Now.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Are you gonna make me, Princess?”
“Luca, you’re distracting me! Give me five minutes. Pleeease.” She widened her eyes for effect, and Luca sighed.
“Fine, don’t take too long.” He nodded at me before walking off at a leisurely pace.
Most of the girls sitting on the field followed him with their eyes. He was kind of hard not to check out. Luca stood out in a good way; he was lean and muscular and his tattoos made him unique. Girls dug guys with tattoos. He hadn’t always gotten positive attention like that until a recent makeover, but I had definitely noticed him long before that.
“Anyway, I just wanted to check in on you. You know, return the favor?” Ashton gave me a sad smile and I knew that she was thinking back to a couple of weeks ago when she’d been the target of the popular kids.
Except they hadn’t written nasty things on her locker, they’d just ostracized her from their group. Even though Bennett was in the popular group and I’d been dating him at the time, I’d still gone out of my way to talk to Ashton. I guess, despite how mean she’d been to others, I’d felt sorry for her. No one deserved to be on the receiving end of bullying. Ever.
“Well, thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“Let me know if you need anything, even if it is just to give Bennett a good telling off. He has it coming to him.”
I nodded, not really sure what to say, as Ashton gave me that dimpled smile again before walking off. I stared after her, kind of amazed that she’d spoken to me at all. No one was used to this Ashton Summers, the one who cared about people. Everyone was better acquainted with the take-no-prisoners attitude she’d always had going on.
“That was bizarre,” Mariah said from behind me.
It definitely was bizarre, but I guess people really could change. Bennett certainly had.
Chapter Eight
Lincoln
Somehow, I’d managed to land smack bang in the middle of Hadie and her friend, Mariah in English class. The more I tried to avoid the girl, the more I was forced together with her.
Two weeks had already flown by since I’d started school here, and I still hadn’t bothered to call Hadie and ask her to tutor me. Ms. Flick had finally noticed that I hadn’t made much progress catching up on the work I’d missed and insisted I sit next to Hadie so I could copy her notes on the text.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting much work done because Mariah was talking my ear off. She was friendly, don’t get me wrong, but she asked way too many questions. Questions that I didn’t want to answer.
“So, why would you want to leave New York City and come to a small town like Statlen?” she asked.
What the heck was I supposed to say? That I’d come here because I was trying to run away from something?
“Uh…my dad was born in Verdana, so he wanted us to experience life in a small town.”
The words coming out of my mouth had been well-rehearsed within my family until it was impossible to forget them. We’d had to practice so that we didn’t have ten different versions of the story. Statlen was a small town, so word would get around if we were all saying different things. Mom, being the control freak that she was, made sure we all learnt our lines off by heart.
“But it must be sooo amazing there! Don’t you miss all your friends?”
Not really. Kinda. Sometimes. I missed the way they used to be around me, not the way they were now. “Yeah, New York is pretty amazing, but it’s good to get around and see what else is out there. I miss my friends, but we still stay in touch.”
I sounded so goddamn rehearsed that I wanted to punch myself in the face. The last few words came out sounding a lot more bitter than I’d intended, and Hadie glanced up to study me. Those almond brown eyes of hers flickered across my face as though she’d heard the bitterness in my voice.
As I studied her, I realized that she was
He folded his arms across his chest. “Are you gonna make me, Princess?”
“Luca, you’re distracting me! Give me five minutes. Pleeease.” She widened her eyes for effect, and Luca sighed.
“Fine, don’t take too long.” He nodded at me before walking off at a leisurely pace.
Most of the girls sitting on the field followed him with their eyes. He was kind of hard not to check out. Luca stood out in a good way; he was lean and muscular and his tattoos made him unique. Girls dug guys with tattoos. He hadn’t always gotten positive attention like that until a recent makeover, but I had definitely noticed him long before that.
“Anyway, I just wanted to check in on you. You know, return the favor?” Ashton gave me a sad smile and I knew that she was thinking back to a couple of weeks ago when she’d been the target of the popular kids.
Except they hadn’t written nasty things on her locker, they’d just ostracized her from their group. Even though Bennett was in the popular group and I’d been dating him at the time, I’d still gone out of my way to talk to Ashton. I guess, despite how mean she’d been to others, I’d felt sorry for her. No one deserved to be on the receiving end of bullying. Ever.
“Well, thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“Let me know if you need anything, even if it is just to give Bennett a good telling off. He has it coming to him.”
I nodded, not really sure what to say, as Ashton gave me that dimpled smile again before walking off. I stared after her, kind of amazed that she’d spoken to me at all. No one was used to this Ashton Summers, the one who cared about people. Everyone was better acquainted with the take-no-prisoners attitude she’d always had going on.
“That was bizarre,” Mariah said from behind me.
It definitely was bizarre, but I guess people really could change. Bennett certainly had.
Chapter Eight
Lincoln
Somehow, I’d managed to land smack bang in the middle of Hadie and her friend, Mariah in English class. The more I tried to avoid the girl, the more I was forced together with her.
Two weeks had already flown by since I’d started school here, and I still hadn’t bothered to call Hadie and ask her to tutor me. Ms. Flick had finally noticed that I hadn’t made much progress catching up on the work I’d missed and insisted I sit next to Hadie so I could copy her notes on the text.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting much work done because Mariah was talking my ear off. She was friendly, don’t get me wrong, but she asked way too many questions. Questions that I didn’t want to answer.
“So, why would you want to leave New York City and come to a small town like Statlen?” she asked.
What the heck was I supposed to say? That I’d come here because I was trying to run away from something?
“Uh…my dad was born in Verdana, so he wanted us to experience life in a small town.”
The words coming out of my mouth had been well-rehearsed within my family until it was impossible to forget them. We’d had to practice so that we didn’t have ten different versions of the story. Statlen was a small town, so word would get around if we were all saying different things. Mom, being the control freak that she was, made sure we all learnt our lines off by heart.
“But it must be sooo amazing there! Don’t you miss all your friends?”
Not really. Kinda. Sometimes. I missed the way they used to be around me, not the way they were now. “Yeah, New York is pretty amazing, but it’s good to get around and see what else is out there. I miss my friends, but we still stay in touch.”
I sounded so goddamn rehearsed that I wanted to punch myself in the face. The last few words came out sounding a lot more bitter than I’d intended, and Hadie glanced up to study me. Those almond brown eyes of hers flickered across my face as though she’d heard the bitterness in my voice.
As I studied her, I realized that she was
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