She points a finger at him as she gets into the passenger door of the truck. “You’ll not elude my dinner invitations again, young man.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll take a rain check,” he says as he closes the garage door behind him.

The moment my mother is fully seated in the car, I reverse out the driveway. “Well, now hang on a minute,” she says. “Let me put my seat belt on. And we didn’t even see to it that Tucker got on his way okay.”

“Mom, I guarantee you on a Sunday afternoon, there’s a wait at the nail salon, and if anything is wrong with that boy’s truck, you and I are the last people on earth who could offer him any help.”

In the rearview mirror, I watch as Tucker steps out into the street, his hands in his pockets, as we drive away.

Eighteen

I barely sleep on Sunday night thinking about the prospect of seeing Tucker on Monday morning in first period. But when Monday morning finally comes, Tucker is nowhere to be found.

I think about texting him, since we have a prom court meeting after school, but what am I supposed to say? I think you might be gay and please don’t bail on this dumb meeting we’re supposed to attend?

As I walk to choir, Alex bounces at my side. “Wasn’t Saturday night absolutely epic? And next Saturday is Kyle’s big party. You’re coming, right? Would karaoke be fun? Do our peers appreciate karaoke?”

I pat his shoulder gently. “I think you might want to rethink the karaoke.”

Alex’s shoulders slump and he nods.

Across the hallway, I see Simone, who was also there this weekend. I wave and she smiles cheerfully. I feel a twinge of regret for not getting to know many people during my four years here. I turn back to Alex. “But I guess it’s always good to have activities planned as a backup? Karaoke could be fun, I guess.”

“Yes!” His puppy-dog energy surges. “Now, that’s a party planning tactic I hadn’t thought of. Backup activities.”

In the choir room, Clem and Kyle are already sitting on the risers.

“Ask him,” Clem says to Kyle.

I settle in next to her with a slight feeling of dread. “Ask me what?”

“You should know,” says Kyle with absolute earnestness, “that I’ve never even unintentionally broken the law, so I’m not entirely comfortable with this potential situation, but—”

“They need booze,” says Clem. “For the party.”

Kyle sucks air in through his teeth and winces. “And now I’m making you all accomplices. I’m sorry, but I remember you being . . . friendly with Lucas Campbell.”