Kiss Off

Chapter 24

Dear Mom and Dad, you raised an idiot.

Seems I've let the whole world down. Even Chloe's ticked at me for leaving the party without a word. At least she'll get over that quickly. She's not the one I'm concerned about. Right now I've got two guys that I care deeply about and neither one of them is talking to me.

It's been a week. A week of silence. A week of sitting next to Cooper and Bryson in Homeroom as if everything is hunky-dory, but being ignored in the most polite way possible. Bryson always says 'hello' when he sees me. He'll even attempt to include me in conversation, but the moment I respond it's like both of them have already forgotten my answer. It's the strangest feeling. Like a tense normalcy.

I hate it.

For the first time, I know how it feels to be that one person in the group that nobody ever really wants around. The person everyone is too nice to kick out or ban from returning. The person that gets intentionally overlooked when someone asks about weekend plans. Like somehow, if their eyes don't lock with mine, then I'll get the hint that I'm not actually invited.

Believe me, I get the hint. When you go from being loved to tolerated, it's a little hard to ignore the sting. As much as I've obsessed about boys in my lifetime and how much their rejection hurts, feeling it from friends is a thousand times worse.

When we're all dismissed for the day, I have every intention of jumping in my car and speeding home. Unfortunately, it seems Cooper has other plans. Plans that involve me taking a little ride with him.

"Get in," he says, his tone gentle even as he yanks his truck door open for me and then stares over the hood until I'm safely situated in the passenger seat. Then he's slamming it with such force that the entire vehicle wobbles.

Not a word is spoken during the drive, but I've somehow planned out the entire conversation in my head. It's the only way to keep myself calm amidst the blanket of quiet that Cooper seems intent on smothering me with. I actually think I dislike the silence more than I'm going to dislike the conversation that's about to take place.

Cooper bypasses the street to his house, taking a small dirt road toward the most dangerous part of town. I don't ask where we're going, happy to distract myself with the scenery. When he pulls the truck to the side of the road and hops out, my chest sinks. This area of town is bad. Really bad. And when Cooper comes around to my side of the truck to wait for me to get out, I tell him as much.

"Yes," he agrees, shutting my door for me before I get the chance. "But they've got the best ice cream."

This boy and his love for dairy. He still drinks a glass of milk at breakfast every morning. What's worse is how lactose intolerant he is... And I've got a fifteen minute drive back home with him—in a very small space—after we're done here. Can't say I'm looking forward to that.

"Come on." He nudges his head toward a small shop shoved between a car repair garage and a very sketchy-looking pharmacy.

The paint, which was probably once a vibrant blue, is now faded and peeling, the single potted plant sitting near the entrance must have died months ago, and some of the roofing is dangling over the rain gutters. Makes me wonder if this place was hit with the tornado too. From the looks of it, this entire town could have been hit. Everything looks disheveled—garbage in the streets; tufts of grass popping up from the broken, uneven sidewalks; and several abandoned buildings just across the street. Not the kind of place I'd ever want to be caught alone in.

"What looks good?" Cooper asks a moment later as we both stand in front of the ice cream display freezer.

"Um..." My eyes take another glance through the options before finally settling on my usual choice. "Cookie Dough."