My Favorite Everything

Chapter Twenty Four

The next morning, Frankie got out of bed thirty minutes before his alarm. Far too preoccupied with his thoughts, he forgot to tell Wilder that he would be getting to school early. His heart was thumping hard against his chest as he flew past his mother and out the front door. He hadn't noticed that Denise had spent the past couple of weeks silently observing her son. She knew that he hadn't truly healed from their incident, and his mood fluctuated so often that it sent her into a whirlwind of concern. Never the woman of many words, however, she remained a ghost in her own home, tiptoeing around him, but feeling considerably more obligated to care for him as the days passed.

    As Frankie arrived at Crossley High after a brisk walk fueled by his anxiety, he quickly met up with Rory and climbed into her truck. Alex was already sitting in the front seat, and he smirked at him. "Got here first, sorry man," he said, without a hint of sincerity. It was fairly easy for Frankie to tune him out, considering his mind was racing with the possible outcomes of the situation that would arise once Carter pulled into the parking lot. Rory turned her head to look back at him.

    "Frankie, you okay?"

    "Yep," he said, nodding, his eyes still fixated on the empty spots in front of them, "Just waiting for the asshole to show up."

    Glancing at the empty seat beside him, she furrowed her brow. "You didn't walk with Wilder this morning?"

    "I don't want him to be here if something bad happens. It'll fall back on him for sure. I can't let that happen."

    Nodding, Rory faced forwards. The trio waited for nearly twenty minutes before a knock on her window startled them all. Heaving a sigh as she realized it was just Wilder, she pointed her thumb to the back. Opening up the door, Wilder hopped inside. He looked at Frankie. "You trying to avoid me or something?" he asked, half-heartedly. Frankie bit the inside of his lip.

    "Of course not," he sighed, "You have to promise not to be mad at me."

    Raising an eyebrow, Wilder's stomach dropped. "What did you do?"

    "Promise," he pressed.

    "Really? Alright, fine, I promise. What happened?"

    Just as Frankie opened his mouth to explain, a low rumbling noise jolted his nerves. Carter flew into a parking spot, and shoved his door open, jumping out of it aggressively. Everyone inside of Rory's truck sat in silence, most of them holding their breath. Wilder looked from Frankie to the others, and then back to Carter, completely baffled at the state of his most prized possession. They watched as Carter bounded towards Tammy's car, his thick fist clubbing the window in hopes that she would come out. Quite bothered by his intensity, she flung her door open hard enough to hit him and tried to cover her smile as he cursed loudly. Carter's beady eyes looked from her to his truck, and he pointed a chubby finger in her face.

    "What is wrong with you?!" he bellowed, causing the majority of the students in the parking lot to stare. Tammy noticed immediately. Ignoring his question, she walked towards his beaten-up automobile and shrieked. Her bangles clinked violently as she shook her arms in the air.

"So you did cheat! Again!" she wailed. Taking a step closer to him, her face contorted with disgust. "And you smell like shit! You are repulsive!"

Carter's mouth hung open as he stared at her in confusion mixed with rage. "You did this to my truck- to me!"

Glancing around the parking lot as students were exiting their cars to walk inside of the building, Tammy fixed her hair before glancing back to him. "I would never do such a thing! I'm not a low life, like all the rest of these weirdos!"