I want to hate how beautiful everything is here. How calm. But I know it’s just because I’m in a bad mood.
My phone buzzes again, and I almost wrench my arm off in my haste to pull it out of my pocket.
Z chuckles at me.
“Worried your lover boy is getting too frisky on his date?”
I glare down at the text. Just a girl from World History asking if I did the reading. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. I ignore it and shove my phone back in my pocket.
“Not him?”
“He’s not texting me,” I bite out, not in the mood. “And it’s not a real date. He and Marie just had to go because this bitchy girl from school was hounding Caleb to go on a double date with her and her boyfriend. It was good for them to be seen out in public ‘dating’ so they went.”
Z just keeps laughing at me. “Sure. Just keep telling yourself that.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why I’m bothering explaining myself. Clearly, the politics of high school mean girls are lost on you.”
His chuckle gets deeper, and I yank the joint out of his hand.
“Give me that. So glad I’m here for your amusement.”
I take a deep drag of the sweet-smelling joint, hold the smoke in my lungs, and slowly exhale.
“Hey.” Z grabs the joint back. “Hugs not drugs.”
I snort. “Says the pothead.”
“Exactly. Stay outta my stash.”
I close my eyes as the short buzz takes life in my veins.
“Since when are you bothered about a guy, anyway?” Z asks, and the question isn’t as casual as I know he’s trying to make it sound.
Then again, he always gets a little paranoid when he smokes weed. It mellows me out, but he just gets jittery as fuck.
“Since Caleb was so perfect,” I sigh into the cool night air.
Z blows out a long line of smoke into the air beside me. “I don’t see what’s so perfect about Captain Handsome. Especially when he’s out on a date with another girl.”
I sigh and toss my arms out wide. “I already told you. It’s not arealdate. And Marie’s my best friend at school. It’s not like that between them. She was just excited about the lasagna at Luigi’s.”
Z just shrugs. “Maybe there’s a bunch of things around here that aren’t what they seem.”
I frown over at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothin’,” he says, super enigmatically.
I’m about to shake my head, chalking it up to him just being high, when he continues. “Just that I knew your old man wasn’t up to what he said he was up to.”
“What do you mean?” I repeat.
His eyes take a slow loop before finally landing on mine. “I mighta snooped when I had the house all to myself today. And picked the lock on that office he keeps closed up so tight.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did.”
“You didn’t.”