The Backup Girlfriend (Grove Valley High #2) - Emma Doherty Page 0,2
gold color and holding it up for me to see. “I got you this,” she tells me. “You can wear it on Saturday night.”
“Saturday night?”
“Yes, we have dinner at the country club.”
A sense of panic grips my body. “But I thought you said Dad wouldn’t be back for a couple of weeks?”
“He’s won’t be,” she says, not looking at me as she turns back to her wine. “But Eric has a table and needs to network, so we’re going.”
My body releases some of my tension at the mention of my brother-in-law. While I might not be his biggest fan, he’s harmless and he loves my sister. Still, I have no idea how I’m supposed to help him with his networking, but I guess he wants to look like a family man and having his wife’s family there will probably help with that.
“When’s Dad coming back?”
“Three weeks from Friday.” She says it calmly, like it doesn’t fill her with dread, and maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the fact that she gets to live this lifestyle and has an unlimited allowance that allows her to get her hair done whenever she wants, get weekly mani-pedis, attend charity lunches with her friends, and do endless amounts of shopping is worth it to her.
She turns to me and eyes me critically. “You need to get your roots done.”
I sigh.
“And Ellie is coming for dinner tonight.”
This perks me up. “Is she bringing the baby?” My sister gave birth five months ago, and that little baby might just be my favorite person in the world.
My mom shrugs. “She’s not coming until seven-thirty, so I doubt it.”
“So where will the baby be?”
She looks unconcerned. “With the nanny I suppose.”
My mom talked my sister into getting a nanny as soon as Eric Jr. was born. Ellie was reluctant at first but soon realized my mom wasn’t going to be the hands-on grandmother some children have, and eventually she gave in.
“I didn’t want to cook, so I made reservations at Luigi’s,” she tells me, naming one of the nicest restaurants in town as she walks back toward the doorway. “Make sure you get changed,” she calls over her shoulder as she exits the room, ending one of the longest conversations we’ve had in days.
2
I’m sitting in homeroom trying really hard not to fall asleep when Coach Daniels appears at the door and tells me she needs to speak to me.
She doesn’t look happy, which really should have been my first warning.
I don’t think anything of it while I pick up my bag and weave my way through the desks then follow her down the hallway. I’m so tired I honestly don’t know how I’m going to get through today, and I already know I’m going to ditch early to go home and sleep. I’m just so tired; I didn’t sleep at all last night. I kept tossing and turning and thinking.
Thinking, I’ve decided, is the worst.
In fact, I’m so lost in how tired I am that I don’t notice at first that we’re not heading out to her office in the gym department. Instead we’re heading to the main office, where the principal has his office, along with a bunch of the lead administrators. I’m almost relieved when she veers off to Ms. Sallinson’s room, our school guidance counselor—relieved, that is, until I see their faces.
They’re not happy. Not at all.
“What? What is it?” I ask, my eyes shifting back and forth between them.
I want to reach in my pocket and check my phone to see if I have any messages from my mom about a family emergency, but they’re not looking at me sympathetically, so I know it’s not that. They do look pretty grim—grim and pissed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been trying to track you down,” says Ms. Sallinson. “Haven’t you seen my messages?”
I think back. I suppose I did get a couple of messages from a hall monitor earlier this week, but I forgot all about them.
“And Jennifer was supposed to tell you to come find me urgently yesterday.” This from Coach Daniels.
“Right. Yeah, I didn’t get that message until the end of the day, and I had to get home.”
Coach looks like she doesn’t think that’s a valid enough excuse.
“I’m sorry,” I say. Coach is not a woman to piss off, and it’s always best to try to stay on her good side. “I was going to come find you today.”