Runaways by Nicole Dykes
Ihand Rae the milkshake she ordered and take mine as we walk to our spot at Richard’s. But this time we’re joined by some of my friends, as well as Nash and Elias. It’s only been a month since the day I officially met Rae, but I made it pretty clear she wasn’t going anywhere.
Thankfully, most of my friends are decent people, and even Tammy is coming around. Tanner, who has a mouthful of food but doesn’t let it deter him from talking, looks over at Rae. “So, why don’t you have an accent?”
Rae looks slightly bashful as she tucks her hair behind her ear, still nervous around my friends. Tammy butts in before she can answer, “Yeah, I thought you were from Dallas.”
That had been the rumor, but Rae really doesn’t have a hint of an accent. “I moved here from Dallas, but I was eleven when my mom and I moved there from California. So, yeah . . . No accent.”
“Just like Nash and Law,” Tanner states.
Nash laughs and ruffles my hair because he can’t seem to keep from making me look like a kid. “Yup, we’re outsiders.”
“You are not,” Tammy defends us for no good reason.
“I kinda noticed you don’t seem to have accents,” Rae says, her big eyes looking in my direction.
“Yeah. We were born in Kansas. Mom was from there, and we lived there until I was eight,” I supply.
“Yeah, and then Dad followed the oilfield down here to nowhere,” Nash says with more grit in his voice than he had before. He always gets that way when it comes to our dad.
Rae must notice the tension. “Makes sense.” She takes a drink of her shake and then looks over at Tammy. “What about you? Texas?”
Tammy, who has a thick Texas drawl, narrows her eyes. “Yeah. You have a problem with it?”
Rae handles her like a champ. “Nope, unless it’s coming out of Colin’s mouth. Then yes. I have a big problem with the accent. His sounds stupid.”
Tammy actually laughs. Like a real full-on, surprised laugh. “Yeah, your stepdad is a real douche.”
“Yeah, he gave me detention last year a few times for nothing,” Tanner says, mouth full of food. “Disruptive in class,” he scoffs.
Rae laughs that light, happy laugh I’m beginning to love. “Right. I’m sure it was nothing.”
“Well, I’ve never done anything to him, and he’s always on me about something,” Tammy says, and I notice she wraps her arms around her waist as she does. “He creeps me out.”
We all seem to tense at that, but Rae moves closer to her. “How?”
Tammy steels her expression, but none of us missed the way she said that or her body language. “He’s just creepy.” She drops her gaze to her lap. “Always telling me I’m asking for trouble and stuff. He’s stupid.”
“I’m sorry,” Rae offers, even though she has nothing to be sorry about.
And Tammy tells her so, lifting her head back up to look at Rae. “Yeah well, at least I don’t share a roof with him. I’m sorry for you.”
Rae snorts, “Yeah, no kidding. I feel sorry for me too.”
The girls smile at each other, and it’s weird. I mean, last month Tammy scrawled the word “slut” on Rae’s locker, and now they seem pretty friendly. But I guess that’s just girls for you. “You know, if you ever need a break from him, you can always come over to my house. It’s nothing fancy like I’m sure you’re used to, but it’s not bad.”
Rae nods her head, and I catch Nash’s grin, who must think it’s just as weird as I do.
When everyone leaves, and it’s just Rae and me messing around with the pool table, I have to give her a hard time. “So, Tammy’s your best friend now?”
She rolls her eyes, sliding one of the pool balls into another, knocking it into the pocket. “Yeah, right.”
“That’s cheating.”
She grins at me, but she looks cute in her hoodie and jeans. It’s not cold out, but she likes to wear the hoodie she stole from me. “Whatever. I’m just glad she wasn’t staring daggers at me.”
“You’re going to do just fine here, Raelynn Sanders.”
“Yeah, I think I will. I mean, just four more years of this.”
I play pool the proper way and miss. She laughs, and I ask, “And then what?”
“College. Far, far away.”
I don’t like the thought of Rae being far away, but I push past it and make a ball into the corner pocket. “Is that so?”
“It is. What about you?”
I shrug, knowing there aren’t a ton of opportunities for kids like me, but I do pretty well in school and my art teacher seems to think I could get a scholarship where she went to college. “Maybe college.”
“Just maybe?”
I shrink back, not on purpose. I know in her world not going to college isn’t an option. “Yeah. I don’t know. I might just go into a trade or something. Probably make more money around here that way than with a college degree in art.”
“You like art?”
I laugh and make the eight ball, winning the game. She doesn’t care as she leans against the edge of the table and waits for my answer. “I like it, yeah. I like to paint.”
She studies me for a moment and then pushes off the pool table. “Well, I’d like to see your paintings sometime.”
“Okay.” Because I’m learning I can’t seem to deny Rae anything.
She pulls her cellphone out of her back pocket and sighs. “I better get home. Colin already hates that we’re friends, and I really don’t want to hear his lecture.”
“He better get used to it.”
She’s beaming up at me now as I walk her out to the town car that’s waiting for her. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely. You’re stuck with me now, Rae.”
She pulls me into a quick hug, her smaller body pressed against mine, and I suck in a ragged breath. “I think I can handle that.” She presses a kiss to my cheek and then bounces off to the car, climbing inside.
Yeah, she’s definitely stuck with me.
