because we locked horns over that writing project in seventh grade.”
Rachel narrowed her eyes at me. “We didn’t lock horns.”
“What do you call it?” I challenged.
“You’re a control freak.” She fired off that answer without missing a beat.
“I’m a control freak?” I snorted. “Me?”
“Yes, you, Frankie Curtis, are a control freak. ‘Here, Rachel, let me break down the assignment so we can just split it in half. Then we can both work at our own pace and neither of us has to rush.’”
“Is that supposed to be how I sounded?” I debated whether I should be offended or not.
“It is how you sounded. Oh my god, Frankie, have you ever listened to yourself? In seventh freaking grade, you had a breathy, soft, butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth voice. Now it’s a little deeper and huskier, but it’s got that bedroom quality to it.”
I shook my head. “Still pretty sure I didn’t sound like that, and we’re straying from the point. Splitting it in half was the best way to go, we’re too competitive and…”
“And you didn’t know at the time if I could keep up, so you figured if you split it in half, you could do both parts and then substitute your work for mine if I sucked.” Arms folded, she propped her feet up on the edge of her bed and stared at me, daring me to disagree.
“Well, I didn’t have to do that.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Because I wouldn’t let you just send me off to do my half, I made you stay after school every day with me until we got it done.”
Oh yes, I remembered. Jake, Ian, and Coop had given me hell about it, too. That, and I ended up having to walk home most days after because the bus had already come and gone. Maddy was always at work, so she wouldn’t have time.
To be fair, Rachel’s mom offered to bring me home that first night, but she’d made a face at our apartment complex, and after that, I just would rather skip that experience.
“And you argued with me on every single point we researched, even when I had facts on my side.”
“That part was just fun,” Rachel admitted, and I groaned and flopped on my back.
“You suck.”
“Not as much as you, I’d bet.”
I rolled over and threw the pillow, but she already had her arms up to block it. Thankfully, we were both laughing.
“Hey,” she said. “Seriously…the thing with Mason’s. You’ve got ethics. You don’t want to take their scholarship and run, even if Marsha’s giving you that option. You love the job…because it gave you independence. I get that. My crappy job is crappy, but I really love having my own paycheck, even if it’s a pittance.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “And I’m whining about the fact that she’s letting me off the hook and that realistically, if I wanted to just blow it off, I could supplement with the delivery. I have money in savings, and it’s not like Archie’s letting me pay any of my bills.”
“Letting you?”
I shook my head. “Let me put it this way, he’s paid everything. Like months in advance. The rent, the electric, the water. Everything.”
“Wow,” Rachel said before she abandoned the chair to flop on the bed next to me. “Sounds like a horrible problem to have. Rich Boy at your beck and call…”
“Rach…”
“I’m giving you shit,” she promised, bumping my hip. “You don’t want him taking care of everything.”
“I don’t want him to feel like he has to,” I corrected. “I know he wants to, because Archie is a fixer—and this is getting off topic. We talk about my problems all the time. I want to talk about yours.”
“Well, the topic was Mason’s, not my problems,” she said with a laugh. “What makes you think I have problems, anyway?”
Too light. Too easy. Brush it off.
“And I like helping with yours. I meant it when I said I was going to be your friend,” she reminded me.
“Friendship isn’t a one-way street.” I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand and stared at her. “You focus on me a lot, and I adore you for it. You make me feel good about some really crappy stuff, and you’ve been there for some even crappier stuff. I haven’t been the best of friends, but that’s changing. I want to be your friend too.”
“You are my friend.” With a sigh, she pushed up and moved to sit against her headboard. That put us at