I, for one, am only excited, not nervous. Or, okay, at least any nerves I have come from being around people who hate me, not about whether or not I’ll be having fun sexy times. I sneak a glance at Sam beside me and wonder if he’s worrying about that stuff—he doesn’t look like it, but really, who can tell with boys?
His cell phone rings. He smiles as he pulls it from his pocket and looks at the caller ID.
“Hey, man,” he answers, then pauses for a moment. “Okay. We’ll meet you there.” He snaps the phone shut and looks at Asha and me. “Andy says he’s waiting by an ‘old white dude statue.’ I assume he means the Covington one.”
The Covingtons are the oldest money family in Grand Lake, and somewhere way back in the family line, Gerald E. Covington donated a ton of money to the school, so in return they erected a bronze statue in his honor, complete with a fountain, in front of the main entrance. It’s pretty ugly, but tonight the fountain is lit up, so it looks less ugly than usual.
As we come closer, I spot Andy under the fountain lights. Not alone.
With Noah.
Asha shrieks and breaks into a run, insensible shoes be damned, and tackles Andy with a giant hug. Noah watches from his wheelchair. Someone cleaned him up, too—he still has the bandage, but instead of a hospital gown, he has on a nice button-down shirt and pressed slacks.
“Holy crap!” Sam puts his hands over his mouth, apparently at a loss for words. Finally he looks to Andy and says, “How the hell did you pull this off, man?”
“I pulled some major strings and got us a one-night pass. And Noah here has to be back before midnight or he’ll turn into a pumpkin.”
“Pumpkin.” Noah laughs. “I want pumpkin pie. Can we get pie?”
Andy says, “Maybe later.”
Sam shakes his head. “Dude, you look totally high.” It’s true. Noah looks way out of it.