"Can I ask what you did?" I asked.
"No." He grinned. "Today is still MINE!"
What was he hiding? I tried to keep my panic under control, letting it get buried under a barrage of questions. He wanted to know about people today: more about Reneé, her hobbies, what we'd done in our free time together. And then the one grandmother I'd known, my few school friends—embarrassing me when he asked about boys I'd dated. I was relieved that I'd never really dated anyone, not anyone worth mentioning at least, so that particular conversation couldn't last long. He seemed as surprised as Jessica and Angela by my lack of romantic history.
"So you never met anyone you wanted?" he asked in a serious tone that made me wonder if he was thinking about how much of a virgin I was. I pinched myself all over the arm, angry that I'd let myself get this far without any sexual experience.
I was grudgingly honest. "Not in Phoenix."
His lips pressed together into a hard line, like two pieces of liver.
We were in the cafeteria at that point. I took advantage of his brief pause to rapidly take a bite of my bagel.
"I should have let you drive yourself today," he announced, shaking his head.
"Why??" I ejected, forcing the words around the bagel in my mouth.
"I'm leaving with Alice after lunch."
"Oh." I blinked. "That's okay, I understand. She should get it taken care of before..."
"What?"
"You're taking her to get a... um." I was getting scared again, on account of the growing tightness in his face. "An... a-a-abor—"
He frowned at me impatiently while rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up in disgust. "No. And I'm not going to make you walk home. We'll go get your truck and leave it here for you."
Through my tomato-red blush, I managed to speak. "I don't have my key with me. I really don't mind walking home." I shook my head, trying to clear the blood from my cheeks. Why did this always happen to me?

243

Chapter 12

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