Page 37 of Something Tattered
"I know. Because I figured you knew."
"What made you think that?"
"The way you reacted when I brought it up."
"I reacted?" I said. "How?"
"Like for one, thing, when I mentioned it, you literally covered your ears." She paused. "And said something like, 'If I hear one more word, I'm gonna scream.'"
"Did I?" That sounded awfully rude. "Gosh, Cassie, I'm really sorry…"
She waved away the apology. "You weren't mean or anything. You said it like you were joking, but I could tell you were really bothered."
It was all coming back to me now. She was right. Ihadbeen bothered. All summer, Derek had been a total ass-hat. I didn't know what his problem was, but already, I'd had more than enough.
"So anyway," Cassie continued, "I figured it was best to let it drop." She gave Joel a nervous glance. "But now thathe'shere, we can't exactly avoid it." She bit her lip. "Like, what if they get into another fight or something?"
I shook my head. "But Derek's not even coming."
She perked up. "Really? How do you know?"
"Because you told me. Remember?"
Her shoulders sagged. "On the phone? Sorry, but I meant that he wasn't hereyet.But hedidsay he might stop by." She frowned. "Even if hewasall funny about it."
"Funny how?"
"You know, just being kind of a jerk, like he was mad at you or something."
Now, that made sense. I gave Cassie a reassuring smile. "Honestly, I doubt he'll come. Earlier today, we got into this huge fight." I tried to laugh. "And just so you know, I mean the verbal kind. It's not like we 'came to blows' or anything." Under my breath, I added, "surprisingly."
"What'd you fight about?" she asked.
"Well…" I flicked my head toward Joel. "Him, actually."
Cassie's jaw dropped. "You mean the guy who beat him up?"
"Um…"
"So he's here withyou?"
Was he? Yeah, I guess he was. He was, after all, the one who drove us here. And, he'd promised to drive me home, too.
But it was more than that. I'd invited him to join the party, assuming that Cassie didn't mind. In theory, I was supposed to be asking her about it, right now. But I'd gotten too distracted, and already, Joel was wading through the crowd, heading toward us.
I was dying to ask Cassie about the fight, but Joel would be here any second, so instead, I asked, "Do you care if he joins us?"
Chapter 18
Two daiquiris and a dozen thin slivers of cake later, I was feeling more mellow than I'd have ever guessed, considering how awful the first part of the day had been.
Ten of us, including Joel, were crammed obscenely tight into a long booth designed for eight. For the third time, April called out to Joel, "Are you sure you don't want a beer or something?"
Joel glanced toward me and said, "Nah. I'm good."
Listening to this, I felt a twinge of guilt. To think, I'd invited him here, only to have him sit, stone-cold sober, while everyone around him got totally smashed.
Plus, he was the only guy at our booth. That had to be at least alittleawkward, right?
