Tense

Chapter Eighteen

"Who are you texting?" Kai asked as he sat down next to Roan in the cafeteria.

"Shei." Roan answered.

"That college girl from the bar? That we met at the beach?" Kai furrowed his brows.

"Yeah," Roan gave a nod, "She found me on Instagram apparently."

"Stalker," Kai scoffed, "That's a red flag. You should ghost her."

"Jealous?" Roan smirked at his best friend, making the brunette roll his eyes.

"You wish."

"If you love birds are done flirting then can we discuss what we're gonna be doing for Vaughn?" Khaled asked. Roan glanced at Kai, who shifted uncomfortably at Khaled's words.

"I was thinking we could ask Kingsley to throw a party?" Scott spoke up.

"He can't drink alcohol on his painkillers, and he'll be bummed if he's the only person sober at a party." Parker pointed out.

"What then? A picnic at a park with sandwiches and orange juice?" Scott scoffed.

"I asked my parents and they said we can use our family lake cabin." Parker said shyly.

"Of course you have a cabin by the lake," Khaled chuckled, making Parker blush. It was common knowledge that Parker's family was one of the richest in the town, "Sounds good to me though. We won't carry any alcohol so that Vaughn doesn't feel left out."

"Will he be able to go to the cabin, though? Considering his leg?" Kai questioned.

"I, uh, kinda spoke to his mom and she said it shouldn't be an issue in a couple of weeks. She'll check with his doctor to be sure," Parker paused for a second, "And she's not going to tell Vaughn so it can be a surprise."

"It's settled then," Roan stated, "How many people can stay at the cabin?"

"There are like three rooms. And the living room has a pull-out couch. If there are more of us then we can carry mattresses." Parker answered.

"Cool. Text everyone separately and ask who all are in. No talk about this on the group chat, okay? We don't want to ruin the surprise for Vaughn." Roan finished.

"Aye, aye captain." Parker said as he did a little salute, making everyone at the table laugh.

The boys did the rest of the planning during the remainder of their lunch hour. Though most of it was spent by Scott whining to bring his girlfriend. But in the end it was decided that the trip will strictly be only for the football team, no plus ones.

Someone asked if there was any update on the complaint filed against the player that injured Vaughn. Even though Roan had already spoken to the coach about it and knew the player had been kicked out of the team, he told everyone to wait till practice after school. He wanted to break the news in front of the entire team.

After lunch, Kai and Roan stopped by Roan's locker to pick up his books. Kai leaned against the locker beside Roan's as he stared at him intently, making the blonde raise a brow in question.

"Aren't you grounded?" Kai asked.

"Yes." Roan answered.

"How will you come to the cabin then?" Kai specified, knowing Roan won't elaborate on his own.

"Eh," Roan shrugged, "It's for Vaughn. They'll understand."

"My mom would never." Kai sighed.

"Speaking of," Roan continued, "How are things at home?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it," Kai's face fell flat as he looked at Roan giving him a stern look, "Bad. I guess. I don't know. Mom's not home much. She's either at work or at one of her friend's. Dad.. Well he's the same as always."