Page 58 of Take Care, Taylor

“Go home, Taylor.” She rolled her eyes. “Refresh your cruelty settings and come at me with something harder tomorrow.”

“I thought you were grounded,” I said. “I wonder how your parents would feel if I called and told them you snuck out.”

“You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

“I would.” I pulled out my phone. “As a matter of fact, I think I’ll do that now.”

I’d stepped off the four-wheeler before I could even finish the threat. Gravel crunched under my shoes.

“Ugh!” She lunged toward me, knocking my phone to the ground. “Why the hell are you so effin?—”

“My parents are getting a divorce.” The words rushed from my mouth.

Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, Taylor.”

“Don’t be,” I said. “The last thing I need is you being nice to me.”

“I’m not being nice to you at all.” She scoffed. “The sorry is for your mom.”

“Good.”

She returned my phone and pushed up from the ground.

“I should get home.” She sighed, then hesitated when I didn’t say anything. “Aren’t you coming?”

“What?”

“It’s super late,” she said quietly. “You probably don’t want to go back there right now. You can stay in my treehouse for a while if you like.”

“I don’t want your sympathy, Audrey.”

“I need to actually catch you going in there on video,” she said. “Since you lied about ruining my stuff in there last time, this is a win-win for us both.”

I gave her a blank stare.

“I’ll hold off on snitching for a month.” She shrugged. “But that’s as long as I’m willing to wait before paying you back.”

“You could always forgive and forget.”

“If it were anyone but you, I’d consider it.”

“Likewise…” I smiled and stood to my feet.

“How did you get out here?” I asked.

“I walked.”

“Bullshit.”

“I did.” She shrugged. “I had an audiobook to keep me company.”

“Want a ride back?” I pointed to the four-wheeler.

“Sure.”

She climbed on behind me, her hands clutching my shirt as we rode through the quiet streets. And like the conniving person she was, she motioned for me to cross the yard, giving her bedroom camera a perfect view of me “trespassing.”

As I was unrolling a mat, she joined me inside. Then she tossed me a blanket and a pack of Oreos.