“Sounds good, you need a ride?”
“No, I have my rental, but if you want to follow me home, we can ride there together. I don’t have my own car yet. It’s just another thing on my never ending to do list.”
“Then that sounds like a perfect way to spend our weekend,” she says with her infectious smile. She nods on a pause, like she’s confirming a car shopping trip on her mental to-do list. After a moment of what I’m guessing is unusual quiet for her, she says, “But yes, that absolutely sounds like a plan. No need to take both cars.”
I nod along as I stuff my gym gear into my bag, pulling my blazer on as I turn to face her. “I am so here for that. But first, let’s eat!”
I pull my phone from my bag as an afterthought and groan at the ton of messages flashing at me from unknown numbers. Oh awesome, I guess this is going to be a thing now. I flick through a couple of them—the vitriol reflecting back at me isn’t anything I haven’t already seen on social media—and just delete all of them before looking back up at Indi and smiling. A few hateful remarks are not about to ruin my day.
We head out to the parking lot, and she heads to the pale blue, old-school Jeep Wrangler sitting in the lot. “This is yours?”
“Look, my obsession with Stiles is real, and if you tell me you don’t know who that is, I’m going to have to rethink this entire friendship,” she deadpans, and I start laughing so hard.
“Girl, he is a beautiful man. I watch everything he’s in. Of course I know who Stiles is. Teen Wolf is an obsession of mine too.”
She grins at me as she unlocks the doors. “Good, then we won’t have any issues here.”
* * *
We pull up at Penny’s in Indi’s Wrangler after dropping off my rental, and I’m not even surprised that it’s absolutely packed. Penny’s has always been the spot to hang since the food is to die for. It might just be burgers and shakes, but when I tell you they’re the best burgers and shakes you’ll experience in your life, I’m not messing around.
“Hey, Octavia.” I look up and see Raleigh sitting with a few guys from the football team at one of the booths. I wave as we pass by him and weave through the masses to a booth in the back, sliding in opposite each other. I pick up a menu and grin. This place hasn’t changed at all. I mean, sure, it’s been updated inside a little, but it still looks like a sixties diner, all bright pink and white with splashes of orange. It absolutely shouldn’t fit in here in Echoes Cove, but it somehow does.
“You know what you want?” Indi asks as a server heads in our direction on skates. Man, I really do love this place. I nod at her, and she drops her menu just as the server comes to a stop by the booth.
“What can I get you girls today?” the blonde woman asks with the warmest smile I think I’ve ever seen in Echoes Cove.
“I’ll have the double bacon cheeseburger with a chocolate shake and extra fries, please,” I say, grinning at her while Indi snickers at the look on the poor woman’s face. I may be reasonably small, but I like to eat.