One Temptation

Chapter 7 - Hayabusa

I wake the next morning and wipe the sleep from my eyes. I check the time on my phone and see that I have a missed call from mom. Hmmm, that's strange. I walk downstairs and hear my parents talking.

"Good morning," I say as I enter the kitchen.

"Good morning," my dad says looking up from his newspaper.

"Did you go to bed early last night?" My mother asks handing me a cup of coffee. "You didn't answer the phone."

"Yeah," I say taking it gratefully. "Mack and I watched Pride and Prejudice, and I was exhausted."

My mother catches me by the arm and she looks shocked. "What happened to your neck Kennedy?"

My hand flies up to it involuntarily. "It's nothing." I say quietly.

"It doesn't look like nothing," she says pulling my hand away.

At this point, my father stands up and comes over to us. He looks over the bruising and asks me what happened.

"There was a misunderstanding last week at the party, it was handled." I sigh. I really don't want to get into this. "I promise I'm okay."

"Everything's fine?" My mother asks, concern lacing her voice.

"Everything's fine mom," I say giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I need to get ready for school."

I take my coffee and head back upstairs. I head into my bedroom and throw on a white tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I pair it with a black and grey checkered flannel and slip on my white sneakers. I finish my coffee and head back downstairs.

By the time I walk out my front door, Mack is out front. I hop in the front seat of his truck.

"Good morning," I say as I buckle up. "Are you ready for today?" I ask.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he says tapping on the steering wheel. "We just have to swing by and pick Avery up."

About 10 minutes later we are pulling up to Avery's house. I look over at Mack and I can tell he's nervous. I grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

"You'll be great," I tell him confidently.

"You think?" He asks, worry lacing his features.

I give his hand one more squeeze and hop in the back seat of the truck. "I'm gonna let Avery sit up front." I tell a confused Mack.

Avery hops in the truck and greets Mack and I. "How was your night?" She asks as she places her bag on the floor.

"Good," I beam. "I made Mack choose between The Notebook and Pride and Prejudice."

She laughs. "You didn't! Poor Mack." She says as she taps his arm. He just smiles at her.

The rest of the ride to school we chat about our night and the upcoming football game. The three of us debate on whether or not we'll attend.

We make it to school and Avery and I head to our lockers. "So, the weirdest thing happened last night."

"What's that?" She asks grabbing her math textbook.

I sigh, leaning against the locker. "Cooper stopped by."

She slams her locker shut. "What do you mean Cooper stopped by?! What did he want?"

I look at my fingernails and glance back up at her, "to make amends I guess?"

"So, let me get this straight." She says as we walk towards our classroom. "After 5 years he wants to all of the sudden be friends again? Does he just expect you to forget all of the horrible things he's said to you?"