“I was at first, but I guess after the shock wore off and I had some time to think, I decided she must be needed on the other side more.”
Summer’s heart felt like it wanted to escape from her chest. He didn’t think Mom was crazy. It was time to let him in on what she could. “Dad, I get this strong feeling that Ashlyn needs my help. Please don’t ground me. I’ve got to follow my instincts.”
He pressed his lips together, and she worried she shouldn’t have said anything. “You’ve got to find a better way to help her than getting into fights at school.”
“Okay. Instead of these giant muscles”—she flexed to add to the joke—“I’ll try to use this giant muscle.” She pointed to her head.
“Your brain’s an organ, not a muscle.”
“Aw, Dad. You’d get along with these guys I know. They like to throw out nerdy facts like that, too.”
Dad smiled, but it was only fleeting. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Summer thought for a moment. “If you could talk Mr. Strider out of my suspension from the dance team, that would make my life at school easier. Kendall’s going to be so angry. State’s only a little over a month away.”
“Sorry, kid. You got yourself into that mess, and you’ll have to find a way out of that one on your own. I won’t ground you, but there are going to be extra chores I’ll expect you to do. Especially once you finish helping Ashlyn.”
Summer supposed that was only fair, even if part of her wanted to argue. “Thanks for understanding.”
“You know you can always talk to me, and as much as I know you’re going to fight it, Tiffany’s a good listener. She knows much more about girls than I ever will.”
“You’re not suggesting I tell her about my…” Summer searched for the right word. “Instincts?”
Dad shook his head. “No, we don’t want her to think you’re crazy.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I mean. That’s a lot to lay on someone. I’m saying she has experience with relationships. She has four sisters. Think about it.” Dad’s expression turned solemn. “And I don’t want you blaming yourself for what happened to your mom. If she said she had to go, she had to go. It’s not your fault.”
Summer wished that made her feel better. All she could think about was that Mom’s conversation with whoever she helped should’ve taken place in the parking lot, where the gunman wouldn’t have shot her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Knowing things between her and Troy were going to be weird, Summer waited until last minute to jet into chemistry and take her seat. Mr. Jennings started his lecture, and she had to force herself to keep her eyes glued to her notebook instead of glancing at the boy across the aisle.
“Was it worth it?” Troy whispered.
Is he talking about our kiss? She was going to ignore it, but curiosity got the best of her. “What are you talking about?” she whispered back.
“Fighting Jenna over that loser. The whole school saw it happen. I can’t believe you keep going back to him. I really thought you were smarter than that.”
Summer glanced at Mr. Jennings. Since his attention was still on the board she swiveled to face Troy. “Apparently, I’m not smart. I go for all the wrong guys. But you know what? At least Cody never kept a string of girls.”
A crease formed between Troy’s eyebrows. “That doesn’t make any sense. Every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you prove me wrong.”
Summer blew out her breath. “The fight wasn’t about Cody. In fact, I was going to walk away, but then Jenna said something mean to Ashlyn. That’s why I got into a fight. Now, I have enough crap to deal with without you telling me how dumb I am, so—”
“Troy and Summer, are we bothering you?” Mr. Jennings asked, making Summer jump. “If you have something important to say, please let’s hear it.”
Summer turned to face the front of the room. “Sorry.” She was already on probation. If he sent her to the office, she’d be kicked off the dance team for good, and nothing would convince Dad that she’d listened to his speech last night.
“Summer, why don’t you move behind Steve since you and Troy can’t stop talking.”
Ew. Not Stinky Steve. Slowly, she started to gather her belongings.
“I’ll move,” Troy said, picking up his books and heading to the other desk. As frustrated as she was with him right now, she appreciated his sacrifice of taking the seat behind Steve. It was almost enough to make her ignore all the other girls and just hope he’d narrow it down to her someday.
Almost.
Kendall and several of the other girls from the team surrounded Summer as she put her books into her locker. “You can’t dance for two weeks?” Kendall asked, her voice a couple octaves higher than normal. “Are you trying to sabotage the team?”
Summer turned around to face them. “I want to dance. You think I’d keep going to practice even though you all gang up on me if I didn’t want to be on the team?”
Lexi crossed her arms. “This is your way of punishing us.”
“Yes, I planned Jenna Cambell pushing me just to spite you guys.”
“What happened to you?” Kendall asked, running her gaze up and down Summer. “You used to be cool.”
“Yeah, when I wasn’t being myself. When I let you push me around. Look, I’m going to keep practicing the routine, I just can’t practice with you guys.” Actually, getting lost in the music and the dance moves without the girls tearing her down would be kinda nice.
Kendall narrowed her eyes on Summer. “I hope we don’t have to make any changes.”
“Then I’ll have to learn the new moves when I get back,” Summer said. “That seems like it would be a lot of extra work.”
An evil grin spread across Kendall’s face. “I guess we better pull in an extra girl in case you don’t make it back.”
Kendall was obviously watching for Summer’s reaction; Summer was determined not to give her one. “Do what you feel you got to do,” she said before moving past Kendall and the rest of the girls. She wasn’t going to waste any more time on these girls. Her real friends were in the cafeteria, waiting for her.
By the time she made it to the Misfits’ table, she’d cooled down some. It would suck to be kicked off the team, but if it happened, she’d live. Somehow.
“So guess what?” Ashlyn said as soon as Summer sat down across from her. “I have a date tomorrow night. Matt and I are going out.”
“It’s about time,” Summer said.
Ashlyn’s gaze drifted over Summer’s head. “Hey, Troy. Are you going to join us for lunch today?”
Even though Summer told herself not to look, she couldn’t help it. Troy stared at her as though he hadn’t expected her to be was sitting there. “Uh, not today. But I’ll see you guys around. Ashlyn,” he said with a nod. “Marcie, Nelson, Darren, Aaron.” Nod, nod, nod, nod. His eyes met hers, but he didn’t say her name or nod, just held her gaze for a beat and then walked away.
“Goodbye to you, too, Troy,” Summer said. “Thanks for the obvious snub.”
“What was that all about?” Ashlyn asked, eyes wide. “It was like he was shocked to see you or something.”
Summer threw her hand up. “Who knows with that guy? He’s in a mood, or has somewhere to be, or just…Who knows?” Yeah. That’s what she was going to stick with. Still, she kept remembering how he’d moved in Chemistry so she wouldn’t have to. How there was a flicker of…hurt? in his green eyes just now. Ugh, she needed to put him out of her mind.