CHAPTER 42
1112 Words
"Can you just get in the car? I'm trying to be a gentleman."
"Go be a gentleman somewhere else." Calla made a shooing motion with her hands,
thoroughly dismissing him. She stood in the driveway with her backpack slung over
one shoulder, a jacket that most definitely did not belong to her draped over her free
arm. She'd pulled her long hair into her signature ponytail. He felt almost comforted
by the sight.
There were too many other thoughts vying for his attention. Too many distractions.
Cooper frowned at her from his car, which he'd left idling in the road. "You're
blowing me off for Cory Michaels? Calla, the school is five minutes away— "
"And he'll be here in—" she checked her phone, "—two minutes. So scram."
Unbelievable. A month ago he would have wept with joy if Calla Parker had told him
to get out of her life. Now he was just...annoyed. And offended.
He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Sucking in a deep breath, he did
his best to keep an edge out of his voice when he said, "Mom told me to be a good
neighbor and give you a lift." He still couldn't believe the words that had left her
mouth. She's a good girl. She needs a friend like you. "And we need to talk. About
the party."
"Technically, it was a memorial." She clearly wasn't moved.
Harder to keep the edge out of his words now. " Calla ."
"Later." Her eyes darted along the roadside, scanning for the glint of Cory's silver
car.
My later's are numbered! he wanted to shout.
"If my mom chews me out for not picking you up, I'm coming for you ." He jabbed
his finger in her direction. "Two can play the psycho killer game."
She gave him a blank look, which he'd grown disturbingly fond of over the past
month. It was better than her glare. Or her creepy smile.
Come to think of it, maybe fond wasn't the best word.
She shrugged and readjusted her green hoodie. Ignoring him entirely.
"Fine. Whatever. Go make out with Cory." He threw the car in drive and put a hand
out the window. He could ignore his death sentence for a few hours. Let the
mystery of the Greenwitch Killer rest—for now. "When you come up for a breath, tell
him I said hi, will you?"
Calla bent over to scoop up a fistful of gravel from her driveway and Cooper floored
it, spraying rocks. She ducked, shielding her face, and he grinned.
She was totally going to get him for that later.
His phone buzzed angrily in the center console and he grabbed it. Who could
possibly be calling him right now?
He answered it without checking the caller ID. "Yo."
"Dude. Emergency. Can you grab me?" Vincent's voice on the other end of the line
sounded panicked.
"You're lucky I left the house early," Cooper complained, shooting past the school
entrance to continue down the back road that would spit him out near Vincent's
place.
"My hero. My knight. How shall I reward thee?" Vincent boomed on the other end of
the line. When he spoke next, he sounded further away, as if he'd put his phone
down. "Sorry. Jess was going to pick me up—"
"Oh, we like Jess now, do we?" Cooper asked dryly, his heartbeat quickening in his
chest.
What was with Vincent's taste in women?
"It's not like that, man," Vincent complained, the line rattling as he picked the phone
back up. His voice came out clearer when he said, "Trust me. Not like that at all.
Fake blonde is so not my thing. Well...not anymore."
"Right."
"I'm serious!"
Cooper turned at a bend in the road, pushing the speed limit. "I'm almost to your
place. Come outside."
"Thank thee, squire." Vincent hung up before Cooper had a chance to say anything
else.
"Weirdo," Cooper muttered, pulling up to the side of the road outside of Vincent's
house. Exhaust gathered like low-drifting fog behind his car, idling in the cold winter
morning. The pine trees surrounding Vincent's house were wreathed in mist, the sky
gloomy with grey clouds that would likely never bother to spout rain.
Vincent came bursting through the front door, though he took care to close the
screen door gently behind him, the top half hanging off of its hinge. He kicked a
beer can on his path down the walkway, and when he tumbled into Cooper's car he
was grinning.
"My man!" He reached over to rub Cooper's head.
Cooper swatted him away. "Off. Off."
Vincent settled back in his seat and grumbled when Cooper told him to buckle up,
which he did grudgingly.
"So. Jess?" Cooper asked cagily. He didn't want to know every detail of Vincent's
love life, but it was kind of hard not to stick his nose in his friend's business when
his current flame could be a serial killer.
Not that his other options were looking that great, either. Cooper flashed back to
Calla's hands around his neck, her knee digging into his back. He shuddered, trying
to pass it off as a result of the cold morning.
"For the last time, no. She's Mike's girl." Vincent glanced at him sideways. "And
she's totally batshit."
"Well, that we can agree on." Cooper tried to keep his voice even. "Why's she
offering you rides to school?"
"'Cause my old man won't let me drive the car," Vincent muttered.
"So Jess bailed because...?"
"She didn't bail." Vincent sighed, tugging at his jeans. "I cancelled. Told her I had a
ride to school already."
"Oh." Cooper frowned. "Huh."
"I can make good decisions. When I want to." Vincent grinned over at him, running a
hand through his still damp hair. "'Sides, I'm not trying to piss off Mikey. I love the
guy. And I think I've done enough meddling in other people's relationships, ya
know?"
Cooper shrugged. "They're not together. Technically. But yeah, dude. It's probably
best to stay far, far away from her. And Astrid," he added for good measure.
Vincent grunted. "New year, new me, right? Trying to turn over a new leaf. Tired of
being that guy around school."
Cooper took a sharp left into the school parking lot, doing his best to avoid running
over a group of freshmen that darted onto the sidewalk. "Good for you, man."
Vincent remained uncharacteristically quiet while Cooper found a parking spot,
staring down at his lap, brow furrowed. Cooper jostled him by throwing the car in
park. Vincent shook his head and looked up. "Huh?"
- Writer
