Page 57 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Everly pulled her hand out of her aunt’s hold, shook her head when her aunt tried to speak. Her parents’ laughter felt like shoving large granules of salt into a bleeding wound.
Stacey appeared at her side. “Come on.”
She took Everly’s hand and pulled her toward the side gate. They slipped through it, unnoticed, the boisterous commentary fading with every step. When they got to Everly’s car, Stacey swung around and faced her, irritation shining in her typically easygoing gaze.
“I’m sorry. I should have texted you to give you a heads-up. From now on, we have a special code word. It’ll mean your parents are comin’ in hot.”
Everly could only laugh. It came out half-strangled like maybe she was choking on her mortification instead. “That’s all I’m saying. That’s not even their fault, though. Not entirely.”
“What?”
Everly leaned against her car. “Remember I told you how she was always slipping condoms in my purse growing up? I shoved them all into the donkey in my closet. She found it and thought it was full of twenty-year-old candy.”
Stacey groaned and leaned her head on Everly’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. You can definitely addno surprisesto your rules list.”
Everly shook her head. “It’s full. You need to start your own.”
Stacey lifted her head and leaned beside her on the vehicle. “My parents would have been scandalized. I always thought you exaggerated a little with your stories about your parents. I can’t believe how hard they laughed.”
Everly looked up at an airplane flying overhead.
They stood in the silence for a moment before Stacey spoke again. “It could have been worse.”
“How?”
Stacey giggled. “We could have been live on TV.”
Rolling her eyes, Everly pushed at Stacey’s head.
Her friend’s smile slipped. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.”
“It’s okay.”
“I got you a present,” Stacey said, lowering her lashes.
Everly groaned.
Stacey pulled something from her pants pocket and held it up between two fingers. It was a glow-in-the-dark condom. She waved it back and forth.
Laughter jostled her shoulders. “I hate you a little.”
“Come on! I couldn’t help it. Tell me this wouldn’t be fun. It’s like a whole different kind of lightsaber. Aren’t you a little curious?”
Everly shoved her shoulder while Stacey bobbed her eyebrows up and down, slashing the condom through the air, making a whooshing noise that Everly suspected was meant to sound like an actual lightsaber.
“I’m good with never knowing,” she said, glancing back at the house.
“I find your lack of curiosity disturbing,” Stacey said.
With a resigned sigh, Everly turned back toward her childhood home. She couldn’t hide forever. Stacey tucked the condom in Everly’s pocket, but Everly removed it and tossed it back at her. “I already tried my new thing for this month. It’s your turn.”
“Challenge accepted.”
[19]
Chris tuned in to the station’s channel on his laptop while dialing his mother’s number. Stacey and Everly were doing a half hour of music that would be finished soon, then the entire staff would gather for their weekly meeting.
“I wondered if you’d forgotten my number,” his mother said instead of hello.
