Stay With Me ✔

42.

"Hey, Princess you need a ride?" I smile at the nickname and quickly wipe it away before turning to the boy behind me. It's still weird to me that Rave Matthews has a pet name for me and spends most of his free time keeping me company at work. He's been to my job, my house, in my bedroom - I never thought he'd even speak my name, but here we are. 

It's been weeks since the first time Rave gave me a ride, but once again I'm stuck outside of the school with no ride thanks to Erin skipping school early and my car being in the shop yet again. I wish my mom would just let me buy a new one already, it had to be cheaper than fixing this one up weekly and I'd saved up some money from the station. 

"You don't have to give me a ride, Rave. I can just call my uncle." 

"It's not a problem. Besides, we're going to the same place."  He gives me a wink as he bends down to pick my backpack off the ground, slinging it over his shoulder effortlessly even though it's full of textbooks. Without even looking back to see if I'm following, Rave takes off walking towards his car at the far end of the parking lot. 

I'm sure that Rave has other things that he could be doing after school on a Friday, but here he is, lounging on the couch at the radio station, nodding his head along to the song playing in his ears. I've made Rave a couple of playlists over the past few weeks and I'm surprised that he enjoys them as much as he does, I didn't think we would have the same taste in music. I didn't think we would have the same taste in anything - but I was wrong. 

I was wrong about a lot. 

"Ky, can we go get some food after this?" He's so relaxed and comfortable, like we've been friends forever and this is just any other day. 

"The diner?" 

"Duh." 

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The doorbell rings above our heads as we enter the Diner, and we're greeted by both the familiar smell of grease and french fries hanging in the air, and by Ellen who seems to always be working a shift. I don't think I've ever been to the Diner and not seen Ellen's friendly face behind the counter. 

I follow Rave to our usual table and slid into the booth opposite of him, "Can you believe that we're graduating tomorrow?" 

Rave reaches for the menus on the table, handing me one, "It doesn't seem real. This year has been crazy, I wasn't really paying attention to how fast it was passing by." 

It has been a crazy year, both in a good and bad way - but in the end it all worked out, and that's what's important. Everyone is okay and safe, we're together and happy - what more could I ask for?

"Speaking of, how do you feel about next week?" Rave and I haven't talked much about his dad, not since the night Andy and I explained to him how his brother was an undercover cop working to arrest any and all members of the gang his dad was working for. 

At first it was like he was in shock, like he couldn't believe that it was finally over and that he didn't have to hold his breath or look over his shoulder anymore. Once Andy left to go check on his brother at the hospital, Rave let out a breath and we talked for a long time - mostly about how he didn't really know how to feel about the whole situation. Obviously he was glad his dad was going to jail, but at the same time it was sad, because it meant his dad was gone, never to be the dad he remembers from years ago again. 

Once we shared the news with Ever, that's when Rave let his emotions truly be revealed. They held each other, they cried together, and they helped one another through it. They have a bond that I'm both envious and in awe of. 

Rave picks at the frayed edges of the menu. I don't know why he even opened it, we know this menu like the back of our hands, we know what we want to order before we even pull into the parking lot. "What if he doesn't sign it?" 

I've been worrying about the same thing, but I can't let that show, not right now. I have act as if I'm confident and have no doubt in my mind that everything will work out in our favor - for both Rave and Ever's sake. "He'll sign it."

"You don't know that, Ky. You don't know him like I do. He doesn't want her, but he'll refuse to sign over his rights just to be a dick. That's how he is." He closes the menu and puts his head in his hands. I know he's been stressing about this for weeks, and I know that he's right - I don't know his dad, and I don't know for sure that he will cooperate next week when the lawyers ask him to sign over his parental rights to Ever. 

I reach my hand across the table and touch his arm, it's not much but it's all I can do from across the table, and it gets him to move his hands from his head and placing one in my open palm. "It'll be okay, Rave. Either way, he's going to jail and Ever will still get to live with my mom. She can foster her for as long as she has to." 

"But if he is still legally her parent, it's like he has some kind of hold over her and she isn't free from that life. He may not be in the picture, but he could be. Ever deserves the life she wants, Ky, and that's not a life with our dad in it, not in any form." 

"I know. We just have to hope for the best though, and we'll deal with what comes when it comes." I give his hand a reassuring squeeze, hoping that I gave him some type of comfort, even though I know that he won't be any less anxious until we have an answer on the matter, which is a whole week away. 

"You kids ready to order?" Ellen asks as she approaches our table, notepad in hand even though she never writes an order down. Her ever present smile is in place on her red painted lips as she smiles at me and then Rave, who manages to smile back at her as if we weren't just having a serious conversation. 

"I'll have my usual, Ellen." Rave answers, sliding his menu back across the table in it's place behind the napkins and condiments. 

"You got it, handsome." She gives him a wink before turning to me, "And for you, pretty girl?" 

"I'll just have a cheeseburger and fries with a Coke." 

"Alrighty. That it for you two?" 

"Yep." 

Ellen had only taken a few steps away from us when Rave calls out to her, "Can you add extra pickles to Kylie's burger, please?" 

I look to Rave in surprise, "I totally forgot to say extra pickles. Thanks." 

"It's what I'm here for." 

"I'm so glad I was right about you two." Ellen says, giving Rave another wink before walking back behind the counter and giving out order to the cooks in the back. 

"What does she mean by that?" 

"Remember when we came here and you asked what Ellen and I were talking about at the counter?" 

I think back, trying to remember the night he's talking about. We've been here so many times and he's had so many conversations with Ellen, it's like they're close friends, which is sweet in a way. "The night that Ever called and we went to pick her up from the sleepover?"

"That's the night." 

"You told me you couldn't tell me because you didn't want to jinx it." I remember the conversation now. He had gone to the counter to get our milkshakes and before coming back to the table, he and Ellen had looked at me and smiled, just before Ellen said something to make Rave laugh. That night seemed like a lifetime ago, we were living a totally different life back then - I didn't know anything about Rave's home life, and I hadn't even met Ever yet. "So what was it? What didn't you want to jinx?"

"She said that we were a cute couple and that you were going to change my life. Then she told me to not be stupid and let you get away."