White Noise

6

"Are you sure you don't need me to pick you up?" I asked Caroline as I pulled into Blake Adams' driveway.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered. "For the last time, we're just going to dinner and a movie and then he's going to drive me home."

"If you haven't come home by midnight I'm going to call you non stop until you pick up."

"Are you fucking kidding me," she barked. "You're not Mom, Kate."

"I'm joking," I said defensively with a laugh. We both knew I wasn't joking.

She rolled her eyes and got out of the car. Yet again I frowned at her choice of clothing—a way-too-short hunter green dress. One tiny breeze and I was sure she'd flash the world. As she shut the door, I heard her quietly say, "I can't wait until I can drive myself."

I rolled down the window as she strutted towards his house and yelled, "You're welcome!"

She kept walking even though she'd heard me and so I put the car in reverse and made my way back to our house. Even though school had only gotten out three hours ago, Lauren was already flooding my phone with texts about Derek's "get together" tonight. She was, of course, insisting that I go, but I knew I'd be able to find a way out of this one. The last thing I wanted or needed to be around was a hyperactive Lauren and all those guys. Especially Jack.

We hadn't talked much at all since we had lunch together. We had spent the last three days in history class making minimal small talk. It felt like we were back where we were freshmen year, a kind of forced friendliness. We were simply acquainted because our best friends were friends. Lauren made sure to tell me that Austin told her that Jack's been a bit on edge and snappy since our lunch on Tuesday.

"He said Jack's planning on getting wasted tonight," Lauren told me in Spanish class today. We both knew that Jack wasn't the type of guy to ever get that drunk. So this was a red flag. "If you come, I bet he won't get so crazy."

"Or I could make it worse," I countered. "It's probably best for him that I'm not there."

Lauren sighed. "He cares about you, you know?"

"Too much," I murmured.

"He considers you as one of his best friends, Kate."

I glanced at her before returning to work on this stupid worksheet of Spanish verbs we had to fill out. "You already worry about me too much. The last thing I need is someone else to reassure every day."

Lauren laughed loud enough for Senora Alfonso to glare at us. "Lo siento, Senora!" she called and then giggled to me under her breath. "Well, you're coming tonight so I'll pick you up at nine."

"Then I won't be home when you come."

"I know all your hiding spots. You'll just be wasting your time and energy."

Pleading her to let up, I said, "I'll think about it."

When she realized how dreadfully ambivalent I really was about going, she nodded and said, "Alright. I'll take it."

Now about halfway to my house I passed a part of town with a few restaurants. My favorite little market came into view and my stomach grumbled. The store made the absolute best sandwiches in town and it was a hidden gem that few people knew about since on the outside it mostly just looked like a convenience store. Most people didn't even know that there was a deli inside to begin with. I found a parking spot just around the block and made my way towards the store, already thinking about what I was going to put on my sandwich. Meanwhile, I took out my phone to check Lauren's most recent message.