Page 72 of We Shouldn't Be Together
Am I never gonna live that down? I want to point out to Kai that he’s a liar, because he was with his brother last night. But I foresee him arguing that his parents forced him to be at the restaurant. I really don’t want to argue and end up discussing my own parents.
"I barely see my brothers on weekends. Besides, you heard them. They’re not bailing me out again. They did force us to be together at Village Coffee, remember?!?"
"Why don’t you tell your mom you came up with the time experiment?"Kai texts."Tell her we’re working on which chemicals to use."
My mouth turns o-shaped as I play out the scene with my mom in my head.
"That’s brilliant. You don’t mind me taking credit?"
"What do I care?"he replies."I’m not gonna meet your mom."
My chest is lighter, and there’s a happy bounce to my heart. I sink back against the side of Cammy’s bed in relief.
Cammy clears her throat. “Tabby, who are you texting?”
I lower my phone, placing it face down on my lap. “No one.”
Cammy smirks. “Then why do you look so guilty?”
Yvie gasps. “Oh my gosh. You didn’t!”
My breath hitches in my chest. “Didn’t what?”
A hand hovers over her mouth as she replies, “You’re texting Hayden, you bad girl.”
My shoulders slump as the breath fizzles out of me. “I am not.”
“Look at yourself, Tabby,” Camila doubles down. “You’re so into him.”
“I’m not texting Hayden. It was my mom.”
Yvie splutters with laughter. “Ah, yeah right. You’ve got problems if you blush over your mother.”
Cammy claps her hand at me. “Give it.”
I snatch the phone and hold it behind my back. “No.”
Cammy sighs. “You may as well. I know your passcode.”
“No, you don’t,” I blurt. “I changed it.”
I didn’t, but I sure will now.
“Fine, have your secrets,” Cammy says with an air of boredom, walking over to her vanity mirror. “But I wonder if Cindy suspects anything?”
I slip my phone into my back pocket. “It’s not Hayden. I swear.”
I’d show them the text from my mom, but I know it won’t be enough. They’ll steal my phone and check the rest of the messages. Right at the top, it’ll show Kai’s name, and then I’m screwed. I don’t know how I feel about him. I can’t discuss him with the girls until I’ve figured it out.
I think about his last reply and what I might type back. But I’m not risking it here. If Cammy sees me texting again, I’m done for. She’ll wrestle the phone out of my hands, and before I know it, she’ll post a story online that Kai and I are official.
I don’t need the heat. Ugh, I can imagine my mother.“Tabby, you’re supposed to be working on your assignment, not making out with your lab partner.”It’d be just like her to believe a social media post over her own daughter.
15
TabithatextedmewhileParker was driving me and Lewis to Logan’s Point. Jamie had to work, and Tyler’s parents guilted him into visiting his grandfather. Even though I was shotgun, I found moments to text Tabitha back. Parker wasn’t looking because his eyes were on the winding roads around the mountains. Lewis was too busy describing the assets of his latest crush to worry about who I was texting.
But I kept my replies to the point. Just to be safe.
