Mark My Words

91 | Stupid Decisions

"We'll just say we broke up before the semester starts," Lennie said.

"Like hell you will," Ray said, and Rosalie immediately looked back to her. Ray shifted uncomfortably, arms still folded firmly over her chest. She gave an indifferent shrug and said, "Own up to it. The West Coast is gonna be a shit storm—might as well do it together."

Rosalie's stomach plummeted. She felt Lennie's eyes on her as she floundered for something to say. "I'm not—! I'm not dating him," Rosalie squeaked, her voice nonexistent.

Ray rolled her eyes. "Not literally. Arden might be a shit storm, but I'll bring hell if you two—"

"We wouldn't—!" they both cried, horrified, only to break off and look at each other with wide, disturbed eyes. Rosalie clamped her mouth shut as Lennie put a hand over his flushed cheeks. He rubbed his fingers over his tensed brow and sighed.

"This is a nightmare..." he groaned.

"What's a nightmare?"

Rosalie's nerves were already on the surface of her skin, so when she heard Joanna Spencer's voice behind her, she let out a scream. Lennie jolted, cursing under his breath, and Ray put her hands over her face and groaned. Rosalie put a hand to her chest, her breath completely gone from her lungs. She took a shaky breath in as she turned to Joanna and said, "Fuck, don't scare me like that."

Joanna rose an eyebrow at her, her brow piercing back in place along with her silver septum piercing. An easy grin spread across her lips as she looked Rosalie up and down and said, "That was some speech, Captain."

"Subtle, Spencer. Real subtle," Ray said.

Joanna gestured to her and Lennie and said, "About as subtle as you two boning everyday after school. 'Carpooling'?"

"Unnecessary," Lennie said with a roll of his eyes, hands on his hips.

"Nah, let the woman speak," Ray said.

Joanna opened her mouth, and Rosalie knew she had to put an end to these shenanigans before they got expelled. Chances of that, however, were absolute zero from the state of their diplomas. Still, Rosalie cut a hand in front of Joanna and said, "Hold on, we have to tell you something."

"Wait—should we really—" Lennie started, only to stop before he could even utter Arden's name.

Rosalie fully understood the consequences of Arden's presence in Montgomery. There was no way in hell she'd tell Joanna that much, especially after the reaction Joanna had in Seattle after Arden's visit left a hollow divot on Rosalie's cheek.

"Georgina told Arden that I'm not straight," Rosalie said, and as she kept her eyes on Joanna, she felt the heat of Ray and Lennie's judgement on her back.

Joanna stared at her, the playful atmosphere solidifying with tension instantly. Her shoulders straightened, narrowing her eyes for a split second. She studied Rosalie's face before saying, "Georgina's here? What the fuck?"

"Yeah, I mean, the graduation times are on the Bradshaw website," Rosalie said, feeling the excuse sting the back of her throat as she swallowed hard and looked at her feet. Sure, she could lie all she wanted since only her mother seemed to tell the difference, but the burden of Arden's presence was no longer hovering in the distance. It became a solid weight on her shoulders.

"Lennie and I talked to her. We made a stupid decision to tell her that... the two of us—" Rosalie gestured to Lennie and herself, and Lennie looked like he wanted to run. He took a step behind Ray, a hand on the back of her shoulders. Ray gave him a soft nudge as if to say, RUN, YOU IDIOT. "—are... dating."