A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,60
parents. Well, at this point, pretty much only her parents. Besides a couple of speeding tickets—Mrs. St. Aubin liked to go fast—nothing in the couple’s past would indicate any type of abusive behavior.
That didn’t let either off the hook completely, but it went a long way in helping Auri feel better about their possible involvement in her disappearance.
Before she logged off her mother’s computer, she decided to do one more check. She’d promised Principal Jacobs she wouldn’t try to hack their system again, but she had no intention of trying. She had every intention of succeeding.
“Auri?” Her grandmother opened the front door.
Auri shot out of her mother’s room carrying a sweater. “Found it! Mom is always stealing my stuff,” she said, pulling it over her head as she walked. “Now if I could just find my other boots.”
Elaine exchanged a knowing look with Auri and giggled. “Your mother did the same thing to me. Pizza’s here when you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, Grandma!” she said, dropping to her hands and knees and pretending to search under her bed.
“Don’t be too long. It’ll get cold.”
“Okay.” Poor thing had no idea it was better that way.
The older woman left Auri to her guilt-ridden thoughts—she hated lying, especially to her grandma—and hurried back to her mother’s computer.
“Bingo,” she whispered when she made it in successfully. Her success had nothing to do with the fact that, while she was trying to steal Sybil’s records, she’d accidentally stumbled upon the password. Nothing whatsoever.
Biting her bottom lip, she typed in the name she’d been burning to know more about: Cruz De los Santos. His school records popped up instantly, and his picture . . . a picture that was nothing short of breathtaking. Full, mischievous mouth. Straight, defined nose. Black eyelashes thicker than her mom’s oatmeal. So, really thick.
If they’d had a printer hooked up, she would’ve printed a copy. Because that wasn’t creepy. Or underhanded. Or frowned upon in most states.
His grades were pretty much what she’d expected. Bs and Cs for the most part with a few As sprinkled in for good measure. He was more than smart enough to get straight As. At the same time, he didn’t seem particularly interested in impressing anyone, so why not squeak by?
But she wasn’t looking for his grades. That was none of her business, she told herself after she’d scoured his entire public-school career. She only wanted his address.
She’d tried texting him several times since she’d gotten home, but he’d never answered, and they had a report to do. Or so she told herself to justify her despicable behavior.
She jotted the address down, cleared the search history, and logged off. There was one more component to all this snooping. If her mother just happened to see what times she’d logged on and realized she hadn’t logged on at that particular time, but what were the odds of that?
Thirty minutes and four pieces of pizza later, Auri looked at her grandparents as they watched the news. They were really, really into the news. She swallowed her last bite and said, “So, I have a school project.”
They both gave her their full attention. They were kind of awesome that way.
“And I have to interview another student and do a report.”
“Really? Who?”
“Oh, you don’t know him. His name is Cruz. Cruz De los Santos.”
The couple cast sideways glances at each other as though in cahoots over something. “We know his dad,” her grandma said. “Such a great guy.”
“He’s a mechanic,” Grandpa said, like that explained everything. “Guy could rebuild a Hemi in a hurricane.”
“He certainly sounds talented. So, I was wondering if I could take the car to his house to work on our project.”
They stared at her a minute, then burst out laughing. “And just when did you get your license?”
“You used to let Mom drive when she was almost fifteen.”
“Sweetheart,” Grandma said, not patronizingly at all, “there is a difference between our letting her take the car and her taking it. Your mother didn’t actually have permission the one time she decided to wreak havoc on society before she actually had a license to do so.”
A wave of shock vibrated through Auri. “My mother broke the law?”
Grandpa chuckled. “Stole that sucker right out from under our noses.”
“Our sleeping noses,” Grandma corrected.
Auri clasped her hands together over her heart. “This is the best thing I’ve ever heard all day.”
They laughed out loud. “Now, don’t go getting us in trouble,” they said, almost simultaneously.
“Never.”
Her grandpa lifted a shaggy brow. “That being said,