Yesterday had been the first time Jacinta had ever seen perpetually upbeat Mina so freaked out. Check that. Mina could overreact with the best of them. But it was always coupled with a bright side or a plan. Mina had been planless, yesterday, torn about the pact and the fact that there was no way she could take it.
No matter how many times Jacinta pointed out that everything couldn’t be broken down into steps, her friends believed in preparing like some people believed in God. In Jacinta’s opinion, as much as she had grown to love her ’burb girlfriends, their obsession with planning was exactly why they were always so lost when something unexpected hit them.
Not like her.
Shit happens…all the time. That was Jacinta’s philosophy.
It was why when Raheem smacked her at the cheer competition (the girls still talked about that like it had happened yesterday instead of last year), then Jacinta had smacked him back to remind him that he was fool crazy for raising his hand at her.
It was why she and Raheem broke up, then got back together and argued on occasion (many occasions).
It was why, since Raheem had made it official that he was committing to Georgetown, he’d suddenly been “we, we’ing” her to death.
Every time they talked, it was “we this,” and “we that,” about their future.
And, it was why her period was late. Shit happens…all the time, even apparently, when you did what you could to prevent it.
Jacinta zoned in on the passing scenery, large houses, small houses, lush green trees blooming with pretty flowers, nothing like the sparse landscaping in her old neighborhood, and realized she actually knew who lived in at least half a dozen of the homes they passed. And not just knew them, but had hung out with them, made memories all along the corridor that led from the high school to the neighborhoods surrounding Cimarra Beach.
To the left was Todd’s house, a big brick house with a stone driveway, and Jared Cornwell’s was the bright yellow rancher. Jacinta and the girls had once chased Jared halfway to the school after he water ballooned them. In a second, the truck would pass the spot where JZ had smacked the bottom of Kelly’s peppermint mochachino cup, making it fly out of her hand and all over the sidewalk. It was the first time Jacinta had ever seen Kelly get seriously angry—so mad that JZ had to walk back to the Blarney and buy her a new one.
Jacinta couldn’t say when it happened, but The Woods and DRB High school had finally become her home. It had been an unsettling realization at first, but now she had so many connections to the people and the places she saw everyday that it had been forever since she’d cursed how slow the week went, aching to be back in Pirates Cove on weekends. Now, it was the opposite. She’d go to The Cove to see her family and count the hours to head back and check in with the clique, especially JZ, who had become her escape. Around him, she didn’t have to think about boyfriends and futures or (no disrespect to Mina and the girls) being so correct and proper, worrying about hurting someone’s feelings with one of her blunt truths.
Jacinta never worried that any drama would pop off when she dropped in to see JZ, something she’d taken to doing (apparently not as on the low as she thought) after especially cloying weekends with Raheem. And lately, every weekend with Raheem was smothering.
Hanging out with JZ wasn’t anything she hid from the clique, just not anything either of them announced or talked about. They were just friends. If the friendliness dipped into a fierce game of flirting…well, who could blame her? JZ was…
Jacinta inhaled sharply at another dull twisting of her insides, stronger this time. As the clenching subsided, her breath leaked out slowly in relief.
Yes, it’s coming, she thought excitedly.
Even though she was used to shit happening, words couldn’t describe how happy she was to ride the crimson wave this month.
Not one single word.
But seven hours and ten trips to the bathroom later, she did have a few words to describe how she was feeling: terrified, on edge, and sick. The dull warning of the cramp storm had stopped shortly after her first class. Distracted, Jacinta had spent the day asking to be excused to the restroom by every single teacher, plus a few stops in between classes, hoping, praying that the cramps would return and bring the flow of her cycle with it.
With the last bell still echoing in her ears and students spilling out all around her, Jacinta stood at the double doors of the school’s entrance, staring out into the teacher’s parking lot, a sea of cars and SUVs that went on for rows. The vehicles waited patiently for their turn to leave while students’ cars revved up and sped out in the surrounding lots. Jacinta gazed out at the still lot, wishing for some of its stoic silence to quiet her mind.
Mina was in front of one of the concrete benches under the flagpole, talking to three girls, two cheerleaders and a girl Jacinta didn’t recognize. The four of them stood clustered together, deep in conversation. Every few seconds, one of them would look up, smile, flirt, laugh, or shout good-bye to friends passing by before going back to the discussion.
No doubt solving a real crisis, like whether to choose polyester shorts over mesh for next year’s cheer camp, Jacinta thought, unable to avoid the disgust crawling up her throat. She swallowed it like a bitter pill, refusing to feel sorry for herself. She closed her eyes for a second—to better hear her own body—last check to see if the cramps were lurking somewhere deep inside. But her stomach was silent, minus a low rumble to remind her that she’d skipped lunch.
She snorted softly, defeated, before pushing the doors open and walking into the swirl of students heading toward buses and their own cars. Her steps, slow and deliberate to ensure Mina’s friends were gone before she reached the flagpole, clicked lightly against the walkway. Exhaust from the buses pulling off got tangled in the warm air and wafted her way. She wiped at her nose absently.
“Hey,” Mina called when Jacinta was only steps away. “Brian had some after school…thing. Some graduation meeting. Wanna walk to the Ria and meet JZ, Liz, and Todd?”
“Okay, Mina. We’ll talk to you later,” one of the cheerleaders said.
“See y’all.” Mina waved, turning her full attention to Jacinta. “I’m not all that hungry. But I’m down for heading to the Ria if you are. Brian said we could wait for him. He’s only gonna be like a half hour. But we could have been home and back by that time.”
“Mina, give me a second,” Jacinta snapped softly. She sat on the concrete bench and dropped her tote bag beside her. It kiltered dangerously near the edge, threatening to spill her books.
“My bad.” Mina’s eyebrows raised slightly. She took a seat beside Jacinta. “Bad day or boy trouble?”
“Both,” Jacinta said glumly.
Still holding on to the straps, she nudged gently at her tote with her butt, letting it fall down to the ground. She folded one leg under her and turned toward Mina. “It’s a really bad day, and it’s ’cause a boy got me in trouble.”
Mina laughed loudly and was about to make a joke until she saw how serious Jacinta’s face was.
“Wait. Trouble like what?” Mina’s eyes narrowed.
Jacinta rolled her eyes at Mina’s playing dumb. Her eyebrows spiked, and she stretched her neck in a comical prod, as if to say, “now, what do you think?”
“Trouble like detention? Or suspension?” Mina leaned in, whispering. “Or trouble like, somebody ready to be a momma up in here?”
Jacinta laughed at that. Hearing Mina come close to revealing her problem sucked some of the fear away. Not a lot, but some. She nodded. “Yeah, trouble like that…the third one.”
Mina scooted closer, and she folded her