Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,178

you don’t need to apologize for anything,” Luke says, and I can hear blankets rustling as she moves around. There’s the sound of a door opening and closing, and I wonder if she’s just locked herself in the bathroom. “It’s me that needs to apologize.”

A smile tilts my lips as I head down the winding road, tucked safely away inside of Little Bee. The rain’s just stopped and the clouds are parting, making way for the sun.

“About sleeping with Sonja?” I ask, and I listen to her sharp intake of breath with a chuckle. “It’s okay, Luke. I know, and I’m fine with it. You have a right to love whomever you choose—even if that person is a complete and total asswipe.”

“I … I don’t know what to say,” she whispers, choking on tears of her own. I’m crying again, but that’s to be expected. I’ll probably spend the rest of the day sobbing. It can’t be helped. On the first day of this journey, I died. I was given a second chance. More than just a second chance, actually. Dozens and dozens and dozens of chances. Thirty-seven, actually, if you count the first day.

Thirty-seven do-overs, which is more than most people get.

“Don’t say anything. Just bring my committee gifts to the party tonight. I’ll meet you there around seven.”

“You’re not coming to school?” Luke asks, and I shake my head before I realize that she can’t see me.

“Not today,” I tell her, doing my best to keep my voice even and upbeat. “Could you do me a favor? Could you tell Pearl she can keep the dress? Tell her I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate what I had; she was right to take it from me.”

“Right to … what?” Luke asks, but I just grin and cut her off before she can ask.

“I love you, and I’ll see you at the party.”

“I love you, too,” Luke says, a smile in her voice. “And I’ll see you there, too. We can talk about Sonja or … whatever else. And yes, I’ll tell Pearl that. I’m lucky to have you as a friend, Karma.”

“I’m the one who’s lucky,” I say, ending the call, and finishing the drive with my windows rolled down, the wind whipping my hair around my face, my stereo turned up as loud as it can go.

When I pull into the driveway, I walk in, leaving the blood on my face and knowing that this is my last chance to be honest.

“Oh my god, Karma, are you okay?” Mama Cathy asks when I step in the door and she looks up from her pile of bubble wrap. She rises to her feet as Mama Jane comes out of the kitchen and rushes over to me, cupping my face in her hand and studying the shallow cut on my forehead.

“I’m fine,” I tell them, gently pushing Jane’s hand away. “I had a minor car accident is all.”

“A car accident?” Jane echoes, moving around me to look out the window at Little Bee. She glances back in my direction, dark hair perfect and coiffed, brown eyes shimmering with worry. Mama Cathy hurries into the kitchen and comes back with a warm rag to blot away the blood. “How did that happen?”

This isn’t going to be easy, I think, as Mama Cathy fusses over me.

“Come sit down first,” she says, giving Jane a look. “She needs to rest. You seem okay, but I’m sure it was a frightening experience.”

“Actually, it wasn’t.” I wet my lips as Cathy continues to dab at my forehead and Jane wrings her hands like she isn’t sure what to do.

“Let me make you some tea,” she says, and this time, I don’t protest. I want her to make me tea. And ‘ants on a log’. I want her and Cathy to fuss over me and ask me questions and worry. Because they care. Because I’m lucky to have them. Because I love them.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not comfortable,” Cathy tells me, her hands splattered with paint. She smells like lilacs and clay from the potter’s wheel, and I want nothing more than a hug from her. So I give her one instead, and she hugs me right back, kissing the top of my head. “I love you, sweet girl,” she tells me, stroking my purple hair back. “You know that, don’t you?”

“I love you, too,” I whisper, thinking that this may be the hardest part of my day. No, knowing it is.