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Aftermath
The fourth time my phone rings in a row is enough motivation to make Jalen and I untangle ourselves from each other. I know it's either Mom or Noah calling without even having to check, and though I'd normally not care, I quickly gather my clothes and put them on.
Jalen watches me dress myself, before taking the hint that it's time to go and grabbing his own clothes.
"I guess you did have a certain time you had to be home?"
His voice is low as he tells the little joke, but the hesitation to speak at all is clear as day.
After finishing pulling my dress over my head—a task in itself due to it having been tossed to the trunk and inside out—I occupy myself with strapping my heels. Once that's done, I keep my gaze down, trying to find my coat while avoiding looking at him.
A warm hand touches my arm. It's an innocent action, but it sends a chill through my body, especially when I finally look at Jalen.
My coat is lightly pushed into my arms, and my cheeks warm at the fact that he knew what I wanted and found it, while I can't seem to think about anything else except him.
"Thanks," I murmur shyly.
Jalen's lips form a crooked smile, before he nods toward the door. "C'mon, let's get you home."
He follows me out the door, walking me to the passenger's seat, waiting until I'm seated before going to the driver's side.
In that time, I feel frazzled. The one beer I had comes back to mind.
Once he sits, he glances at me, and for a brief second I worry he won't be able to drive since he drank as well. But I see his eyes aren't glazed over, and none of his movements are sloppy. Obviously we both have different tolerances for liquor, and of course I'd be the one more affected.
Jalen sends me a small smile, and I return it, feeling myself relax a little.
The drive to my house is silent. Jalen parks in front, and I make no move to get out, knowing this is the part where we address the elephant in the car.
But before either of us can do that, I notice the light in the living room of my house is on.
"What the fuck?"
"What happened?" Jalen asks, not understanding what I'm looking at.
"Who the hell would be up at this time?" I continue, ignoring his question.
Jalen sighs, then motions with his head to my phone. "Probably whoever called you, Lyndon."
I glance at the screen, seeing the four missed calls are from my dad. Fuck my life.
I bury my head in my hands, as if that will save me from dealing with this bullshit.
Jalen gently pulls them away, succeeding in bringing my eyes to his, something I haven't been able to do. Looking into them is reminding me of what we just did, because Jalen hadn't taken his eyes off of me the entire time we were together.
"I gotta go," I say, whining a bit so he knows I don't want to leave him, but I have too. I need time to process, and I need to see what my father's going to say.
He nods his head, frowning, before covering it with another smile. "S'fine. It's been a long night."
I nod my head, worried to leave this car, leave him. But I do, quickly rushing into my house.
It barely registers in my mind that the front door is unlocked, meaning whoever's waiting up for me saw Jalen's car outside.
"It's late, Lyndon. Too late for you to just get home," comes a reprimanding, feminine tone.
YOU ARE READING
High School Treachery | ✓
Teen Fiction"The best defense against the treacherous is treachery." In Arlin Preparatory High School, where the students seem to live by this code, Lyndon Prince has become the new, easy target during her first week as a transfer student. Lyndon's first and la...
