"Oh, can't you relax for one day?” Suzette snorted, rolling her eyes with disgust.
“It's almost graduation and you did it! You made it! We should celebrate."
"Why do I get the impression you already have something in mind?" Tawny raised an eyebrow and Suzette didn't bother to look chastened.
Instead, she rubbed her lips together, as if to smooth her already perfect lipstick, and said, "Well, I did have a potentially interesting suggestion."
“Suzie-Q,” a low, male voice called, and then let out a wolf whistle from behind them. Both girls turned to find a tall, handsome guy striding toward them, a stack of bright orange papers in his hand.
Tawny blinked. Those papers looked familiar. In fact, unless there was some massive coincidence, she was pretty sure they were the same flyers that had been printing from nearly every printer on campus earlier today as she’d been searching for a free one.
She gritted her teeth as she glanced at the papers, but then forced herself to look at the guy holding them instead.
Rex Anderson.
Wherever Suzette was, Rex couldn't be far behind. And wherever Rex was?
Well, the cops were sure to follow.
He'd gotten poor Suzette in more trouble more times than either of them could count on their fingers, and Tawny was beginning to think that just seeing the guy was an omen of bad things to come.
"You know I hate it when you call me that," Suzette drawled, but Rex only smiled at her and held out the stack of papers. "Flyers for you. Spread ‘em around, would you?"
Suzette glanced at the paper and Tawny read it over her shoulder.
It was an ad for an end of school party by the lake, complete with cookout and motorcycle race.
Tawny frowned.
"You'll be there, right? I need my best flag girl." Rex winked and Suzette blushed so deeply that the color spread all the way to her roots.
"You bet." Suzette nodded and Rex thanked her quickly before striding ahead of them.
Suzette blinked, her eyes fixed on Rex's backside as he walked away.
"Your parents are going to murder you if you get into any more trouble,” Tawny said softly.
"Who said anything about trouble?" Suzette asked.
"You know what I mean."
"Oh please, don't be a stick in the mud. Just because Rex is involved, you think everything is going to end in disaster."
"Because it always does."
"Not true,” Suzette huffed. "I've spent time with him plenty without getting into any trouble."
"Like when?"
"Like...like two weeks ago, we went to that old drive-in with a few of his brothers."
"Didn't he smuggle his brothers in his trunk?"
"But he didn't get caught now, did he?" Suzette demanded, as if that settled the matter.
Tawny sighed. "Right."
"You know the best way to make sure I keep my nose clean, don't you?" Suzette grinned.
"You staying away from Rex and everything associated with him?" Tawny suggested primly.
"No. You coming with me. To the party, I mean.”
Silence punctured the air, and Tawny hoped that it might be enough to give Suzette her answer without having to actually say it.
"Come on, now. Live a little,” Suzette pleaded.
"I've lived plenty. I have a very exciting evening planned. Netflix. Cheetos. Rewatching Game of Thrones without any final exams or term papers hanging over my head. It’s going to be glorious,” she murmured with a happy sigh.
"Yeah, that sounds real thrilling. Come on, Tawn. Midnight swimming in the lake? Hot dogs? Beer? Me." Suzette fluttered her eyelashes and Tawny tried not to laugh.
"I don't think so. You might not have trouble with the police, but if I get arrested, I can kiss my dream job goodbye," Tawny said.
There. Suzette couldn't deny that it was the truth, after all. She'd lived in Alhouette her whole life, and by virtue of the town's size and its penchant for gossip, she knew as well as Tawny did that anybody who wanted to work at the school had to have the cleanest record there was. Hell, the last middle school teacher to leave had been practically run out of town because she had gotten drunk at the local bar during spring break and one of her boobs popped out when she was riding the mechanical bull.
Poor Mrs. Trumbull. Tawny wasn’t sure what the market for sixty-year-old teachers outside of Alhouette was, but she was pretty certain it wasn’t going to be easy for her to find something new.
"Look, I know that school nurse job is important to you, but they aren't going to take it away if you get stuck with a disturbing the peace citation. I'll be the DD, we're both over twenty-one. There's really nothing to worry about. Please, come out tonight. Distract me when Rex Anderson finds his newest piece of ass for the evening and leaves me high and dry like he always does." Suzette held up her hands in prayer and Tawny scrunched her lips to the side before giving a very slight nod.