Freeing Carter (10 page)

Yes
.
"
I
'
m not gonna fail anything.
"
I
'
ve pulled my grades up before
;
I can do it again.

"
You better not.
"
She kisses my forehead.
"
Thanks
,
kid. I don
'
t know what I
'
d do without you. You
'
re growing up way too fast.
"
She looks at me
,
a little sad for a second
,
and then pulls away
to call
for my sister.
"
Sara! Come on
,
sweet pea. We need to get you to school.
"
And then to me.
"
See you around six. I love you.
"

"
Later
,
Ma.
"
Her words stick with me. She
'
s right. This is my last year at home. I don
'
t know why I
'
ve never really thought about it before. What
'
s she going to do when I
'
m gone? What
'
s Sara going to do?

Trying to ignore those thoughts
,
I toss my bowl in the sink. Five minutes behind them
,
I
'
m out the door and on my way to school
,
too. Wondering how I
'
m going to get my work done
,
help Kira
,
and keep
my relationship in one piece.

***

"
Dude
,
why can
'
t basketball last for six hours and school for one and a half?
"
Travis collapses next to me in the grass. He has a bag of chips in his hand and that
'
s all
there is to
his lunch.

"
I
'
d be game with that.
"
I grab a handful of chips out of his bag.

"
I swear
,
all
you guys care about is basketball.
"
Mel rolls her eyes and Trina agrees with her.

"
Seriously. There
'
s more to life than ball. It
'
s ridiculous.
"

"
Hey
,
I care
about
other stuff. Food
,
TV—ouch.
"
Laughing
,
I try to dodge Mel
'
s punch.
"
I
'
m kidding. I care about you
,
too. You
'
re right behind food
,
and TV—ouch.
"
She pinches me this time
,
but she
'
s smiling.

"
Not me
,
Trin. You
'
re above TV for me
,"
Travis adds. Lucky for him
,
his girlfriend only shakes her head rather than assaulting him.

"
Whatever.
"
Crossing her arms
,
Mel turns her back to me.

"
I
'
m kidding.
"
I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my lap.
"
You
'
re way better than that stuff.
"
I nuzzle her.
"
Hey
...
want to come to the shop with me after practice? Mom wants me to help out the new girl she hired.
"

I
'
m iffy on
whether or not this is a good idea
. Mel and Kira don
'
t seem like the type that will get along
,
but I
'
m hoping it will cut down the chance of anymore drama in my life. Carter and drama don
'
t mix.

"
You have to go in? Everyone
'
s getting together tonight!
"
She pulls away and sits up.
"
Can
'
t you tell her you have plans?
"

My tongue hurts from how hard I have to bite down on it not to snap at her.
"
Mel
,
if she asks me to go
,
it
'
s because she needs my help. I can
'
t just tell her no.
"

"
Whatever.
You
only want to see me when it fits your schedule. That
'
s not fair
,
Carter.
"
Open mouth. Withdraw tongue from between teeth.
"
I
'
m pretty sure I said Mom needs my help.
I didn't
purposely
make
plans without you. Actually
,
I
'
m pretty sure I invited you. Just like I tried to see you last night.
"
Why does she have to be like this? My life is a whole lot different than Mel
'
s and she knows that. My Mom doesn
'
t make a million dollars a year. I
have
obligations. Responsibilities
. She
'
s always been bitchy about it because she just doesn
'
t get it
,
but
this is too much
. I try
to
understand that it
'
s not the kind of life she leads. Why can
'
t she do the same?

"
You
'
re coming with us tonight
,
aren
'
t you
,
Trav?
"
Trina asks. He looks at me
,
back at her
,
then me again. I nod my head to let him know he doesn
'
t have
to have my back this time
.

Kira says from beside us,
"
Carter?
"

How long has she been standing there?
My pulse kicks up and I
'
m not sure if it
'
s because I
'
m
grateful for
interruption
,
or if I fear an ato
mic bomb might go off now. I almost want
to walk away from them all right now. Mel
,
Trina
,
Kira
,
even Travis
,
just so I can breathe.

"
Hey
,
Kira.
"
Shielding the sun from my eyes
,
I look up at her.
"
What
'
s up?
"

"
Does Sara spell her name with an
'
h
'
at the end?
"

Huh? Why would she want to know that?
"
Why?
"

Mel clears her throat.

"
I
'
m making something for her and I want to make sure I spell it right.
"
She crosses her arms and looks down on me like
it
should be obvious or something. I toss a glance at Mel
,
who is scowling. Travis has a smirk on his face. Whatever. This is about my sister.

"
What are you making her?
"
Now my pulse is going wild. No matter what it is
,
Sara will freak. She loves getting surprises. She
'
ll really think it
'
s cool
,
getting something from one of my friends. Whoa. Friend? Yeah
,
I might have just met her
,
but I consider her a friend.

Kira shrugs.
"
It
'
s a secret. Girl thing. Yay or nay on the
'
h
'
?
"

It takes me a minute to reply. Who is this girl? She
'
s known my sister for five seconds and she made her something? It
'
s cool.
It's no 'h'.  You know she'll show me, though.
Twig wouldn
'
t keep a secret from me.
"
So there.

Kira gives me another shrug.
"
We
'
ll see. Us girls have to stick together
,
you know. Thanks.
"
She turns to leave
,
but Mel
'
s voice stops her.

"
You
'
re in my history class
,
right? I
'
m Melanie. Carter
'
s
girlfriend
.
"

Kira holds out her hand and Mel shakes it loosely.
"
Kira.
I work for Carter's mom
.  You guys are cute.
"
She points back and forth between us.
"
You look cute together.
"

T
his is awkward as hell. Plus
,
what
'
s that?
I work for Carter's mom
? She knew me first.

"
Thanks.
"
Mel grabs my hand. Five minutes ago she was pulling away from me
,
and now she
'
s getting all possessive.

When Mel doesn
'
t say anything else
,
Kira smiles like she realizes she
'
s being dismissed and walks away. Today she
'
s wearing a tank top with a sweater over it and a pair of tight blue jeans. It
'
s the kind of outfit Mel would wear
,
except probably doesn
'
t come from the same stores.

"
She
'
s
the girl you
'
re going to be with tonight?
"
Mel
'
s voice is harsh which
,
honestly
,
kind of pisses me off.

"
Yeah? So?
"

"
Why did your mom
suddenly
decide to hire someone?
"

"
Because she needs the help? Should I have had
her
ask you
r permission
before she hired someone?
You
were the one who wanted me to spend less time at the shop
,
so isn
'
t this a good thing?
"
I
'
m starting to sweat a little
,
tired of going rounds with her.

"
Whatever
,
Carter. It just would have been nice if you told me.
"

"
Umm
,
told you what?
"
I
'
m thinking it would have
been nice if she told me she wa
s a nutcase.