Page 52 of The Rebel
“Okay. Sure,” Jade said, or I think he said that. I was bolting for the door, my face feverish, like the heating had ramped up all of a sudden.
I breathed in the crisp air, begging it to cool down my burning cheeks as I jogged along the path through the back yard. There was no need to rush, I had ample time before school, but it felt imperative to get some distance between me and the Sinclair house. Seeing Jade’s chest shouldn’t have me all hot and bothered, like he was some hottie tennis star who trained at the Florida academy. Gah!
I needed to chill—literally. Once inside, I opened the door to the freezer and stood there for a moment while Volley looped between my legs, meowing as if he was in starvation mode.
“Wait a minute, Volley,” I squeaked in my cat voice. “Give me a second to cool down. Jade Sinclair was shirtless!”
Volley didn’t care one bit. He only wanted to be fed. Bringing his bowl into the kitchen, I sat at the counter and watched Volley gobbling down his food while I checked my phone. The last entry in the group chat had been Aaron asking if there was a test in Chemistry and both Reina and Jonathan had answered yes. But Kelsey’s unsent message was there to taunt me. I feared there was something being organized with Gabby that I was not a part of.
I grabbed my bags and Mom’s keys. My direction was aimless. I had an hour to kill before I had to be at school. In that time I could drive all the way to Falls Creek. Not that I wanted to go to Falls Creek. I drove in circles, ending up on Gabby’s road, which was pointless because her house was behind a high fence and wasn’t visible from the street. There was no way of knowing if she had left for school yet, but I wasn’t even sure what my intention was. Was I going to confront her and demand an explanation? Or grovel and plead for her friendship?
I crossed the bridge over to River Valley. There was a certain amount of freedom being away from Covington Heights. If I went for coffee at The Kitch, someone from school would likely see me, but over in River Valley I could be anonymous. I drove through the town square and headed to the fast food drive-thru. Such a normal, everyday activity for most people—but I realized I’d never done it before. Despite all the traveling we did with Paris, Mom was not a fan of fast food and only in times of desperation let us eat junk food. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries combo for breakfast, relishing in my newfound rebellion. Later, my stomach might regret it, but for a moment I felt in charge of myself.
I parked up by the river, devouring the unconventional breakfast and licking my fingers for every bit of grease and salt. And I laughed. Mom had conditioned Paris and me into eating healthy food our whole lives, a gourmet pizza being the most wicked item to pass our lips, with cake and sugary treats only allowed on our birthdays. Top athletes needed clean, nourishing food and even though the rest of us were not top athletes, Paris aspired to be, so by default we all ate healthily.
Besides, I didn’t think the thousand or so fatty calories I’d just consumed was going to clog my arteries overnight.
Jazmyn pulled up next to me in the parking lot just as I had gotten out of the car and shaken salt crumbs off of my uniform.
“Vali? You’re driving?”
“Uh...” A flash of thoughts ran through my mind: Jasmine would tell Gabby, Gabby would tell her mom, it would get back to Mom sooner rather than later. “Uh, you know, Mom wanted me to drive her car every now and then, you know, it’s better for the battery.”
“Sure,” Jazmyn said like she totally believed me. “I thought you’d get a ride with Jade Sinclair?” Her eyebrows rose suggestively as she said his name.
I looked down, shaking my head, pretending to rummage in my art tote, that weird sensation of my cheeks heating up again at the mere mention of Jade’s name. It’s like she knew I’d gone all weak at the knees over him earlier this morning.
“Uh, what’s happening this weekend, do you know?” I gabbled, desperate to change the subject away from Jade.
“This weekend?” She narrowed her eyes almost like she wasn’t sure I’d asked the question. “Why, Chestnut Ridge....aren’t you coming? Gabby’s sorting it.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” I shook my head as if I’d momentarily blanked out. “Gah, Mom called me at like five this morning. I’m not even properly awake.”
“You need coffee,” she stated, checking her phone. “We have time to get to the cafeteria.”
Jazmyn pulled me along, and I was grateful I had at least one friend who hadn’t abandoned me. Jazmyn belonged to the school choir and the River Valley Youth Chorus so she was always at practice. Maybe she was blissfully unaware of the drama with Gabby and me.
“I’m going to grab a juice,” Jazmyn said as I stood at the self-making coffee machine. “I already had a latte this morning.”
“Okay,” I said, pressing the button for the espresso option, feeling somewhat sanctimonious at my drink choice after the guilt of eating a burger and fries for breakfast.
As the machine hissed and released coffee, I inhaled the rich scent of caffeine. Taking my cup, I turned and found myself about to slam into Jade Sinclair. Well, into his chest, that same one I’d seen this morning except now wearing a shirt, tie and striped blazer...thank goodness.
“Oooh.” My coffee wobbled in its cup, in danger of spilling—until Jade steadied it by wrapping his hand around it. The coffee aroma was replaced by that pleasant boy cologne he wore.
He peered down at my drink, looking slightly amused. “Espresso? Been a rough morning?”
“I, uh, yeah,” I muttered, hoping he couldn’t smell burger and fries on me, “kind of.” What was wrong with my cheeks? Because they were on fire again. And why hadn’t he let go of my cup? A strange tingle fluttered through my body.
“Volley’s okay?” He sounded genuinely concerned, like he was truly worried something might have happened to him.
“What, uh, yeah, no, Volley’s fine,” I said in a whisper—only because I seemed to have no control over my volume. “It’s just that Paris has his first match today in the main draw.” I was certain I was turning into a giant cherry right in front of him. Picture the girl from Willy Wonka turning into a giant blueberry—well, that was me, except bright red.
“Right.” The curl of Jade’s lips sent me into a shudder, gymnastics happening in my chest with my heart flip flopping wildly. "Hey, let me know how he goes.”
My vocal cords failed me completely and all I could do was nod as he removed his grip from my cup, his hand grazing mine in the process.
“Catch you later,” he said as he walked toward the refrigerator, but I was in zombie mode by this stage, in a trance as I tried to locate Jazmyn.
