Tightrope

A Pure Southern American Belle

"Who are we picking up?"

The cool breeze through the window lifted my hair from the shoulders, whipping it into a frenzy that trailed behind me as the car flew down the freeway. I examined the Gangbang text chain, where everyone had organised who was driving who to our group picnic. Chance and Daria were eldest of the group and the only two eighteen-year-olds, and therefore the only ones eligible for licenses.

Since they were both only on their first year of licensing, they could both on take one passenger. Chance had organised to take Cady, strangely enough, given Alex was living with him. Daria was driving Jace, as usual.

Dad looked over at me. "List, please."

I scrolled through the messages to find the list of our passengers. "Um," I said, chewing thoughtfully on the end of my frappe straw. "We've just got to grab Alex and the new girl, I think. Oh, and I invited Cole Knight, too. But they're already at Alex's, so you just have to stop by the Krisler's."

I'd asked Chance to stop by my house two hours ago to pick up a mystery package—i.e., Knight—and promised him that I would explain later. But really, Knight needed to get out of the house and socialise. I was being a bad mother keeping him locked away. And if he kept being forced upon Austin, I couldn't trust he would have any brain cells left by the time I returned from the picnic.

"Cole Knight?" said Dad. "I didn't know you two were close."

"Uh, they're not," Kaelin interjected from the backseat. I'd told her about Knight yesterday, and she was part of the defence committee of keeping-Knight-secret. It was a small group. "I just have a massive crush on him. I asked Lena to invite him. I met him at this function last year, super cute dude."

Dad's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"

Kaelin laughed awkwardly. She was awful at this. "Um, yeah. But Cole Knight is on my hall pass list, so Jules was like, 'Kae, baby, you should totally go for it. Rock on.' So... that's what I'm doing. Rocking on." Kaelin held her fist in the air with the pointer and pinky fingers extended, in the most embarrassing and half-heartened display of rock I'd ever seen in my whole life.

Her strangely surfer imitation of Julian made me stifle a giggle. Jules was a soft-spoken, sweet and supportive type, a little flirty and gorgeous beyond belief, but had never, in his entire life, said Kae, baby or rock on.

I was never inviting Kaelin on a stealthy recon mission.

"Uh, okay," said Dad, his eyes betraying his utter bafflement. But he was used to Kaelin's pervasive weirdness by this point.

I just shrugged, glad that Kaelin's track record for having a strange approach to life meant that there weren't too many follow up questions. Not that "oh, yeah, we talk and I thought it could be fun" wouldn't have sufficed. Kaelin was forever a go big or go home kind of gal.

I turned around in my seat to look at Kaelin, who was scrolling through my playlist to pick the next song. "How's Jonah getting there?"

"Daria's taking him," said Kaelin, absently.

"I thought she was taking Hartley?"

Kaelin grinned. "Concerned about your new bestie?" she asked innocently. "Don't worry, she's taking Lover Boy too. I think she's having him squat in the back under a blanket or something, so she doesn't get done for overloading."

"That little rebel," I gasped. "She's just got so many layers. I love her."

Dad threw me a quick look of surprise. "Are you into Daria or Jace?"