Page 82 of Haunting the Deep

Jaxon shrugs like he’s totally unconcerned.

We all stare at him.

Mrs. Meriwether tilts her head. “What’s the thing here, Jax? You haven’t been acting like yourself in days. None of your sweetness or laughter, just endless obsessing over Niki, a girl I’ve never heard you say particularly nice things about before now. And, Sam, you’ve got circles the size of Cadillacs under your eyes. I haven’t seen you this quiet in ages.”

My mouth opens but no sound comes out. My dad frowns.

I put down my fork and study my pancake.

“Sam and I are moving back to New York,” my dad says.

“Hold on a second.” Mrs. Meriwether’s eyes widen, and she waves her hands in the air. “Charlie, you’re moving and you didn’t tell me? Has the whole world gone mad in the past forty-eight hours?”

My dad flinches, but his expression remains stubborn. “It was only decided last night.”

I push my chair away from the table. “Time to go to school.”

“Sam,” my dad says, clearly upset.

“I’ll be late,” I say.

Jaxon gets up, too. “Same.”

We walk in silence to our bags and exit the house.

Jaxon stops just as he opens his truck door. “Sam?”

I turn around.

“Want a ride?”

I hesitate. “Bad mood” doesn’t begin to describe my state of being right now. But I need to talk to him, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had in days.

I nod and get in his passenger door.

“So you’re moving, huh?” Jaxon says. He turns the key in the ignition and backs out of his driveway.

“I really hope not,” I say.

“Might not be all bad.” His tone is distant.

I glare at him. “Yes. It will.”

“If you say so.”

How can he be so casual about all of this? Does he not care at all? “I know you’re mad at me. And I know you’re dating Niki, but you’re also acting like we’re not even friends.”

He watches the road with a calm expression. “We’re friends.”

“Look, I know you think I’ve been closed off. And you were right. I was so hell-bent on being normal that I kept pretending certain things didn’t exist. I should have told you what was going on with me. Then we had our honesty talk and it ended badly. Can we just call a truce? I really don’t want to fight with you.”

“We’re not fighting.”

“But we’re also not really talking.”

Jaxon shrugs. “So?”

“See, that’s what I mean, right there.” I point at him.