But… that doesn’t mean we can never be.
Kassidy
“Are you excited for your first day?” I ask Winter, taking an abrupt left that makes my car screech so loudly a lady walking her dog jumps two inches in the air. Glaring at my red car, she guides a hand to her chest. Shameful, I zoom down the street.
I’m sorry that I’m poor, ma’am.
I’ve grown quite familiar with that feeling recently—shame. I desperately need to get a job so I can afford to get my clunker of a car fixed. Still no luck. None of the places I applied to called.
“Excited for it to be over.” My cousin sighs, fidgeting with her clothes. I get it. Being the new girl ranks pretty high on the list of things that suck ass.
“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.” I laugh. “You’ll fit right in. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Anything I need to know? Any mean girl I should stay away from?” She shifts in my passenger seat.
“Bianca Reed and her minions,” I’m quick to say. Winter does not want to get in trouble with psycho Bianca. Everybody knows she’s a little… intense. “Definitely don’t give them a reason to hate you.”
She nods. “Noted.”
Pulling up into the school’s parking lot, I snatch the first spot I can find and kill the engine.
I glance at her. “Ready?”
“Absolutely not.”
“It’s going to be fine. You’re not alone. Kendrick and I are here, remember?”
She doesn’t reply, but I can tell the thought reassures her. She’s family. I’ll always have her back. We make our way to the entrance together. Diving deeper and deeper into the crowd, I catch Luke’s smile as we pass each other in the hall.
Luke Jenson, typical jock and Riverside High’s proudest accomplishment. He’s our varsity team’s golden boy, reputed best QB the school’s had in decades. Zoey dated one of Luke’s douche friends sophomore year, and although their relationship didn’t survive its first month, Luke and I remained friendly. And by friendly, I mean we smile at each other in the halls and talk in art class.
As Winter and I weave our way through the halls, I scoff at her worried expression.
“See? It’s just like any other school.”
She doesn’t reply, yet again too focused on trying to breathe.
“We’re here.” I stop in front of her locker—that I arranged for us to share so that she wouldn’t have to be locker partner with a complete stranger—and she stacks her books inside.
This day is going to be so stressful for her. I’ll do everything I can to make it drama-free.
Then I see him.
Down the hall.
The idiot Zoey spent all of last year blabbing about.
Haze Adams.
The students around us display the usual reaction. They keep their heads down, count the tiles, and wish to disappear from freaking existence. Nothing new here. I hate to say it—I hate to think it—but… I’m right there with them.
Am I scared of him?
You’re damn right I am.
Apparently, if you’re a female in this school, there are two ways you can feel about Haze Adams: you can either want to jump his bones, or pee your pants whenever he walks into the room. Zoey’s category number one.
I’m number two.
Don’t get me wrong, I get the whole smoking hot, tattooed, damaged-bad-boy appeal, but… I know for a fact Haze is involved in the same street fighting nightmare as Kendrick. I heard Kendrick talking shit about him to Will once.
If I’m not wrong, he’s also my brother’s biggest competition in the ring. Haze is more than just the kid your parents tell you to stay away from. And while the people at school don’t know as much as I do, they know enough.
Rumor has it Haze once broke a guy’s nose for looking at him the wrong way. Is it true? Probably. I’m so focused on trying not to meet his gaze that I don’t even think of Winter. I can barely comprehend what’s happening when Haze stops dead in his tracks.
And stares.
At first, I think he’s staring at me.
Until I realize I couldn’t be more wrong.
He’s looking at Winter.
“Tell me she didn’t,” I hear a girl mutter in the distance.
Shit.
She looked at him, didn’t she?
Of course she did.
My bad. I didn’t tell her about the dumbass rules of our school. Don’t talk back to Haze Adams, don’t get in his way, and especially don’t look him in the eyes. The guy is like high school royalty, feared but popular, hated but loved, a bully and a heartbreaker. Whispers pour over us.
“What did you do?” I ask.
“You tell me.” Panic rises in her tone.
“You got a problem?” a deep voice says.
Well, fuck.
He’s standing mere steps away, his gaze dark and his face unreadable.
“Excuse her. She’s new. She doesn’t know,” I word vomit.
He doesn’t acknowledge me, analyzing Winter intently.
“What’s your name?”
“Winter.” She falters.
“She won’t do it again. I’m so sorry.” I hate that I’m such a little bitch.
“I’m not talking to you.”
That’s Winter’s snapping point.
“Who the hell do you think you are, jackass?”
The whispers stop abruptly. Haze looks stunned, shocked.
“What did you just say to me?” He moves closer to her.
I grip her arm. “Winter, don’t.”
She looks back at me, defiance glowing in her eyes as she brings her focus back to the six-foot-something bully in front of her.
“You heard me.”
It’s all so sudden my brain needs a second catch up. Haze fills the distance between them, and Winter jumps as her back collides with the locker behind her. She closes her eyes like she expects him to hurt her, and a small laugh escapes his lips.
“What are you doing? I’m not going to hit you.” A hint of mockery lingers in his voice.
He leans forward, ever so slightly, and pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear. She’s trembling.
“I’m going to let this go because you’re new, love. But watch your mouth from now on.”
Then he walks off.
Just like that.
Winter doesn’t speak for a while, struggling to reconnect with her senses. The color has completely deserted her skin.
“What just happened?” She blinks at me in disbelief.
I curse under my breath and brace myself for the Haze Adams biography I’m about to drop on her. So much for a drama-free first day, huh?
Entering the only classroom that doesn’t make me want to rip my eyes out, I squeeze my notebooks against my chest. I couldn’t wait for last period and the only class I remotely enjoy: art class.
The day elapsed at a painfully slow pace although it went much better than the way it started. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t have to drive Winter to the airport so she could flee our mad country after what happened in the hall this morning.
Welcome to America, cousin.
Would you like a side of crazy with that?