waiting by the doors to the gym.
“You ready?”
He looks back at me for a second, looking like he’s going to say something. Then he nods his head at his friends and turns back to me, mumbling a goodbye before going to meet them and leaving me watching him go, feeling nervous and excited and scared all at the same time.
22
“Abigail, are you coming to Ferguson’s?”
I look up from my desk, seeing Aaron waiting for me at the front of the classroom. I can’t help smiling at him. He’s really made way more of an effort with me recently, like he’s remembered that we’re actually friends. He’s started waiting for me at the end of our history class just like he always used to do, just because we were usually headed to the same place—to meet Chase and the rest of our friends. It’s nice that he’s figured out he can still do that even though Chase and I aren’t together.
He yawns loudly, raising his arms so that his shirt rides up slightly. I catch a couple of the girls walking past him stealing glances.
“I’m craving chili fries and a cheeseburger.”
I certainly won’t be having those if I do go. Last week was my one blowout, and now I’m back to no carbs.
Ferguson’s is something we’ve always done. Our whole group has always headed there right after school on Fridays, to eat food, hang out, and make our plans for the weekend. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, something that made me feel happy and secure with my friendship group, but I’ve skipped it the last couple of weeks.
“I have to study,” I tell him.
He rolls his eyes. “An hour isn’t going to kill you, and you have to eat.” He must see the hesitation on my face as I move past him to the door. He falls into step beside me and swings his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a side hug. “It sucks you can’t just chill and enjoy the end of high school like the rest of us, but you do deserve some fun.”
I’m honestly so surprised at the unexpected warmth of his embrace I almost stop dead in my tracks, but he’s acting normal so I don’t want to draw attention to it. Turns out Aaron gives good hugs.
We continue walking to my locker and he waits as I dump my books. Deciding he can’t be bothered to go to his own locker, he leaves a couple of books in mine too, before Sasha joins us and we head out the main entrance and toward the student parking lot, stopping by Brendon’s car and the group that’s standing there.
“You coming?” Chase asks me. “You haven’t been in a while.”
I’m touched that my absence has actually been noticed. I didn’t think they’d care.
I nod my head as Jackson fills everyone in on some drama that happened in his math class while we wait for the others who usually join us to get out of school, and my gaze snags on Brett, who has appeared at the top of the steps as he quickly rushes to his car. I think back to the pep rally and the way he looked at me, the way it made me feel. I haven’t felt like that in a long time. I think he looks my way and I go to wave at him, but he looks straight through me, so intent on getting to his car before he speeds away.
He must be working.
Working…
He said Fridays always suck because everyone goes to Ferguson’s and his tips are low because of it.
I bite my lip, wondering if I’d even be welcome, thinking about what it would be like to see him in his own environment, seeing a different side of him.
“Abigail?” I blink out of my daydream and turn to Sasha, who is looking at me expectantly. “You ready?”
“Actually, guys,” I say before I can overthink it and stop myself, “why don’t we try somewhere else today and go over to Bernie’s Diner?”
By the looks they’re giving me, you’d think I’d just asked them to commit murder.
“That’s sacrilege,” Aaron blurts out.
“But it’s Friday,” Brendon points out unnecessarily. “It’s Ferguson’s day.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh come on, Brendon. It doesn’t have to be Friday for you to go there. I know for a fact you’re there at least three times a week.”
“I was going to order a milkshake and a brownie,” Sasha says morosely.
I laugh out loud at her tone. “I’m pretty sure