Narrow Paths

Chapter Fifteen

Over the next few days, my mother made it her mission to not speak of Darcy to me. When she spoke to me at all, she made sure that there was a note of distaste in her voice. I was surprised she didn't outright disown me.

The day came when Darcy arrived at my house bright and early at eight o'clock to go shopping for her father's wedding. She knocked on the front door and asked my mom if I was ready to leave yet instead of a greeting.

I changed out of my pyjamas as quickly as I could and left with a short goodbye to my parents. It was the weekend before her father's wedding, so I knew we were going formal shopping.

For the first time, I saw Darcy dressed down in public. She wore jeans and a plain shirt with her hair tied up in a ponytail. As far as I could tell, she wasn't wearing any makeup.

She smiled at me as she started her car. She pulled out of the driveway slowly, giving me enough time to see my mother watching us out of the living room window.

"Seriously, Darcy, she's practically disowned me. What's your plan?"

"The rumor mill was getting out of hand. They're making us into something we're not," she explained, "so I'm making them think that they're right."

"Why?"

"It goes back to the two goals I have in mind for you."

"You want to make Katie jealous, don't you?"

She grinned and turned up the radio. The song on the radio was an old, classic rock song that I was vaguely familiar with. It reminded me of the summer days of my childhood.

"You're learning, Carter, but you're really slow to catch on."

"I don't want to get back together with her!"

She shrugged. "I never said you even had to talk to her. You want all options on the table, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not nice of you to hurt her like this -"

"It won't hurt. At least, if it does hurt, she'll see that she still cares about you. And besides, it's not like she and I are bestest friends or any of the happy horse crap."

"Still, don't you feel kind of sorry for her?"

"Sorry for her?" She laughed and shook her head.

I could tell that we were heading out of town toward Union City. There was a formal shop on the northern side of Union City that provided Benton Ridge with all its prom dresses, homecoming dresses, and tuxedos.

There was little traffic on the road in front of us. Darcy put the car on cruise control and relaxed her tense shoulders. I'd noticed that she was normally tense when she drove.

"What's on the agenda?"

"We're going to buy something to wear at the wedding," she informed me.

"I hope fifty bucks is enough for a tux, that's all I have."

"If it's not, I'll pay the rest. I'm the one dragging you to the wedding in the first place."

"The entire town is going to be there anyway."

"Nope, it's a small ceremony. Less than forty people are invited."

"Why?"

"Victoria is so paranoid that people will figure out she's pregnant at the wedding. Her dress is a freaking ball gown to hide it and she's not even showing yet."

"The whole town already knows." 

"That's what I told her. She screamed bloody murder and my dad grounded me for 'upsetting her in her delicate condition.'"