Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel) - By Kate Perry Page 0,45

doing until three in the morning," he continued loudly. "All I know is you were making out in the back seat of that car."

"We weren't making out," she said sullenly. He made it sound so awful, and her first real kiss should have been one of the best memories of her teenage life. She may have snuck out, but she didn't do anything wrong. Not really anyway. Yes, she should have told him, but it wasn't like he'd been available lately.

"Give me a break, Rachel. I know kissing when I see it." He pushed back in his chair, making a shrill scratching sound on the floor. "Needless to say, you're grounded until further notice. Come home directly after school, no activities, no going out with friends."

But then she wouldn't be able to look for Griffin Chase. She sat up, feeling panicked for the first time. "But I have to—"

"This is non-negotiable, Rachel." Her dad stared at her like she was a stranger he didn't like. "Iliana will be here in the afternoons to stay with you until I come home."

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"You should have thought of that before you acted the way you did last night."

"I didn't act in any way!" She got up and reached out. "I can explain what I was doing. It was for Mo—"

"I'm done, Rachel," her dad said over her. He scrubbed his face with his hand. "I understand how hard it was to lose your mom, because she was my world and I lost her, too. But I don't know what to do with you anymore. You're not helping me, and you're not giving me many options."

She gulped down a big wad of shame. And fear, because she'd never heard him sound so defeated before. "What are you talking about?"

He looked at his watch. "I'm late for a meeting."

She started after him. "But Dad—"

The look he gave her stopped her in her tracks. "Rachel, I'm done," he repeated. "I'm having dinner with a friend. I'll be home late."

"What friend?" She hated that he had a life and she didn't, that he seemed happy and she was miserable. She narrowed her eyes, remembering him laughing intimately in his bedroom late last night. "Are you going out on a date?"

"Yes, it's a date."

"How could you?" she yelled. "You're being unfaithful to Mom!"

"Your mom is dead, Rachel!" he yelled back.

Silence.

They stared at each other, shocked. Rachel touched her cheek, feeling like he'd slapped her.

Her dad opened his mouth like he was going to say something more, but then he shook his head and strode out.

She watched him until she couldn't see him any more.

He didn't mean all that stuff. Well—yes, he did, but he didn't have all the facts. She'd tell him enough to make him feel better, and then he'd let her out of lockdown so she could get back to finding Griffin Chase.

As she reached for her bag, her sleeve touched her dad's tablet and the screen woke up. She took her bag and was about to go to school when two words jumped out at her: boarding school.

She gaped at the screen. Turning it around she quickly scanned the web page. A boarding school for troubled teenagers.

She dropped back onto the chair. He was going to send her away.

She was halfway to school when she realized there was no reason to go.

Rachel stopped in her tracks. He was going to send her to boarding school—and it made her heart hurt—what did it matter if she screwed up in school?

It didn't.

She turned around and headed for Romantic Notions. She'd wait for Griffin Chase instead. If she had to leave, at least she could make sure she did this one last thing for her mom.

The wind was super cold. She sat on the curb and watched the store for as long as she could before she had to admit defeat and go inside Grounds for Thought. Fortunately, there was a small table open in the front window. She put her stuff there and went to order a hot chocolate.

The blonde who was always there manned the counter. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she smiled at Rachel. "No school today?"

"Not really," she mumbled, pretending to study the pastries even though she already knew what she wanted.

"Hot chocolate?" the lady asked. "And I recommend the chocolate chip Madeleines today. I know if you order Madeleines, you're probably a purist, but trust me, the chocolate chip ones are to die for."

She shrugged. "Okay."

The blonde took her