Page 67 of Passing Notes
Momma interrupted, smiling at the two of us. “You’ve been working at the school, Clara. Is he still bothering you?”
I looked at her with my eyebrows raised and nodded. “Yeah, but I feel a bit better about it now that I know that you broke his tiny, shriveled little heart,” I teased.
Her mouth tilted up at the corners, though it was not quite a smile. It was actually a little scary. “I’ll take care of him too.”
“I like this new you.” I beamed at her. “It’s like you’re using your powers for good now.”
“Well, I have a lot to make up for with y’all. I should have been protecting you all these years, and I’m glad I have the chance to do it now. And as for Geoffrey, it looks like he’s getting into the dunk tank. I always did have good aim...” She grabbed a few bucks from the lock box and stomped off to dunk our common enemy.
“This new mom is awesome.” Gracie grinned at me. “I’m still staying with Willa and Everett though. I don’t—I don’t even want to say it out loud.”
“It’s hard to trust the changes in her and that’s okay,” I deduced. “Dr. Simon agrees. Do not feel bad about it. Momma wouldn’t even want you to feel bad, okay?”
“You’re right, she wouldn’t. She even said so herself. You should listen to Dr. Simon more, by the way,” she added under her breath.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re getting hit with a lot of shit right now and you’re gonna get buried under it if you don’t start asking for help. You can’t do everything on your own and you have to talk about your problems.”
I gaped at her. “What the hell, Gracie? How?—?”
“Why are y’all so surprised when I figure you out?” she retorted. “Hello? You’ve been paying for my therapy since I was ten, Clara. It stands to reason I’d be better at sorting shit out than you are. I’ve had more practice, and arguably, I’m less fucked up than you, Willa, and Sadie. Momma has been getting her shit together and I’m still a kid. The rest of y’all grew up like that and spent a lot of your adult years dealing with it too.” My eyes must have glazed over a little because she waved her hand in my face. “Hello?”
I shook my head to clear it. “Ouch. I mean it makes sense, but still—freaking ouch.”
“You just got dumped by that idiot Chris, and he hurt your feelings no matter how much you say he didn’t. Sadie and the boys moved out, and Mr. Easton moved in next door—Hello past? It’s me, Clara. Don’t punch me in the face too hard,” she sing-songed. “Malcolm, the perverted co-worker from hell, is here in town and most likely he’ll end up being a dick to you at some point, because dickheads gonna dick, am I right? What else is going on?” She gave me a once-over. “Are you on your period? Ha! You got sick awhile back, didn’t you? Your body is betraying you and you’re on track for a major stress-related freak-out.”
“Yeah, and? I’ve been taking care of myself for years on my own. I’m fine. Or at least I will be fine. This too shall pass, and all that crap. Right? And how do you know about Nick and me?”
“Oh my god! Please for once in my life give me some credit. Don’t you know better by now than to question how I know stuff? I’m practically omniscient, but even if I wasn’t, the two of you could not be more obvious. You two are always casting longing gazes into each other’s sappy faces and a person would have to be a moron not to see all the sexual tension spilling out all over the school and throughout the neighborhood. Give me a damn break, Clara.”
“Okay, okay. Fine, you got me. I’m a mess, I need at least ten naps, and I’ve been neglecting my yard, which sucks because that’s my main stress reliever. Maybe you can come over and help me weed.” I shot her at toothy grin and a mock salute. “I bow down to your observational skills, okay?”
She laughed. “I’m not talking about that kind of help, but I’ll help you weed if you want me too. Bet I can get you to spill your guts too.”
My text notification pinged in my pocket. “It’s Leonard. Mari is sick in her car, and he wants me to check on her while he deals with the band.”
She rolled her eyes. “Talk about another stressed-out head case...,” she muttered.
“Nice, Gracie. I’m going to see if she’s okay. The band is about to start playing soon and he’s worried about her. You got the booth?”
“Yeah, I got the booth. Bring me back some deep-fried whatevers and a huge lemonade. I’m not picky and I’m ready to get food wasted. I want to spend the rest of the day riding a sugar high and relaxing with my thoughts.”
“You got it.” I waved goodbye and headed for the parking lot.
I passed the dunk tank and stopped to watch as my mother proceeded to dunk Mr. Neal while simultaneously cussing him out and lecturing him about letting bygones be bygones. I dropped a kiss to her cheek on my way to check on Mari.
“Miss Clara!” I spun to find Sasha waving at me. She was with Morgan, Ethan, Nick, and Malcolm.
I froze and tried not to gape at them like a fish stuck in a tank. Trapped inside the glass and at the mercy of everyone outside of it.
Shit.
What the hell was going on?
Malcolm’s steely eyes narrowed on me as I greeted Sasha while at the same time trying not to make it obvious how horrified I was to see him here with them.
“This is Clara, my neighbor. She’s also a substitute teacher at the school,” Nick introduced me to a trying-to-send-me-messages-with-his-eyes Malcolm.