Soitera

32. Planned And Crazy

I wake up late in the morning, and Nancy is on the couch reading. She hops up and shows me how to make eggs and waffles. I have a waffle maker.

Then I grab my bowls and go to the garden.

The house is gone. It looks like a hole in the ground. Ash is all that's left. It burnt to nothing. I have to say, I'm really pleased with the outcome. I remember jumping in the alcohol and laugh. I think I went insane that night. It was worth it though. It's all gone now.

I fill the bowls and walk home. Then I do it five more times. I don't have much else to do. I clean off the tables and make sure fresh stuff is out. The money box has another $12 in it. That makes me happy.

For lunch, we make grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup. She shows me how to make homemade noodles. They are good.

I study the driving book until it's time to make dinner. We make cheeseburgers and pasta salad. I make a burger for Everett in case he comes, but he doesn't.

He finally shows up at 8, and he looks like hell.

"What happened to you?"

"Some guys from the basketball team showed up at Brock's while I was there last night. I ended up drinking way too much."

I guess, time for us this weekend didn't matter to him after all. "Are you hungry?"

"No. I can't eat. I just wanted to stop in and make sure you're ok."

"I'm fine. I spent the day cooking with Nancy. I learned how to make noodles."

"Nice." He leans back on the couch.

"Were you going to stay here?"

"No. I haven't been home at all. My parents are starting to blow my phone up."

"Ok." I can't help but be disappointed. "You look like you need to sleep."

"I do, baby. I'm sorry about this weekend. I should have come back last night."

"It's ok. You need time with your friends. I don't want to get in the way of that."

He kisses my lips lightly. "I'll make it up to you."

"It's fine, Everett. Go home and get some sleep."

I wake up early and Nancy is already on the couch. "What time do you get here?"

"About 6. I read until you wake up. Or I can wake you up if you're running late. Armen wanted it this way."

"I have to say it's working. I wouldn't have gone to school on Friday if you hadn't made me get up."

I make eggs, croissants, and yogurt cups. I think she has me using the oven every meal just so she can remind me to shut it off after the food is done. I don't mind though. Croissants are good.

Everett comes over at 4. I kind of expected him earlier. I don't say anything though. It's his life.

"I'm sorry. I tried to get over here early, but my parents dragged me to church for half the day."

"Church is nice. I went with Armen."

"Do anything fun today?"

"Garden. Study driving. Cook. That's all I do."

"You ok?"

"I'm kind of wishing I would have stayed with Armen. It's so much better there. But at least I can get my driver's license here."

Brock stops in the center of the street before he can reply. "Brought you a wagon. Maybe you can stop making 34 trips a day now."

"I can use this for my garden?"

"Yes. Don't say I never gave you anything. You going to dinner, Everett?"

"s**t, I guess it is time. We have a basketball dinner tonight, baby. I'll come over later."

"Ok. Have fun." I take the wagon handle from Brock and run to my garden.

There's a ditch between my garden and the road. I walk to my old driveway and get around the ditch that way. The wagon holds a lot more than the bowls. I put a little bit of everything in it.

Then it dawns on me that I forgot to sign up to be a helper for the basketball team. I guess with everything else, I didn't think about it. That's why I didn't know about the dinner. They might let me join now. I've done it every year. I'm surprised they didn't reach out and ask why I didn't sign up. Or maybe they tried too, and I was on the islands.

I get back to the house and Nancy is standing in the driveway tapping her foot. "Did you forget about dinner?"

"Sorry. Yes. Brock gave me a wagon, and I was all excited."

"That is a nice wagon. Put it in the garage so it doesn't get stolen. Then wash your hands."

"I'll be there. Two minutes."

I shove the wagon in the normal door. It has the same key code entry as the house. Then I run to the kitchen. I end up with a blister on my arm from cooking.

After I eat, I go to the wagon. Brock and Liam are standing at the table eating.

"Didn't you boys just eat dinner?"

"Yea, but it sucked."

"You want most of a pizza?"

"Where's it from?"

"I made it. Chicken bacon ranch."

"Yes." Brock tosses half a tomato.

"Stay outside. You can eat it out here. I'm going to my garden."

"Sounds good to me."

I grab the pizza and put it on the outside table. Then take off with the wagon.

The wagon fills up slowly, and I pull it back. The pizza pan is empty when I get home, and no boys are anywhere. I guess they got enough.

I make myself an egg and toast in the morning while Nancy watches. Then I go to school.

My feet stop working when I get outside Mr. Walker's classroom. The girls are talking about how fun the party was on Friday.

"The boys stripping was the best part." The girls giggle.

"I'm just glad Brock has a pool. I needed some pool time." That was Holly.

Alice says, "I can't wait for next weekend in the city. Everett's parents were so cool to get us all a resort room for the party."

I swallow hard so I don't cry. I guess I didn't know him at all. I go to the study hall instead.

Mrs. Young is at her desk.

"Can I have a pass for this period? I need to study my science. Mr. Walker said it was ok if I skipped to study science."

"Yea, I'll take it down there. I need to go to the office anyway. Pick any seat. Nobody is in here first period."

"Thank you."

"Are you alright, Aurora?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

She rubs my back before she leaves.

I check my phone. Nobody has said a word in the group chat. They must have a real group chat that doesn't have me in it. It was all a joke. How can people be so cruel? I never did anything to hurt any of them.

"What is wrong, sweetie?"

"Nothing that can't be fixed." I sigh. "I don't want to talk about it, Mrs. Young. I thought I made a friend. I was wrong."

"New friends can be made, and old ones can be removed. You're right about that. It can be fixed. Keep your head up and keep moving forward. Soon, this will be over. You'll be at BlackRock making your future happen. I know you'll make real friends there."

I think about Nyx and smile. "Me too."

She rubs my hair then goes to her desk. "At least pretend to study."

I laugh and get my science book out. "Do you think Mr. Nelson would let me change my classes?"

"He's out of the office until Wednesday. I'll leave him a note to call for you when he has a minute."

"Thank you."

Everett sits beside me at lunch. "Where were you first period?"

"Study hall. I had some science problems. I got a pass."

"Yea." He puts his arm on the back of my seat. "Young brought it in. You want to have dinner tonight?"

"No. I'm still cooking with Nancy this week."

He seems shocked.

Alice sits across from us. "How come you didn't come to the party, Aurora? We were all there. Holly lost her top on a slide. It was the funniest thing ever."

"Sounds like you all had fun."

"You know about Everett's party this weekend, right?"

Everett sits up. "Take a walk with me, baby."

"No. I need to get back to my science work. I'm already running late. I'll see you guys later." I run into the bathroom, so Everett can't follow me.

I manage to avoid talking to him for the rest of the day.

Dante is standing on the porch when I get home. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Why are you here?"

Armen comes out of the house. "You blew up a house. Get in here."

"Fine." I point at the door as we walk by. "Can you change that number?"

"Yes."

"Do it."

Dante turns around and goes back to the van. He comes in with a laptop and hooks it to the wall box. "New code is 1115. Can you remember that?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"What's with the attitude?" Armen sits on the couch.

"I'm having a bad day. I can't deal with games right now."

"You blew up your old house."

"I dumped the liquor in the house all over the place. I jumped around in it and laughed. I opened every door, so the fire would move fast. I opened every flammable thing. Then I jumped out the window. I lit some old newspapers on fire and dropped them right below the window. There was a power outlet there. I figured they would think it was electrical."

Armen smiles. "That was planned."

I smile right back at him. "And crazy."

"The police want to talk to you about it. Did anyone see you?"

"Everett's dad was outside my house when I got back. We were standing there when it exploded."

Dante shakes his head. "He gave a statement. Said Everett got back about 9 that night and all of them went to bed. He didn't say anything about her."

"He said you called him about the security system not being armed."

"I did. Apparently, he went in and armed it. What happened when you two met that night?"

"After the explosion, he pushed me into the house. He told me to wash my clothes with extra soap and wash my hair twice, then go immediately to bed. He was rearming the system as I ran to the washer. I haven't seen him since."

"Why?"

"I was covered in liquor."

Armen rubs his face. "The police are on the way to talk to you. You can't tell them any of that. You had dinner, the company left, then you went to bed."

"Fine."