Page 43 of The Hardest Fall

Which was exactly what I wanted.

Exactly.

Speaking of friends, as the clock neared eight PM, I picked up my phone and called Kayla.

She answered on the fifth ring. “Hey, Zoe.”

“Hey you. I’m starving. When are we meeting? Are you done with your study session?”

I was planning on begging her to go for pizza, but I wasn’t sure if she was in one of her dieting phases thanks to Keith making random comments about her weight. If that was the case, I knew it would be a no-go, but as I listened to her sigh on the other end of the line, all thoughts of food disappeared from my mind pretty quickly.

“What’s going on?” I asked carefully, even though I could already take a wild guess.

“I can’t make it tonight. I’m so sorry, Zoe. I’ve been looking forward to it, and I haven’t seen you or Jared in days, but I think Keith is coming down with something so I’m gonna have to head home and check on him.”

It was right on the tip of my tongue, but she beat me to it.

“And before you say anything, he actually wanted me to meet with you, but his voice sounded so bad when he called so even if we went out, my mind would be on him the entire time.”

I sat my ass down on the couch and slipped off my shoes. Just minutes before, I’d been ready and excited to meet up with her.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything,” I grumbled. “And I understand, of course. You should take care of him—I’d do the same. Don’t worry about us. I can meet you tomorrow—would that work? I think Jared is free of babysitting duties so maybe he could make it too. Might even work better. Lunch, maybe? My class isn’t until four.”

I could hear her quick footsteps as I waited for her answer.

“I have two classes tomorrow, one in the morning, the other around two. If Keith gets better by then, we’ll go for coffee. That okay?”

“Anything will work. You say when and where, and we’ll be there. I just wanna see your pretty face, KayKay.”

I could almost feel her warm smile through the phone. At least her tone was warmer when she answered. “God, I miss you guys, too. I’m not even asking about Dylan because I need to hear the details of every single day and we can’t do that over the phone—and don’t tell Jared everything without me. I’m feeling pretty left out as it is, and he’ll lord it over me forever.”

“Okay. My lips are sealed until I see you in the flesh but don’t worry, you haven’t missed all that much, although on Saturday after he came—”

“Nope. Nope. You’re gonna tell me everything tomorrow, remember? This is not a conversation you have on the phone. We need coffee and carbs in the form of baked goods.”

“It wasn’t actually that—”

“Oh, Zoe, I’m sorry, Keith is calling. Gotta go. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay? Love you.”

“Okay! I love you—”

The line went dead. I groaned and threw myself flat on the couch. Of course Keith would be calling. If she had ignored him and gone out with me instead, he’d have kept calling her until he made her feel uncomfortable and guilty enough that she headed back. I hoped he was actually sick and in actual pain.

I sighed and quickly texted Jared.

Me: Kayla can’t make it. Apparently Keith is coming down with something.

Jared: Asshole!

Jared: Keith, not KayKay.

Jared: You can come here and let Becky give you a makeover if you want?

Me: Your mom has the night shift again?

Jared: Yeah. Are you in? I promise I won’t post the results of the makeover on social media this time.

Me: No thank you. Getting a makeover from a five-year-old was a one-time thing. It’s off my bucket list. I’ll never make the mistake of falling asleep when she is in the same room as me again.

Jared: Oh but we worked so hard to make you pretty.

Me: I saw how hard you worked, and so did everyone else.

Jared: You coming?

Me: Sure, change the subject. I’ll just stay in and get some studying done. Coffee tomorrow?

Jared: Yes to coffee. Give Dylan a goodnight kiss for me.

I smirked. That little shithead!

I lifted my phone up high and took a quick shot of me giving him the middle finger with a sweet smile. A few seconds later, I got back one of him and his little sister as he scowled into the lens and covered her eyes with his hand.

Becky would make mincemeat out of him. Not only was she hyperactive, she didn’t get that other people needed sleep to function. She was also a little she-devil with the face of an angel. At least he was going to suffer, and knowing that gave me a little satisfaction.

Kissing Dylan good night…I didn’t think so. I was made of tougher stuff.