Don't Tell Mother by Tara West Page A

apartment door. Nobody would answer. Her dad worked nights, leaving her alone.
    What would Sparks do? Could he report Krysta’s dad to social services?
    “My dad’s probably sleeping. You don’t need to come up,” Krysta said to Sparks with a shaky voice.
    “Nonsense,” Sparks said in a tone that left no room for argument. “He needs to know where you’ve been.’
    The butterflies in my stomach multiplied as I feared for my friend. Turning to me before opening the truck door, she shot me a worried glance.
    I flashed her an apologetic grin. “Sorry I got you into this.”
    “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “Good luck with your mom.”
    Watching Krysta and Sparks walk up her apartment stairs, I knew they’d be waiting for a while.
    “Hey.”
    Looking at Bob, I realized he’d paused the video game. I was so consumed with panic, I’d forgotten he was in the truck.
    But how could I have forgotten him? He was sitting right next to me, his green spikes made a gentle grating sound as they scraped the top of the truck’s interior. He smelled so good, not like musk, but like fresh soap. Not like the rest of his freaky friends.
    And his warmth… I hadn’t noticed until now, but just his nearness spilled heat into my bones. Even though the nights were getting cooler, I felt so warm and secure around Bob.
    His eyebrows tilted in a frown. “Sorry I ate meat.”
    “What?” My BF wasn’t making any sense.
    “Is that why you don’t eat lunch with me?”
    Remembering the incident with the Barfy burger Tuesday, I realized I hadn’t eaten lunch with my BF since then. That wasn’t why I’d stopped eating with him. Actually, even though I was really busy with basketball practice, I’d kind-of been avoiding him at other times. We hadn’t really done much together until tonight. I’d only asked him to go with us because I knew we’d be safer walking the streets if we had a green giant at our backs.
    I guess, maybe I was starting to think this relationship thing wasn’t working. My family hated him, his friends stunk and gave me the creeps, and I liked meat. Why did I ever think this would work?
    “No, that’s not why.” Running my fingers through my hair, I exhaled a sigh of resignation.
    “Do you want to break up?”
    Bob’s question sent a jolt of electricity through my spine. I knew I couldn’t mask the shock in my voice. “Do you?”
    He shrugged. “How can we be together if we’re never ‘together’?”
    I didn’t know the answer to that question. I liked him. I really did. He was funny, original, and Gawd, he was an awesome kisser. Did I really want to lose him?
    I jerked at the abrupt sound of the truck door opening. “One more down,” Sparks rumbled. “AJ, you’re next.”
    ****
    Well, we couldn’t exactly continue the break-up discussion with Sparks in the front seat, so it was off to my house. We only lived a few miles from Krysta, but the minutes ticked away like hours. Bob went back to his video game. No comfort from him as I approached my impending enslavement.
    As Sparks pulled into the driveway, Mother was standing in front of the garage, arms folded across her chest, her brows drawn together in a continuous line.
    I was in deep doo-doo.
    How did she know I was coming? Sophie’s mom must have called her.
    I looked at my future ex-BF one last time before opening the truck door. “Later, Bob.”
    In the next second, I felt his warmth around me, surprised to find myself locked in a giant bear hug.
    I wanted it to last forever. It wasn’t like Mother could get any more pissed off. Bob released me much too soon, and my gaze locked with his.
    He smiled weakly. “Don’t let her get to you, AJ.”
    “Okay,” I choked, afraid if I said any more, I’d launch into a big wimpy cry-fest.
    Why was Bob so nice when I’d been avoiding him like the plague? How did I hook up with such a cool BF? And now he wanted to break up.
    Cool air hit me as I stepped onto the pavement. Was it the