Chapter Eighteen

Luc

T hat was fucking hilarious. As soon as Ever left the cafeteria, Serena finally got the fucking message and what Trick had been telling her the whole time and left in a huff.

“Fucking Serena,” Trick growls, clearly pissed off.

“It’s nice to see that Ever hasn’t lost her sense of humor, though; that was brilliant,” Rafe signs.

“I think I saw a slight flash of recognition then,” I add. “Almost like she thought she recognized us but couldn’t place exactly where she knew us from.”

“Yeah, I caught that as well,” Jensen says.

Riot shrugs, “If you really think about it, it isn’t really that surprising that she didn’t recognize us. We all look a hell of a lot different than we did when we were eight.”

“Well, yeah, it would be weird if we didn’t,” Cash replies. “But I see your point.”

“At least we know that Rylie has her back though, not that she seems to need it.” Trick says. Adding with a proud smile, “The way that she flipped Jensen was fucking amazing and instinctual.”

That has us all smiling, especially Jensen who is really proud of his slice on his neck and keeps showing people, although he is at least being smart enough not to tell anyone how he got it.

“What’s our next step then?” I ask. “We already decided that approaching her wasn’t a smart move, it seemed to freak her out and we don’t want to scare her, that’s the last thing that we want to do.”

The table is silent for a moment as we all try to think about how we can work this so that she doesn’t hate us for freaking her the fuck out.

Trick sighs, “I hate to say it, but maybe we should wait until after school when she is back at my house?”

“That would probably be best,” Cash agrees, although you can tell that he isn’t that happy with it. “Being in your house will probably jog that seed of recognition so that she finally realizes who we are.”

“Exactly,” Trick replies.

“That doesn’t mean that we have to just leave her though, does it?” Jensen asks, clearly not liking the thought. Not that I can blame him.

I smile, “No, I don’t think so. I don’t see why we can’t just be there in her classes. She might recognize us before the end of the school day then.”

Rafe shrugs, “It’s possible. She seems to recognize us a little bit more every time she sees us.”

“Text whoever it is that has been giving us information so far, and see if he knows what her next lesson is,” Trick says.

Cash pulls out his phone and just nods.

We all wait silently for Cash to get an answer; I suppose we could go and find the guy, but that will probably end up taking longer, and we have no idea where he is, so it would take longer to find him than it does just to wait for him to message back.

“I miss Trev,” I sigh. “I know we already said that on the car ride here, but damn, we definitely took him for granted.”

Trick nods, “Yeah, we did. He is irreplaceable.”

“He said he doesn’t know what lesson she has next since it’s already started,” Cash starts.

We all look around as we realize that the cafeteria has emptied and none of us have any idea when it happened. We don’t have to worry about any of the teachers having a problem with us being in here; they will leave us alone like they usually do.

It’s a bonus for us to have the reputation that we do. Hopefully, none of them decide to call our parents either.

“Well, shit, when did that happen?” Cash asks.

Trick chuckles, “I have no idea. Does he know anything?”

“Yeah, he said that he does know that the lesson after this one is gym.” Cash replies.

“Well, I guess we will be going to gym then,” Rafe signs.

I pull a face, “Have we been to gym class this year?”

“Nope,” Jensen replies with a grin. “I can’t wait. I’m going to check my class and see if she’s in there.”

“I’ll come with you,” Riot says, “I’m going to lose my damn mind waiting here for much longer.”

“Why do you think I’m leaving?” Jensen retorts.

“I know I’m not going to focus in class, so I will wait it out here,” I reply and then add, “text us if she is in either of your classes though?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jensen replies. “We will check both; if she’s in one of them, then obviously, we will both stay in that class; if not, then we will come back.”

We watch them leave and then all fall silent, I think we are anxiously waiting to see if they have managed to find her or not. I know that is why I haven’t tried to start a conversation with the others yet.

The longer we wait, the more I wish that I had gone with them, but I kind of think that I would have made a fool of myself anyway, so maybe it is a better idea that I stay here.

Finally, Trick gets a text.

“Well?” Rafe signs.

Trick smiles, “She is in there and studiously trying to ignore them.”

I chuckle, “Tell them not to stare too much.”

Trick types out a reply and then bursts out laughing, “He said: too late, sorry, not sorry.”

“Typical Jensen then,” Cash chuckles.

“What are we going to do until then?” Trick asks, as he looks at the time on his phone, “Oh, never mind. Mom’s calling.”

We all chuckle as we listen to his one-sided conversation.

“Wait for it,” I mutter, to the others, “she is going to ask him to put her on speaker phone any second now.”

“Want to bet?” Rafe asks with a smirk.

“Sure,” I reply, confidently.

We all place a bet on different times, we all know that at some point she is going to get Trick to put her on speaker phone so it would be pointless and wasted money to bet otherwise.

Cash is the one that ends up being left in charge of the betting and who loses and when.

Rafe and I are out by the time that Trick’s side of the conversation starts to sound like he is about to put her on speaker.

“Just a little bit longer,” Cash says.

“Yeah, Mom, hang on one second, and I will put you on speaker,” Trick says.

I chuckle as Cash throws his hands up in victory, and Trick shakes his head; he has been aware of what we have been doing this whole time.

Hopefully the conversation with the moms won’t last too long, we have got a gym class to get to.

“Am I on speaker now?” Jenny asks.

“Yes, Mom,” Trick replies, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me,” Jenny says immediately.

We all share a shocked look and then look around us to see if she is actually standing at the window or something watching us.

“How did you know I rolled my eyes?” Trick asks incredulously.

Jenny’s voice comes through the phone, sounding smug, “I am your mom. I always know.”

“It’s true,” Kat’s voice adds, and I know that Jenny has us on speaker as well. “Have you seen her yet?”

“Yes, we have,” Cash replies to his mom. “She didn’t recognize us, and then it was lunch.”

“Oh,” Kat says, sounding slightly crestfallen; she perks up again and replies, “I’m sure she will. You look a lot different now. Most of you are at least twice the height that you used to be. Even you, Luc.”

We burst out laughing; even the parents knew that I was worried that I wouldn’t grow.