Becoming Carter (The Carter Series) (Volume 2) by W. S. Greer Page A

I’m really sorry, Lex.”
    The tension in her face seemed to melt away. “Well, I’m glad you knew you were tripping. I accept your apology, of course,” she said as she reached out and gave me a hug. “But, I have to ask, is everything okay with you, Lil? You haven’t seemed quite right since this weekend.”
    What the hell was I supposed to say now? Of course I wasn’t alright, and not being able to tell her made everything worse. But still, I just couldn’t tell her.
    “You know, Lex, I’m not even sure what to say. I do have some stuff going on that I can’t really talk about, because it’s between me and Kelvin. I’m working it out, though.”
    Lexy looked at me like she wanted me to know that she was disappointed. “I don’t understand. We tell each other everything. What’s so different about this?”
    “I’m sorry, Lex. It’s just that this is mine and Kelvin’s business only.”
    “I know you guys are all in love and shit now, but so are me and Mike, and I still tell you stuff about us. Seems kind of unfair, don’t you think?”
    I released another frustrated sigh as tightness climbed up my neck again. This feeling was becoming entirely too common. “Ugh. I guess. Lex, I need you to understand that I’m going through some stuff that I just can’t talk about right now. It’s too early, and until I figure it all out for myself, I really can’t talk about it. But, I still love you. You’re still my best friend in the whole world, and that’s why I need your support and understanding.”
    She was pissed. I could see it written all over her face, but I heard her take a deep breath and then hug me again. “Okay, Lil. But, you’re gonna have a lot of explaining to do once this mystery shit gets sorted out.”
    “I know. And I promise I’ll tell you when the time is right. Thank you.”
    “Whatever. You’re welcome. I guess,” she said with a forced smile. “Now that you’re here, I’ve gotta get back to my own class. I’ll talk to you later.” Before I even had a chance to say goodbye, she turned on her heel and walked away.
    The school day went by quickly, and I learned just how pissed I’d made Lexy when I tried to hook up with her for lunch and she told me she had “stuff” to do, so she wouldn’t be able to meet me. I ended up eating my leftover chicken tacos in the teacher’s lounge all by myself.
    In the afternoon, class was all kinds of hectic. There had been two fist fights—one between two boys, and the other between a girl and a boy, which the girl won. There was also a paste eating incident that forced me to shut down our crafts time, which caused all kinds of crying because the class wanted to keep building their little Frosty the Snowman pictures. Then, Kelly ended up coming down with some sort of insta-sickness and had to leave early. Needless to say, things in my life certainly weren’t calming down.
    By the time the bell rang, I was beyond exhausted. I felt like I’d had enough of just about everything and was ready to go home, take a nap, and wait for Kelvin to get in touch with me, because he hadn’t all day. In the back of my mind, I knew he was trying to help me relax by giving me some time to myself, but I felt like I needed more of him, not less.
    I pressed on, however, and made my way home—after a brief inspection of my car, of course. As I drove down the street towards my house, I caught myself looking around to see if there were any mysterious cars parked in front of any of my neighbors’ houses. I didn’t see any, and a little bit of my anxiety lifted off of me.
    I pulled into my driveway and did another search as I waited for the garage to go all the way up. Still, there was nothing. I pulled in, and the minute the car came to a full stop, my phone chimed Kelvin’s text tone. I looked down in my cup holder where I’d placed my phone and saw the preview to his message. It said something about talking to James and having info about a meeting.