Page 166 of Pride High 3: Yellow

“Of course not.”

The right thing to do ceased to have meaning when it came to supporting a friend. That’s why he had agreed to drive out here, even though it would only make Ricky’s situation worse. Much like he’d kept his mouth shut after Omar had told him about the taped confession earlier in the week. That had been absolute torture, especially at home. His dad seemed so beaten down and defeated. Even worse was when his father would start ranting, venting his anger at everything and everyone. Except for his family. He never blamed Anthony. Love was a powerful thing. Dangerously so.

“I’m going to miss you,” Anthony said, glancing over at his passenger again. “I don’t want you to go to Seattle.”

“I hate the idea,” Ricky said, his voice warbling. “I haven’t lived here very long yet. What if you guys forget about me?”

“Fat chance,” Anthony said with a laugh. “And if by some miracle we do, you’ll barge back into our lives at the end of summer, just like you did last year. You’re kind of impossible to ignore.”

Ricky laughed. Then he became somber again, because the dirt road ahead of them ended in a clearing. A Trans Am was parked to one side.

Anthony pulled up next to it and looked around. “Is he camping out here or something?”

Ricky hesitated. “You promise not to tell?”

“On my little brother? Never. On my big brothers? Always.”

Ricky smiled. “There’s a cave not far away.”

“A cave?” Anthony repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“Wow. Does he wear nothing but furry underwear and drag a club around while staying there?”

Ricky laughed. “No, but that would be hot!”

“It really would,” Anthony admitted. “What do you want me to say when your parents call?”

“That you haven’t seen me.” Ricky grabbed his backpack off the floorboard. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” He opened the passenger-side door before seeming to reconsider. “Actually, I know it’s a really big favor, but would you walk with me the rest of the way? The woods creep me out.”

“Says the guy who plans on sleeping in a cave tonight.” Anthony put the car in park and removed the key from the ignition. “I have to admit that I’m curious.”

Ricky led them to a small path that would have been easy to miss. He started acting odd, insisting that Anthony go first before changing his mind and wanting to be in front.

“Trees scare me,” Ricky said in apologetic tones.

“Then you might have xylophobia,” Anthony suggested.

“I do!” Ricky said, spinning around in excitement. “You’ve actuallyheardof it?”

Anthony nodded. “I did a report on phobias freshman year. Mostly so I could memorize all the funny terms and impress people. I knew it would pay off eventually.”

“I did the same thing once,” Ricky said, “except it was a paper on all the different terms for groups of animals. You know, like an army of ants or a litter of kittens?”

“How many can you name?” Anthony challenged.

“A team of horses, a murder of crows, a quiver of cobras—”

“Oh, that’s a good one! Like arrows.”

“Yeah! A troop of gorillas, a shadow of jaguars—”

“I like that!”

“A pride of lions,” Ricky continued.

“Hold up,” Anthony said. “Do they ever reuse these terms for more than one animal?”