the same binder as Blake and threw it in my cart that was already overloaded with more than I needed. "Let's go. More stores await."
We headed to the checkout just as Blake exited the store. I blew out a breath, stirring the hair framing my face.
"This card is declined." The cashier handed me back my credit card. "Do you have cash or another card?"
"That's not possible." I handed her a second card and she swiped it. I was certain I had money on the cards. My mom topped them off monthly, not that I spent a whole lot anyway.
"Declined."
My stomach dropped and Ivy stepped beside me, holding out her card. "Try this one."
Her card went through, and I took my bags as she rang up Ivy's assortment of school supplies. While I was waiting, I sent a text to my mom, hoping she'd respond.
She had left a week ago needing to get away from it all. I understood, and I would have gone with her if school hadn't been about to start. I was almost eighteen and was more than ready to be left on my own for a few weeks.
"You should call the number on the back of the card." Ivy looped her arm through mine and we headed to the car. "That happened to me once when my dad forgot to pay my bill."
I called the number once we got to the car. After waiting several minutes, an account representative came on the phone. "Both cards are empty."
"That's impossible. I haven't used them for anything except gas." I frowned. "What are the charges? Maybe someone stole the numbers."
"It looks like a week ago they were cashed out by the main account holder."
My stomach dropped. "That's not me." My mom was the main account holder. Why would she take all the money she put on the cards?
"Have you spoken to the other person on the account, a Natalia Hernandez Moreno?"
After getting off the phone with the credit card company, I called my mom's cell and it went straight to voicemail. She hadn't replied to my text either. If she was lying on the beach in the Maldives, she probably didn't even have her phone with her.
"When was the last time you talked to your mom?" Ivy looked concerned, but it wasn't like she hadn't left me alone for a weekend here and there in the past year or two.
"She texted me when she got to the airport, but that's been it." Unless there was an emergency, she said she wouldn't text me until she got back.
"I can buy whatever you need and you can pay me back later." Ivy's lips twisted to the side. I hoped it was just a fluke.
I couldn't believe it was the first day of senior year. I was still unable to get ahold of my mom, but it had only been a few days, and luckily, I had a great friend that fronted me the money for clothes and a few other essentials.
I parked my car next to Ivy's and grabbed my bag from the passenger seat. The senior section of the lot was already half-full of excited students greeting each other with hugs and handshakes. We'd made it.
The senior parking lot was where a lot of drama occurred, and it made my stomach tighten as I slid out and shut my door. Last year there had been so many incidents that they had installed security cameras over the break.
"Ri!" Ivy pulled me into a hug and passed me off to Aiden, who lifted me off the ground in a bear hug.
Aiden was another close friend, except he didn't stay out of the limelight as much as Ivy and I did. He strutted the halls as if he was on the hunt at all times.
"Girl. That hair." He clucked his tongue and flicked my ponytail. I hadn't gone to get it cut and refused to let Ivy pay for something that could be fixed with a hair tie. "How are we supposed to catch you a man if you wear your hair pulled back like that? You need to let them see what they can run their hands through."
"A real man will see her ponytail as an opportunity." Ivy wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
I rolled my eyes. "I don't need a man. Especially one that likes to pull hair." The idea of a man pulling my hair as he did unthinkable things did make me curious. "They cause nothing but trouble."
I walked with them toward