Page 170 of The Plan

“Sorry.”

She rolls her eyes, and I wait for her to finish, but she doesn’t add anything else.

“So how much for them?”

A smirk grows on her face, and she crosses her arms. I immediately know she’s about to give me a hard time, but I don’t care how much arguing it takes or how much it costs. Vidia’s entire life would be complete if I bought her one of these, let alone two.

“Why the sudden care in animals? I thought you came here to hang out with your brother.”

I briefly close my eyes when I sense from a mile away what's coming.

“Wow,” August says in disbelief. “And here I thought you really came all this way to hang out with me.”

I glare at Hazel and turn to August. “I did. I even got you the candy, remember? I just happen to also need to talk to Hazel about the rays.” I honestly did want to thank him for what went down on the field. I was knocking two birds with one stone by coming down here.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“You don’t want to hang out with me anymore.” He says it like he can’t believe it, like it actually hurts him.

“I do.” I can’t believe I’m even going back and forth with him right now. Maybe it’s because I feel bad since he’s kind of right. We haven't been hanging out as much as we usually do.

“Okay, so let's hang out later today.” I almost agree, but I want to talk to Vidia. I was thinking about what she said about therapy, and after she brought it up a second time, I think I’m considering it, but I want to talk to her; I don’t know how that’s going to go, so I'd rather not have to fake a smile for August.

“I can’t today.”

“Okay, so tomorrow.” I almost agree again, but I need to speak with our coach tomorrow. Knowing him, he’ll keep me busy all day as extra punishment.

“You know I can’t tomorrow, but—”

He hands the bag of candy I gave him back to me. “Take it.”

“August, stop being a dramatic bitch. We’ll hang out the day after tomorrow. You can have all the candy you want and sleep over at mine and Vid’s place. Happy?”

He pulls the candy back and smiles. “Fine.”

I turn back to his annoying girlfriend.

“Can Hazel come?”

I let out a sigh, and Hazel’s smile grows. “I thought you wanted just the two of us to hang out?”

“I never said that. It’ll be fun, come on, like a double date sleepover.” I let out another sigh and agree so he can shut up. “Wait, Sage might feel left out. Can she come too? Maybe we can invite whoever her boyfriend is.”

“We’re not inviting him to a fucking sleepover.”

“Right… Well, he can come over and doesn’t need to spend the night—”

“August, no.”

He shakes his head with a smile. “Okay, but Sage can come, right?”

“Of course she can, August.” I wasn’t going to say no to Sage, but Hazel can definitely stay the fuck home for all I care.

“And Lis and Piglet?”

“August,” I warn, and he fucking giggles. I let out a sigh but give in because he’s smiling at me all hopefully. “Lisette can come without the fucking turtle, but if she tries to fucking hit me, everyone has to leave.” He nods, and without another word or adding anyone else to the damn sleepover, I turn back to his menace.

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