I winced.
“Girl, you—you’re awesome. And I am not the mushy sort, but this friendship thing? It’s working for me.”
“It’s working for me, too.”
“Then don’t worry about it. You’re not letting those boys push me away, and I’m not letting whoever I date do that to you. They accept you, or there’s the door, don’t let it hit them in the ass on the way out.”
“I just want you to be happy, Rach.”
“And I love you for it,” she told me. “But I’m really okay. Thank you for worrying.”
“Will you tell me if you’re ever not?”
“I promise.” She held up her pinky like we were five, and I hooked mine with hers. “You tell me when you’re not.”
“I have,” I reminded her. So it was an easy promise to make.
“Excellent,” she said as we sealed it with a pinky squeeze. Flopping back against the pillows, she eyed me with a sudden wicked grin. “What’s your kink, Frankie? What is something you’ve figured out that you like?”
Yep. Saw that one coming.
But a truth for a truth, right?
Chapter Three
What’s Your Game?
Fifteen minutes into the orientation, and I had to wonder how I got into this program. The guy on the stage was talking about leadership and how it was a choice. One you had to make every single day. Instead of an auditorium setting, we were seated at these oversized round tables. Instead of being at a business, we were at a hotel in a really bland, beige colored room with a geometric patterned carpet that gave me a headache if I looked at it too closely.
There were about thirty altogether in the program. It didn’t seem a huge number, but I really didn’t look like most of the people here. I’d dressed nice enough, I supposed, but there were a lot of kids here in actual suits, like the kind you wore to go into an office daily. Of those not in suits, they were still in slacks, or skirts and looking put together.
I’d worn jeans. Probably not my best choice, but the paperwork said this was orientation. A day to spend on leadership skills and workshops. Who wore a suit to a workshop? My shirt was nice, and I’d paired it with a fun patterned vest. I looked kind of sassy.
At least, if Archie’s reaction this morning had been any indication. I’d had to talk him out of undressing me, because they had to get to school and I had to go to orientation. Talk about strange. Ian left on his bike, and Coop rode with Jake, while Archie took his own car. And I wasn’t leaving with any of them. It was just weird.
Not that I minded the very sound and thorough kisses I got from each of them. Those had my toes curling, and thankfully, the thirty-minute drive to the hotel where they were hosting the orientation had given me time to get my hormones under control.
Barely.
Ten minutes into the presentation, a girl slid into the seat next to mine. I’d chosen one of the tables near the side and to the back. Mostly because I didn’t know anyone, and while there were six tables, they weren’t all full. Mine was me, a guy with glasses and a friendly enough smile who’d just nodded to me when he sat down, and now the newcomer. Weirdly, I didn’t mind the fact that all these people were strangers, but I was glad the chick who decided to pick my table had dressed in jeans, too.
Solidarity.
“Hey,” she whispered as she hurriedly unpacked a spiral bound notebook and a bottle of water. I still had my coffee from the drive-thru this morning. I’d cheated and gotten two. One I pretty much shot-gunned on the way here, and the second I’d been sipping to keep up my strength. Because based on the last ten minutes, I was going to need it.
Interesting material or not, our presenter was dull as dirt.
“Hey,” I answered, barely moving my lips. I’d mastered the talk without looking like you’re talking trick a long time ago. Largely because Coop could be annoying if I ignored him too long when he wanted to tell me something in class, even if we weren’t supposed to be talking.
Granted, that was elementary school and he wasn’t as bad about it in high school since we could text and shit, but still a useful skill to have.
“How much did I miss?” she asked, her gaze almost as steady on the PowerPoint on the screen as mine was. The sad part, this guy wasn’t offering anything beyond the details on each of the slides. Seriously, I could copy it all down and get as much out of it as him telling us.
More maybe. I read faster than he spoke.
“Not much,” I told her. “Just introduced himself, said we’d be discussing leadership, then started this on how it’s a choice.”
Seriously, she hadn’t missed much.
“Cool.” Then she was quiet as the guy droned on and on and on.
Kill me.
Please.
I was half-tempted to text the guys to get me out of this. But I couldn’t, not after Archie checked, then re-checked to make sure everything was legitimate and on the up and up. I doubted Ms. Fajardo would have recommended me for a shady program, but Archie wanted to be sure.
It was only after he’d gone over everything twice with us and even Jake seemed to relax that I got it. Archie wasn’t just checking on it to soothe me, he did it to soothe them. The guys worried about me, and after the last few months, I got it. It hadn’t been easy, but this was supposed to be a great opportunity, and they wanted me to enjoy it and not have to worry.
After another fifteen minutes of my life slowly bleeding away, the girl next to me shifted in her seat as she stretched her legs and tried to make herself more comfortable. She’d stopped taking notes ten minutes ago.
I hadn’t, but old habits and all that…
“I’m Mollie, by the way,” she said, and I cut a quick glance at her. She had sandy blonde hair with just a hint of pink on the tips of it. A hint because to be honest, it could be the light in the room. I’d love to be able to color my hair something fun, but school rules said natural colors only. Lucky, her she got to go somewhere she didn’t have to worry about that. “Mollie Barragan.”
“Frankie Curtis,” I answered her intro with my own. “Robertson High.”
“West Arbor,” she said with a shrug.
I had no idea where West Arbor was, not really. I’d heard of it. But then I’m guessing she probably had no idea where Robertson was either. Didn’t matter. It was another monotonous forty-five minutes before he called for our first break, and I leaned back in my chair with a groan.
“This is how I die,” the guy said from across the table. “From absolute boredom. Do you think it gets any better?”
I lifted my shoulders with a laugh. “I hope so. But I guess not everything is going to be interesting.”
“There’s not interesting, and then there’s killing people slowly with your delivery,” Mollie snarked, and I grinned wider. She reminded me a little of Rachel, not a bad thing. She drained her water bottle and stood. “I’m going to pee. Then hopefully find coffee.” She eyed my cup with no small amount of lust, and I curled it closer to me.
It only had a quarter left, but I wasn’t going to risk losing it.
“You mind watching my stuff?” she asked, and I waved her away.