Mark My Words

34 | The Getaway

And, so, in went all of her practice clothes, jersey, and socks to the hamper where they sat in the dark of her closet until Monday when she completely forgot that they did not reside in her zipped up duffle. All that existed in her duffle then happened to be a spare uniform, shinguards, and her soccer ball. Her cleats were airing out in the mudroom.

She dropped into the passenger's seat of Ray's vehicle and tossed her duffle into the backseat.

"Ready for Hell Part Two?" Ray asked.

Rosalie slapped her hands onto her thighs and said, "You know I am always ready."

"Right, because you summon it," Ray said with a roll of her eyes. She turned the wheel around, backing out of Rosalie's driveway. As they went forward, they passed the Griffin residence where Sami's car had already vanished. They both stared until it was out of sight over Rosalie's shoulder. She turned to look at Ray, who pursed her lips and looked back at the road.

Rosalie knew that face. She knew something Rosalie didn't, and it was obvious enough that meant she wanted Rosalie to ask. She sighed, rubbing a finger to her temple. "What do you know."

"Nothing in particular."

"Then what was that look?"

"What look?" Ray said, grinning. She bit her lip and glanced sideways at Rosalie. "You read into it too much."

"Yeah, what else is new," Rosalie groaned, kicking a foot up on her seat. She slouched against the door with a groan. "Sami and I haven't been talking. Have you talked to him at all?"

"A little. I think Blake, like, adopted him or something," she said, and Rosalie gasped, straightening instantly. She nearly kicked her knee into the dash.

"You're kidding! That's great—right? I mean, Blake's a good guy."

"I don't know—you tell me," Ray said with a devious laugh and a wiggle of her eyebrows. Rosalie slapped her in the arm hard enough to bruise. Ray jerked the wheel with a shriek, and thankfully, the boulevard wasn't busy. Rosalie yelped, hand on the dash as Ray straightened the car out.

As they pulled into Bradshaw's parking lot, Ray said, "How much you wanna bet Blake's takin' your spot?"

Rosalie scoffed. "No more than five. I'm not that replaceable."

"So you think you're better than Blake, huh?"

"That's not what I'm saying," she laughed, hand to her face. She giggled as Ray gawked at her.

"Then what are you saying?" Ray said, throwing the gear stick into park before dropping back into her seat, eyebrows raised at Rosalie. Rosalie couldn't stop giggling.

She dropped her hands down, palms out. "Look, Blake just isn't Sami's best friend material. Blake's more like, 'best friends within minutes' and then 'dating the next day'."

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

"So my best friend status still stands. Even... if we haven't talked in five days..." Rosalie said with a hum, hand clasped to her chin. She frowned out the window until Ray kicked her back into focus, swinging the driver's door open.

School went as per usual, aside from the state of their lunch table that day. With Sami gone, Joanna grabbed his seat, but that Monday, she had to fight for seat property with Jamie-Lee.

Alyssa grimaced as Jamie-Lee shouldered his way between her and Joanna before settling in with a massive smile. Alyssa rolled her eyes and took a bite out of her carrot as Juliana narrowed her eyes at him from across the table.