“How about I just explain to her teacher what happened, and we’ll call it a misunderstanding on everyone’s part?”
“That sounds great.” I stood to leave.
“Wait,” he replied, and I halted. “In return, you will give me your word you’ll try harder to keep your nose clean around here. We don’t need any more trouble makers.”
I nodded and left the office after he had written me a note to excuse my tardy to my next class.
As soon as the dismissal bell rang I jumped to my feet and hurried to look for Nikki. I was surprised to find her waiting by my door.
“Hey,” I said, wondering what she was doing there.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked nonchalantly.
“For taking care of the detention. Mr. Woodside just called me into his office and told me what you did.” She shuffled her feet nervously.
“I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. The flowers were supposed to be a friendly gesture.”
“They were.” She pulled her hand out from under her book, and I saw she was holding one of the roses. She sniffed it and lifted it out toward me. “This one is for you.”
“This could count as a gift, you know? People will start to think you like me,” I teased her.
She shrugged. “Oh well.”
“Will you go out with me?” I asked again.
She smiled. “No. You and I wouldn’t be any good together.”
“I happen to disagree. I think we could make fireworks happen.” I lifted the rose and tucked it into her hair behind her ear.
“That’s why I can’t do it, Chase. I’m sorry, but I played with fireworks before and got burned. I promised myself I would never date a guy like that again.”
I stood staring after her as she walked away from me, not knowing what to say or think. I wasn’t used to rejection, and I was surprised by how badly it hurt. I was also surprised by how much I felt the need to find her ex and rearrange his face.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, and for once I couldn’t wait to get home. I was glad it was Friday, and I wouldn’t have to look a Nikki all weekend. Maybe I could finally forget about her like she obviously wanted.
There was one more thing I needed to do first. I found Brett in the parking lot.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” he asked when he saw me striding to where he was talking to Chad and Wes.
“You sure you can’t come party with us, dude?” Wes asked reaching out to bump fists with me.
“Not this time, but soon hopefully,” I promised. “That’s why I’m here though. Can any of you spot me some blunt for right now? I can pay you for it.” I pulled a twenty out of my wallet.
“No worries. I can take care of you, bro,” Chad said, and he reached into his backpack and pulled out a baggie. “There’s more where that came from too.”
Sweet. I’d found a supplier. “Awesome,” I replied. “I appreciate it. Catch you guys later.”
I walked away toward my truck, and I was certain of only one thing. I was getting high tonight.
Things worked out perfectly. Grandpa was out of town acquiring some new equipment for the ranch, and he needed me to do all of the chores for him. I fed all the animals as quickly as I could and then went back to the house to do my homework.
Grandma called me down for supper, and I ate with her and my mom. If there was one thing I couldn’t begrudge about living on the ranch, it was Grandma’s cooking. I quickly dug into the fresh steak with the heaping side of mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn on the cob.
“So how was your first week of school?” my mom asked.
“It was okay,” I replied in between bites.
“Just okay? You didn’t make a lot of new friends?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Well, that’s good isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Hmm. You don’t seem very excited about it. How about the girls? Find anyone you might want to date?”
I put my fork down. “Mom, do we have to talk about this right now? The school is fine. I’ve made friends with some of the guys on the team. There are lots of cute girls, but I don’t know if I’ll be dating any of them soon.”
“You should have some of the guys over sometime,” Grandma interjected.
“I’d like that. I know at least one who would like to come play video games.”
She covered my hand with hers. “This is your home too now. You can invite any one you would like to have over. I want you to be comfortable.”
“Thanks, Grandma.” I smiled. “How’s your new job?” I asked my mom, trying to turn the focus off myself.