Page 41 of Falling Into You

Hey!!! Are you home right now???

Gwen always used too much punctuation in her texts.

Rory:

Yeah. Trying to do the lit homework. Why?

Gwen:

No reason!!!??????

Rory rolled her eyes but felt suddenly on edge. She pushed back from her desk and walked down the hall to Owen’s room. She had picked him up from his friend’s house after getting the car from their dad, and he was kicked back on his bed with his headphones on, watching something on his iPad.

“Hey. What’s up?” he asked, sitting up and hitting pause.

“Should we get ice cream? I feel like we should get ice cream.”

Owen perked up instantly. “Applegate?”

Rory smiled. Applegate Farms was a local place that made the best homemade ice cream. They also had hayrides and apple picking and a pumpkin patch and bouncy houses for the little kids on the weekends. It was pretty much everyone’s favorite place, even though some people—Layla, forinstance—refused to admit it because they thought it was dorky.

“Get your shoes on,” she told him.

She went back to her room, feeling better from having something fun to distract herself. But as she grabbed her wallet and keys, she noticed one, then two cars pulling up in front of her house. She recognized Layla’s Subaru and leaned forward to get a better look. The side doors opened, and a couple of the JV cheerleaders tumbled out, wearing their uniforms.

“What the...?” Rory breathed, fogging up Owen’s bedroom window.

Gwen got out of the second car and walked over to talk to Layla.

“What?” Owen asked from the hall. He’d already pulled on a sweater.

“Come here,” she said.

As Owen walked over, at least ten of the JV girls had gathered on the front lawn, shivering and chatting. Gwen and Layla hung back by their cars. Then Rory heard the rumble of another engine, and Jacob’s red truck pulled onto the street and into her driveway. Her heart lurched.

“What are they doing?” Owen asked, leaning next to her to see.

“I have no idea.”

Jacob parked and got out, and when he came around his truck Rory let out a puff of laughter. He was wearing hischeerleading uniform and his face was painted half red, half gold, with a red star on his gold cheek and a gold star on his red cheek.

“We have to go down there!” Owen said excitedly. He clearly sensed mayhem afoot at the sight of Jacob’s face.

But before they could move, Jacob positioned himself in the center of the Grahams’ front yard, with all the JV cheerleaders lined up behind him. Rory wasn’t sure whether to be amused or terrified. Jacob cupped his hands around his mouth and leaned back.

“Rory Graham! I have a message for you!”

A snort-laugh escaped Rory’s nose, and she slapped her hand over her face. She unlatched the window and shoved it open. Frigid air poured inside.

“Oh yeah? I’m dying to hear it!” she shouted back.

Jacob glanced over his shoulder at the girls. One of them, Katie, gave him an encouraging nod.

“Apology cheer, ready?” Jacob shouted.

The girls all shouted, “Oh-kay!”

Layla jogged to the top of the driveway to get a better angle and started filming with her phone. Jacob and the JV squad began to step side to side, clapping in unison. The porch lights across the street snapped on, and some of the neighbors walked out to see what was going on.