Saving Sloan (Sloan Series Book 2) (9 page)

B
Y THREE O’CLOCK,
S
LOAN
hadn’t had a chance to talk to Darcy. On any normal day, she’d be shouting from the rooftop. Today, it wasn’t a good thing. All she needed was proof for Ray that Darcy wasn’t Mr. ICU.

That worried her too. She hadn’t seen Ray in hours. Hadn’t even heard from him. And he was at Boyd’s house. She assumed he was at Boyd’s house anyway. He hadn’t exactly been forthcoming in his location destination.

So much to worry about.

Darcy.

Mousy.

Ray.

Mr. ICU, who may or may not be a
mister
.

The stress made her head hurt, and she pulled out the aspirin she’d thrown in her bag from home. She popped two in her mouth and swallowed them at the water fountain.

“You looking for me?”

Sloan nearly choked on the little tablets. There, in all her colorful glory, stood Darcy. “Hey, why would you think I was looking for you?”

“Samantha told Tamela that you were asking where I was. Tamela told me. I’m here. What’s up? You haven’t wondered about my whereabouts in months.”

The water had done nothing to wet her throat, and if it had, it was already gone by now. “Um… well.” Totally, totally thrown off-guard. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about this morning. I was being stupid. And so was Ray.” Might as well throw Ray under the bus with her. It was his stupid idea to talk to Darcy in the first place.

She looked very confused. “It’s okay. I mean, I guess I was being pushy. I just couldn’t understand why you were being so secretive. Like maybe you didn’t trust me again.”

Aw… now she felt bad. She’d had this big speech about how she’d changed and how she didn’t judge people and all this other stuff, and what had she done with Darcy? Technically, Ray had done it, but she was doing his dirty work.

Blurg.

“No, I trust you. It’s nothing like that. It’s just—” What could she tell her without
telling
her? “I had some embarrassing personal stuff in there that I wanted to grab and throw in my bag without anyone seeing it.” There. Not actually that much of a lie. Hmm… She had had something embarrassingly personal in the locker — the note and flowers from Mr. ICU — and she had wanted to throw them into her bag without someone seeing her. Luckily for her, if one could call it luck, they had been gone.

“I understand.” Darcy got very close and whispered. “Your period.”

My what? “Exactly. Had some
necessities
in the locker and wanted to get them out discreetly.”

“Honey, I’m a girl. I get things like that. We all have a stash.”

Sloan did not want to have this conversation with Darcy. Darcy, of all people. Ray would have to pay for this. “I know, but still. Not something I want to advertise.”

“Oh, I totally get it.” Darcy acted like she totally did. “You don’t want it to get out that Sloan could be a possible hormone monster. And you know how much I like to talk. It’s okay. It’s true. I don’t have a filter.”

Truer words had never been spoken. “Still. I should have told you instead of freaking out.”

“No worries. Do you need something? Oh! That’s why you needed the medicine yesterday! You had…”

Sloan had to stop her before she said
cramps
. She had to. She couldn’t stand hearing it coming from Darcy’s mouth. “Yeah. Exactly.” Speaking of aspirin, hers was finally hitting, and she felt her headache sliding away. She also felt a tad bit dizzy. They made aspirin strong nowadays.

“It’s strange, though, because we used to be on the same cycle and I’m not due…”

“Okay!” Sloan jumped in before things got over-the-top weird because they were very close to crossing a line she didn’t want to cross. Soon, they’d be braiding each other’s hair again and having sleepovers. “So, no hard feelings, right?”

Darcy smiled. “Right. Anything else? Need more pain medicine?”

Sloan shushed her before she could stop herself. People were around, and she did not need them knowing she took pain pills from Darcy.

“Chill out, Sloan. Not the ones I gave you yesterday,” she whispered. “Over-the-counter. Actual aspirin. Something that won’t knock you on your butt if you take too many. I’m not giving you my entire stash of harder ones. I’m not that crazy.” Darcy laughed and looked at Sloan like she was crazy. Maybe she was.

“No, thanks. I have my own today.” Sloan patted her backpack and smiled, ready to get this conversation over with and be on her way to Ray’s house.

“In case you change your mind or anything, or if,” Darcy leaned real close, “if you do decide you need the harder stuff, you let me know, okay?”

Sloan nodded, knowing she’d never do it. The pills yesterday made her feel pretty good, but she’d been feeling the same thing with the over-the-counter pills she’d been taking today. A little wobbly, but at least nothing hurt. Why would she need Darcy’s addictive pills when she had her own legal ones that helped just as much?

“Get some sleep,” Darcy said before walking off. “You look tired.”

She had always been good at the backhanded compliments. “Thanks. I think.” Darcy turned to walk away, and Sloan knew it was now or never. “Hey, Darcy, I do have one little question that has been bugging me all day.”

Darcy stopped, and Sloan met up with her. “What?”

“How did you know my locker combination?” Her heart beat a mile a minute. This wasn’t something she liked doing and saw her future as a spy slipping away.

It didn’t seem to register at first. Finally, the light bulb went off. “We used to be friends, remember? I’ve seen you open that locker hundreds of times. I guess I just picked it up.”

Sloan smiled nervously. “Yeah, that must be it.”

And Darcy turned serious. “Why are you asking me? Do you not trust me? Do you think I’ll break into your locker and steal your stuff? Your pads or tampons or whatever?”

Would the girl please shut up and stop being so loud? “I’m not accusing. I’m curious, that’s all.” Actually not me, Ray. But Sloan couldn’t just come out and say,
Hey, Ray thinks you are stalking me.
“I mean, I’ve been to your locker hundreds of times on Junior Hall last year, but I never knew your combination.”

Sloan didn’t think it was possible, but Darcy looked hurt. She hugged the books she held in her hands tighter and shifted her eyes. “It’s not my fault you aren’t as observant as I am. Maybe I just pay attention to other things and not just in what’s in my own little world.”

Time to backtrack. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Oh, I’m not offended. I’m a smidge under annoyed, but not offended. Hurt maybe. Were you lying to me earlier? Is there something else in your locker you’re afraid I’ll see… or do you think I put something there?”

Darcy was right. She was pretty observant.

“Which is it so I know how to defend myself?” Okay, so she was hurt
and
offended. Great. Wonderful. Sloan felt like a huge jerk and not a very loving, forgiving, honest Christian. Woo-hoo. Way to go.

“You don’t have to defend yourself. I was just asking.”

“You were just accusing.”

“I was not!” Now Sloan was getting offended. One simple question and Darcy had jumped off the deep end. Just like old times.

“Yes, you were. You are accusing me of something, and I need to know what.” Darcy’s jaw was in a hard line, and she looked very determined.

Sloan threw up her hands, totally done with this conversation. Ray was missing. She had a crazy stalker, Mr. ICU. And Mrs. Knight was mad at her for skipping first period.

First period. Blah! She’d forgotten to ask for the assignment before asking about the combination to the locker. Idiot.

“Look, I’m not accusing you of anything. I promise. It just seemed a little weird. I thought maybe someone told you my combination or something.”

Darcy scoffed. “It’s not like we go around discussing you all the time, Saint Sloan. We have other things going on.”

And there it was. The first time Darcy had called her Saint Sloan, her pet name, in over six months. Being it hadn’t been in her ears for so long, it made them ring, and she felt a pain in her stomach like someone had kicked her. Saint Sloan, a derogatory name for the girl who was a big hypocrite — according to Darcy.

“Don’t call me that.” Sloan felt her nostrils flare. It had been a long time since she’d been called that. It sounded bad, dirty, a curse word even. She wanted to wash it from her brain.

“Why? It’s true.” Darcy shifted on her hip.

There she was: the posture, the voice, the tone… the Darcy she knew and loathed. Just like that, she was back. One little question, one little inquiry, and the beast had come back to life. Oh, happy day… but she wasn’t done yet.

“You walk around like you are better than everyone else… still! You do it all the time.”

By now, several students had stopped, apparently to watch the showdown between them. Sloan wanted to crawl in a hole. She didn’t have time for this. None. And truthfully, she didn’t have the mental or emotional capability for fighting with Darcy. Her head wasn’t hurting anymore, but it did feel funny. Those two pills made her dizzy, tired… like she wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. And she would, if Darcy would leave her alone. Forget Ray and the homework. She wanted her bed!

But Darcy never stopped talking. Her nasally voice sort of echoed in Sloan’s ears, threatening to pop her eardrums. “I thought you were being nice again, Sloan. I actually trusted you! I walked up to you, in public, mind you, where anyone could see me, and talked to
you.
You! Of all people! I tried, Sloan. I tried, and you come back and accuse me of something.”

“I didn’t accuse you of anything!” Sloan yelled back. Why was Darcy freaking out so badly over one thing? Why
did
she know the combination to her locker? That was the only question she’d asked. That was it, and then Darcy went off the deep end. Good glory!

“You implied it,” Darcy said a tad bit more calmly, which seemed to aggravate the people who had gathered for the fight. They wanted to see some fisticuffs or maybe some girl hair-pulling. Hopefully, they would leave disappointed.

Hopefully.

“I didn’t mean to. If I did… if you took it that way, which you obviously did, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.” It took everything she had to swallow her pride. A huge part of her wanted to go off on Darcy and let her have it for how stupid she was being. A bigger part of her wanted to just forget it and go home. The past few minutes had worn her out.

Darcy opened her mouth to speak then clamped it shut. She shifted on her feet some, like she actually didn’t know what to say, a rarity for the woman.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Sloan said again, to get the point across and get home. She’d have to text Ray about the homework if she ever got the stinking assignment from Darcy. Or call him or something. She wasn’t feeling well. “Forgive me?”

Darcy let out a huge breath. “Fine. I forgive you, but don’t accuse me of things I didn’t do again.”

It took everything Sloan had not to say,
But I didn’t the first time,
but she didn’t. She bit her tongue and smiled as best she could, wishing hard that the day would hurry up and be over. “I promise. I won’t accuse you of things ever again.” If she could help it at least, and if she couldn’t, she’d make Ray do it. Serve him right.

“Good. Thank you.” Darcy slung her hair around her shoulder and turned to walk away.

And Sloan wanted to let her. Oh! She wanted to let her! It would make her day so much better if she could let Darcy walk off and not have to talk to her anymore.

But…

“One more thing.” It pained Sloan to say it.

Darcy must have read the pain on her face because she smirked a little, like she knew Sloan needed something from her and it pleased her. “Yes,
Sloan
.” She stressed the word
“Sloan,”
apparently letting it be known that she didn’t put the “Saint” in front of it. Congratulations to her.

“Biology. The class… uh… Ray and I missed it this morning.”

“Off making out.” It wasn’t a question in Darcy’s mind. Everyone else around, the ten or fifteen who had stopped to see what was going on, whispered amongst themselves. Darcy Perry had said it so it must be true. Gospel. Now it would get around the school. And it would get back to Ray.

And to Aaron eventually.

Nothing stayed quiet in a small town.

It hurt Sloan to think of Aaron finding out about her and Ray… especially since there wasn’t a “her and Ray’. Ray kissed her on the cheek a few times, but they hadn’t declared anything. She wanted them both. Was it too much to ask? Okay, yeah. Probably, it was.

“We weren’t… never mind. The point is we missed class, and Mrs. Knight told me to get the assignment from you.”

Darcy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. That couldn’t be good. Not good at all. “So you need something from me.”

It wasn’t a simple statement when she said it.

“You need something and that’s why you apologized so much. You little sneak.”

“It’s not like that.”

Darcy looked condescendingly.

“Okay, fine. It is, but that’s not why I apologized. Not really.” It so was, but she needed the homework and to go home. Why did this day have to be so hard? And why did Darcy look so fuzzy?

Darcy looked Sloan over a few minutes, and no one in the assembled crowd said a word. The ball was in Darcy’s court, and everyone knew it. Especially Darcy. “Page two oh four. Read and answer the questions. Be ready to cut open the pig Monday.”

That was way too easy. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. What’s the matter? Don’t believe me again? Think I’m a big liar?”

Before Sloan had a chance to say anything, Darcy stormed off, her hair swaying with every step she forced.

That had gone well.