The Original Crowd by Tijan

Author:Tijan [Tijan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00N1WYUXM
Published: 2014-08-24T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Tray drove us to school and got into his own vehicle. A second later, he peeled out of the parking lot and I stewed. I knew he wanted me to follow him, but Tray hadn’t made that demand.

So, I just sat there, in my car and thought of my options: follow Tray back to his house or go home.

I chose to go home. I needed another shower and a change of clothes. Plus, I could do with some peace and quiet. Tray couldn’t get mad at me for going home; he’d be irritated that I didn’t follow him, but would be livid if I went to Pedlam.

So I went home. Austin was downstairs and I assume he was hanging out with friends—I could hear other voices, including a few girls. Interesting. I made a mental note to go down and embarrass him later. I couldn’t do it now, not when my emotional wiring was so frayed.

“Hey, honey.” Shelley bustled around the kitchen.

“Hi,” I replied, hopping onto a stool, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, Austin brought a bunch of his friends home. He never acts like it, but it means a lot to him if I prepare some food for them. Gotta do it, all those kids like to eat, you know.”

I grinned. “He got a girlfriend down there?”

Shelley sent a radiant wink and a grin my way. “That’s my thinking too. Maybe we should ‘investigate’ later, hmmm?”

“Looks like homemade pizza,” I murmured, watching her take a pan out of the oven.

“Oh, hmm mmm. Austin’s favorite. Mandy always liked the same. They have the same tastes in a lot of ways. Pizza, lasagna, and now Mandy loves salads. Poor thing.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Taryn. I forgot to ask how your friend is. The one in the hospital?”

“Uh—” I didn’t even know, except that he was a liar. “He’s…in rare form again,” I replied, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Oh good. I was worried about you, you know. I know that you’re having a hard time with moving here from Pedlam. You must have a bunch of good friends back there. I’m sure you miss it.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, realizing that I did. At times I missed it so much that it was painful. Right now I wished I could just turn my back on it, forget it ever existed, but it was hard.

“Hey, I was thinking,” Shelley said brightly. “Why don’t you and I go swimming again this evening? You know, after Austin and his friends eat and everything? I thought it would be fun. What do you think?”

“I—” I started, but she interrupted me before I could blow her off.

“Great! Let’s plan on heading out in two hours.” Then she was at the stairway, calling, “Austin! The pizza’s done, guys. Come and get it.”

A second later, I had just enough time to step out of the way when Austin and five pubescent boys and three girls rushed upstairs, zeroing in on the pizza in record time.

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