Page 10 of Always Love You More
“Do you have anyone else I can call?” Principal Hansley asks with a smug look on his face. “What about Carson? He must have only just left.”
My brother Carson is a grade above me and the school’s star quarterback. He’s also a complete asshole, so I give him my oldest brother Johnny’s number instead.
It picks up on the second ring, and I sit back as he tells my brother what happened. After setting the phone down, Principal Hansley says, “Well, he didn’t sound very happy.”
I don’t respond, and silence stretches between us before he finally waves his hand toward the door, signaling that we can go. “Make better choices, Miss Barlowe. I don’t want to see you in here again.”
After waiting in the library for thirty minutes, I figure my brother is probably here by now, so I pack up my bag and head for the front of the school.
Pushing open the door, I squint against the sun and wince as the fresh cut on my face pulls with the movement.
My brother takes a step forward from his place leaning against the car door, a cigarette perched between his fingers. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I answer.
He looks from my bandage, to the school, then back to my face again.
“Really, Johnny, I’m fine.” My attention catches on his hand. “Can I get one of those?”
“No, you can’t.”
“Why not?” I groan.
“Because you’re in trouble. What did I tell you about fighting?”
“It wasn’t my fault,” I huff.
“It never is,” he says, stomping the cigarette out with his boot and rounding the car. “Come on, or I’m gonna be late.”
“Late for what?”
He throws the door open. “A job thing.”
“What kind of job thing?” I ask, sliding into my seat.
“The kind that pays money.”
I roll my eyes.
“So what happened with this fight?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He eyes me wearily. “You can tell me anything.”
“I know.”
He arches a brow, and I realize he’s not going to let this go.
“She said something to me.”
“Something you couldn’t have just walked away from?”
I snort. “Would you actually have wanted me to?”
