As always, thoughts of his condition sent a stab of pain through my heart. I slid a glance in Bo’s direction as he talked with Savannah and Devon. He laughed and shifted his eyes to me. He winked and my stomach fluttered in response.
It seemed incongruous, a cruel twist of fate, that I could love someone more and more each day, and yet already be mourning his passing. As my love grew, so did the dark cancer of his illness. It was eating away at me, gnawing at my soul.
I’d begun to hate seeing lunch period come to an end. I’d found more genuine friendship and camaraderie at Savannah’s table than I’d ever known, and Bo was always there. He was relaxed and happy and I basked in his unmasked affections. It was like a sun-drenched capsule of near-perfection that I never wanted to leave.
But I was coming to realize that all good things must end. And usually they ended badly.
Bo had just left, going in the opposite direction, toward his class, and I was closing my locker when Trinity approached.
She looked better, but only in a less-sick way. She looked more like a vampire than ever. Her skin was chalky white and her eyes held a viciousness that even I had never seen there before.
“I heard about the other night in the woods,” she said without prelude.
“Trinity, I’m sorry. I know you had a thing for Lars, but—”
She laughed bitterly. “You two have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”
“Trinity, I—”
“Of course you don’t,” she said, leaning in close to my face. “You know what the funny thing is?”
I sighed. “What, Trinity?” Something in her eyes creeped me out and I had to look away. I stared over her shoulder, trying to assume my most bored and unconcerned expression.
“All this was to find Bo’s father’s killer. At this rate, you’ll never find her.”
Her?
My eyes snapped back to Trinity’s. “You know who was behind the attack?”
Trinity’s smile was smug and self-satisfied. She’d gotten the reaction she wanted, so, with one more laugh in my face, she turned and walked away.
“Trinity!” I called after her, but she didn’t even pause. “Trinity!”
For the rest of the day, I wrestled with when and how to tell Bo what she’d said. I decided to wait until after our double date. If I told him before, it would ruin the whole night. Besides, I was pretty sure he’d come to my room afterward and I could talk to him about it then.
********
Of all the terrible nights for my mother to stay home and get loaded, she chose that night, the night Bo came to get me. To add insult to injury, she even beat me to the door when he rang the bell.
I heard her shrill voice all the way back in my room, so I strapped on my wedge shoes, pulled the hem of my tunic down over my leggings and bolted for the door.
When I reached the foyer, Mom was already draped all over Bo. She was looking up into his face with doe eyes, smiling flirtatiously. I was mortified.
I hurried to Bo’s side and took his other arm, the one she wasn’t trying to tear off, and I tugged. “We’d better go. Savannah’s going to kill us.”
When I pulled, Bo shifted toward me and Mom stumbled drunkenly, grabbing Bo for support. She giggled, covering her lips with her fingertips.
“I’m so sorry. My balance is terrible today.”
Mom put the coy in coy.
“What time does Dad’s flight get in, Mom?”
Like magic, Mom sobered considerably at the mention of Dad. She always did. Straightening, she smoothed her hair.
“Not until morning.”
“Oh, I thought it was tonight.” That was not entirely true, but just mentioning him got the desired result.
“No, and you’d better be home at a decent hour, young lady. You know he’ll want to spend some time with you tomorrow, so you can’t be sleeping the day away.”
“I’ll have her home early, Mrs. Heller.”
Mom turned her eyes to Bo and I could almost see her melt. For a moment, I sympathized with her. I knew exactly how that felt.
“Call me Becky,” she oozed. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Bo.”
“It’s my pleasure, ma’am.”
“Becky,” she repeated.
Bo smiled graciously. “Becky.”
Feeling disgusted and mortified, I tugged at Bo again. “Let’s go.”
As it turned out, Devon was driving. He’d picked up Savannah first then Bo, and then the trio had come for me. Bo opened the passenger door to Devon’s Mazda and helped me in.
Savannah turned around in her seat and greeted me excitedly.
“Those shoes rock,” she declared.
“Thanks. I got them for my birthday.”
“Wish I got cool stuff like that for my birthday.”
I didn’t mention that I’d bought them for myself with the money that my parents had given me a month and a half later because it took them that long to remember that I even had a birthday.
Savannah’s red hair was pulled up into a loose bun atop her head. Tendrils had already escaped the knot and were floating around her face like dancing flames. She wore a chic black gauzy top and a velvet choker around her throat, the tails trailing down over her collarbones and anchored with tiny metal crosses tied to the ends. Though her style wasn’t necessarily “hip,” Savannah was fashionable in her own way and she wore it flawlessly.
“You look great,” I told her, and that was entirely true. I felt bland and monochromatic by comparison.
“So do you,” Bo said, having climbed in beside me.
His eyes roved me from head to toe and shone with appreciation. The look he gave me when his eyes met mine again made me feel like a beautiful princess.
“Thank you.” My smile was so wide, it was almost painful.
“Yeah, Ridley. I’m not the one who looks like a Vanessa Hudgens–Hayden Panettiere love child.”
“What?” I turned my gaze to her where she leaned around the front seat. “I do not.”
Savannah looked to Devon. “Tell her, Dev. She does, doesn’t she?”
Devon craned his neck and looked back at me. “Yeah, you sorta do.”
I looked to Bo. He was simply smiling. “A blend of two gorgeous people? Why complain?”