Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [19]
Robbie shrugged and finished his piece of pizza.
“It went really well,” said Matt absently. Then he blinked and frowned a tiny bit, as if he hadn’t expected to say anything.
Jenna looked at him. “How do you know?” she asked.
Matt’s face turned slightly pink. He shrugged, his attention on his lunch. “Uh, I talked to Raven during English,” he said finally. “She said it was cool.”
Jenna regarded Matt steadily. She started to gather up her tray. Once again I remembered seeing Matt’s car and Raven’s car on the side of the road. As I wondered what it could mean, I heard Mary K.’s laughter, a few tables away. She was sitting next to Bakker with her friend Jaycee, Jaycee’s older sister, Brenda, and a bunch of their friends. Mary K. and Bakker were looking into each other’s eyes. I shook my head. He had won her over. But he’d better watch his step.
“What are you doing this afternoon?” Cal asked in the parking lot after school. The rain had all but stopped, and an icy wind was blowing.
I glanced at my watch. “Besides waiting for my sister? Nothing. I have to get dinner together.”
Robbie snaked his way through a few cars, heading toward us. “Hey, what’s going on with Matt?” he called. “He’s acting all squirrelly.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too, ” I said. “Almost like he wants to break up with Jenna but doesn’t want to at the same time. If that makes any sense.”
Cal smiled. “I don’t know them as well as you guys do,” he said, putting his arm around me. “Is Matt acting that different?”
Robbie nodded. “Yeah. Not that we’re bosom buddies or anything, but he seems kind of off to me. Usually he’s really straightforward. He’s always just right there.” He gestured with his hands.
“I know,” I agreed. “Now he seems to have something else going on.” I wanted to mention the Matt-Raven car thing but thought it would be too gossipy. I wasn’t even sure if it meant anything. I suddenly wished Bree and I were still close. She would have appreciated the significance.
“Morgan!” called Jaycee. “Mary K. asked me to tell you that she was catching a ride with Bakker.” Jaycee waved and trotted off, her blond ponytail bouncing.
“Damn!” I said, disengaging myself from Cal. “I have to get home.”
“What’s the matter? Do you want me to come with you?” Cal asked.
“I would love it,” I said gratefully. It would be nice to have an ally in case Bakker needed to be kicked out of the house again.
“See you, Robbie,” I called, hurrying off to my car. Damnation, Mary K., I thought. How stupid can you be?
8
Mùirn Beatha Dàn
I drove home as quickly as I could, considering that the streets were basically one big ice slick. The temperature kept dropping, and the air was miserable with the kind of bone-drenching chill that Widow’s Vale seems to specialize in.
“I thought Mary K. broke up with Bakker after what happened,” said Cal.
“She did,” I grumbled. “But he’s been begging her to take him back, it was all a mistake, he’s so sorry, it’ll never happen again, blah blah blah.” Anger made my voice shrill.
My tires skidded a bit as I turned into our driveway. Bakker’s car was parked out front. I slammed the car door and crunched up our walk—only to find Mary K. and Bakker huddled together on the front steps, shaking and practically blue with cold.
“What are you doing?” I exclaimed, relief washing over me.
“I wanted to wait for you,” Mary K. muttered, and I silently applauded her good sense.
“Come on, then,” I said, pushing open the front door. “But you guys stay downstairs.”
“Okay,” Bakker mumbled, sounding half frozen. “As long as it’s warm.”
Cal started making hot cider for us all while I stayed outside and salted the front walk and the driveway so my parents wouldn’t have a hard time when they got home. It was nice to get back inside, and I cranked up the thermostat, then headed to the kitchen. It was my night to make dinner. I washed four potatoes, stabbed them with a fork, and put them in the oven to bake.
“Hey, Morgan, can we just run upstairs