“I was.” I glance at Cooper who’s setting a frying pan on the stovetop. “But Cooper finished it for me.”
“I hardly did anything,” he says.
“Come sit,” his mom says. “And please, call me Amanda.”
I sit next to her and take my computer back out of my bag. “Okay.” I open it and try to relax, but my leg won’t stop bouncing. I hate making bad impressions on people, and sleeping in Cooper’s room does not look good. “Sorry about accidentally spending the night.”
Cooper’s dad waves me off with a small laugh. “It’s okay. I can’t tell you how many nights Amanda has fallen asleep in the middle of working on things for the Falling Leaves Festival.”
I look at her. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. It’s an exhausting time of year. There’s always so much to do. We really do appreciate you taking on the scavenger hunt, though.”
“No problem.” I attach the document and send it to Aunt Naomi. Then I put my computer away.
While the bacon sizzles behind me, Cooper’s parents tell me all about next week’s Autumn Spice Sprint—which sounds way too athletic for me—and the Boots and Blankets Bonfire that night. And I tell them all about Cooper’s awful attempts at fall riddles, some of which have them cracking up.
“So, what are your college plans? It’s just about application time,” Cooper’s dad says.
“I’m going to Columbia,” I tell him with confidence. “I’ve already started filling out the application.”
“Oh!” Amanda exclaims. “So you and Coop—”
“Time to go, Mitchell,” Cooper says, swooping in behind me and practically tossing a plate at me. “Bacon for the car.”
“Okay.” I toss my backpack over my shoulder as I stand, then I grab my plate. “It was nice talking to you guys. Sorry again for crashing here.”
“We hope to see you again soon, Ellis,” Amanda says. “Tell Naomi I said hi.”
Cooper and I hop into his truck and scarf down our bacon on the short drive to Aunt Naomi’s. He waits in the car while I change my clothes and brush my teeth. My reflection makes me flinch, but I don’t have time to put on makeup. I wipe the mascara from under my eyes and throw my hair into a messy bun.
I groan. I cannot go to school like this.
I grab my makeup bag—maybe I can put some on in the truck—and run back downstairs, where Mom is sitting in the living room.
“Hi, Mom. Bye, Mom,” I say as I open the front door.
“Wait a second!” she says.
The moment I’ve been dreading. “Yeah?”
“I heard you slept at Cooper’s last night.”
“I accidentally fell asleep working on the scavenger-hunt stuff.”
“Uh-huh…” She stands. “Well, we’ve never really talked about it because I’ve never needed to, since you were so hung up on school rather than boys, but… you know to use a condom, right? Do you need me to show you how—”
“Oh god, Mom!” I scream. “Please stop talking right now.”
She worries her lip.
“It wasn’t like that,” I say. “You don’t have to worry. And if anything ever comes even close to that, then yes, believe me, being friends with Fern has meant learning everything I need to know. Don’t worry.”
She nods. “Okay. Good. Please don’t let it happen again.”
“Okay. Bye.” I make a run for it before things get any more awkward.
“You good?” Cooper asks when I get in the car.
