Page 20 of Wicked Deceit
“Yeah, fun for sure,” I murmur with sarcasm.
“Then it’s settled! If your family plans fall through, you boys are more than welcome to join the fun!” She says through a smile, but I see the evil in her eyes. Sure, Callie knows about the boys and enjoyed them. But my father? My brother? He will have some things to say as well, even if the boys idolize him.
“Allright,boys,”mymom says with a smile as we exit the diner. Walking through the parking lot, we make our way towards our cars. “It was lovely to meet you all, but why don’t you head back to school? I’d like to have a word with my daughter, and then I’ll bring her back to you.” The boys exchange glances but don’t argue with her. Because there’s no arguing with this woman. Crap. That means I’m going to have to ride in a car with her again. I look at her, blinking rapidly as she soaks in the love from the boys who beam back at her. Even Carter grins a genuine smile, nodding in agreement with her statement.
“Thanks for lunch, Mrs. C,” Chase beams, barely containing the hug he wants to wrap her in. He bounces on his toes in excitement, and finally settles, leaning against his car.
“Thanks for lunch, it was fu—friggin’ amazing!” Seger snickers under his breath, holding back his smile. I narrow my eyes at their antics, secretly hoping this was all a bad dream and I’d wake up soon. Seriously, am I in some sort of weird coma? Because that’s what it feels like. Maybe I should pinch myself–and nope—that didn’t work either.
“Thank you for lunch, Mercy. It was nice to sit down with you again, and not in the hospital,” Zepp says cordially with a grin, tipping his head respectfully in her direction. I sneak a peek at the woman in question, and her grin once again reflects the sun.
“Thank you,” Carter says without gruffness in his voice. Instead, it’s full of respect and gratitude. And he smiles, like really smiles at her with all his teeth. Which should be frightening, like the big bad wolf or something, but he looks pleasant and completely at ease.
And I’m so fucking lost with how this conversation is going. I need a damn nap and some good pain medication to sleep off this whole experience. My heart skips a beat when one by one, they eye me, and settle into Chase’s car. They take off down the highway, and I swear a little piece of my heart goes with them.
Once in my mom’s BMW, she smiles over at me. “That was fun,” she titters a laugh.
“Fun?” I grumble, “You basically interrogated them and then talked about a dick piercing.” She snorts at that.
“Yes, well, you know me. When it comes to good books, I get carried away.” She reaches between the seats as she speaks, pulling out a large yellow envelope. Breaths seep from my nose when she finally hands it over, displaying the CaliState logo stamped on the outside.
My eyes widen at the label sitting on the corner of the envelope, and it can only mean one thing.
“CaliState,” I squeak in shock, staring in disbelief. Never in a million years, since Parkford denied my scholarship, did I think I’d get into another college on such short notice. Especially somewhere like this, where my boys will attend, too.
Mom pats my leg, urging me to open it. “It came a day before your accident. I was going to surprise you and bring it, but well, here I am. Now open it! I didn’t know you applied there!” She says through a smile, squealing with excitement.
I grin, tearing into the envelope with shaky hands. Tears burn my eyes when I pull the packet out, and my breaths leave me. A miracle in golden writing has me wiping tears from my cheeks, and I hiccup, hugging the papers to my chest. My salvation sits in my hands and gives me another chance at college. Something I didn’t think I’d get to do when the Apocalypse swooped in and took my dream college, Parkford, away from me. And now, I have another chance to do this right and live my college dream.
“I got in,” I whisper in awe through a quivering voice.
Pulling the papers away from my frantic heartbeat, I stare at the acceptance letter. Scanning the words repeatedly, my heart flutters in my chest with excitement. Someone pinch me into reality. This can’t be happening. Holy shit. I got into CaliState. I fucking got in!
My mom’s face explodes with emotions spewing down her cheeks. “I’m so proud of you!” Leaning over, she captures me in the biggest hug and squeezes me against her, and pours her love into me. Pride puffs through her chest when she snuggles into me. She pulls back, wiping the happy tears from her eyes, smiling so wide she can’t hide her happiness.
“I got in.” I breathe again, leaning my head against the headrest. My eyes close on their own accord as the possibilities run through my mind. Next year will be a fantasy come true, and I can’t wait to leave this place and move on to my future.
Our future.
My boys. They are attending there, too. We’ll all be together on the same campus. All of us, except for Carter. He’ll be—well—whereverCC Techis, I guess. He isn’t going to college. Would he follow? How would it all work? Ugh. I have to make it through this year. Even so, I fucking got into a college! It might not be Parkford and all its expensive glory, but I’ve come to accept they took away my scholarship because of the Apocalypse. Does it suck balls? Absolutely. Parkford was a dream—a place Magnolia and I had dreamed about attending together. She was taken away, and so was it. In the grand scheme of things, my future holds something more exciting now. Plans change, and I’m okay with that now. Change is terrifying, but if I have my boys by my side, I’ll be okay.
My mom and I talk a little more about the boys on the way back to school. I can tell she’s hesitant to ask a lot of questions, specifically about the logistics of our relationship. So, we keep the conversation light and fluffy as she pulls into the school’s parking lot.
The boys lean against Chase’s car, anxiety, and tension lining their muscles. Once the car parks, they eagerly wait for me to exit the vehicle, but my mom holds up a hand. They nod in understanding, staying by Chase’s vehicle. But they never take their searing gazes away from me.
“I don’t want to upset you, but I need to discuss with you the phone call I received at lunch.” Her throat clears, bobbing under the emotions bubbling to the surface. She heaves a sigh, twiddling her fingers together in her lap. Alarm slams through me at her motions. This isn’t like her. My mother is always confident and sure with her movements. She’s not one to twiddle her fingers and prolong a hard conversation. Something serious must have happened for her to curl in on herself.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, furrowing my brows, watching her every move.
She sighs heavily, running a hand along her forehead. “I—you remember Addison Shepherd? Magnolia’s mom? She was a good friend for so long, and then—” She cuts herself off with a deep breath, reeling her tears back in. “Of course you remember her. She was my best friend for years,” she mutters, chastising herself with the wave of her hand.
“Yeah, you two were close, and then I never saw her again unless she dropped Mags off to play.” My mom shakes her head, swiping at tears running down her face.
My heart drops into my churning stomach and blends to smithereens when she looks at me with tear-filled eyes. I know before she opens her mouth what she’s about to say. Guilt slams into me at a rapid pace, and I want to punch myself in the face and drop off the face of the earth. I was there. Someone could have come and saved her if I had just called for help. I could have saved her from the fate that Crowe handed her when she lay in that hospital bed and weakly yelled for him to save her. When I close my eyes, soaking in the car's silence, I see Addison's face flash in my mind. Weak, pale, and pathetically coughing. I was so close, but yet so far away. Crowe wouldn’t have let me do anything, though. If I had called the cops or the hospital to come and save her, he would have stopped it. I swallow the bile in my throat when my mother’s voice rings through the car, cementing Addison’s fate.
“I got the news at lunch that she’d been sick for a few months. Her slimy husband, Victor Crowe, said he had her transferred to the hospital, and she….” She hiccups through the words, holding her fingers to her trembling lips.
“What happened to her, Mom?” My stomach knots and twists, threatening to send my lunch right back out.
