“What do you think?” Lisa finally asks. I look down at her, and sure enough, her lashes are still batting.
I try to tug my arm out of hers, but she’s holding onto it like a little monkey.
“It all sounds good. I’m sure it’ll be amazing.”
“You’ll ask the guys to go over it with us on Wednesday evening?”
I want to roll my eyes but somehow manage to hold it in. What does she think? That we’re unable to run onto the field without a bunch of girls waving their pom-poms? Seriously, give me a break.
“Sure, Lisa.”
Just then I can see the door to the cafeteria.
An escape.
“If that’s all…”
“Well, not exactly.” Completely oblivious to my exasperation, she continues talking as we enter the already packed cafeteria. Fucking Lisa. I knew I should have hurried up. “Now that Andrew Hill graduated, we need to find a new place to party. Mia talked to Chad about it the other day, and he said his family is cool if we want to use his place. His family owns a barn of some kind that’s separated from their main house so there wouldn’t be anybody around. We could make a bonfire, blast some music, chill…”
Her fingers slide over my forearm, long nails grazing my skin. Icy chills run up my arm, making me shiver. There is nothing pleasant about it.
“That’s amazing, Lisa. I’m sure the team will want to come.” I tug once more, trying to get out of her grasp. I’m so done with this conversation. But she still isn’t letting go. Seriously, how much strength can such a tiny thing have? This isn’t normal.
“And I was thinking,” she blabs on, “that we should go together. You know, as the team captain and quarterback, and me as the head cheerleader, we should present a united front…”
No way in hell, is my knee jerk reaction, but I don’t get to say anything because an overly sweet voice stops her. A hand lands over hers that’s on my arm, and shoves it away effectively, but is soon replaced by a new one.
“That’s so sweet of you, but Noah won’t be able to take you,” Jessica says, her hand sliding down my forearm until our fingers interlock.
The overly exaggerated batting of eyelashes is finally done. Instead, Lisa’s sharp eyes turn to Jessy. “And why would that be, Jessy?”
“Because he’ll be taking me. His girlfriend.”
Chapter Seven
JESSICA
“Jessy, over here!” Evie waves as soon as I enter the door. The students are already mingling around the classroom, chatting while we wait for the bell to ring. Chemistry is the only class Evie and I have together this year.
Saying hi to a few people, I walk toward her. “No Liam today?”
“Nope, he had this one last year.” She pulls out the chair next to her for me to sit. “Besides, even if he did, us girls gotta stick together.”
“You say that now.” I stick my tongue out at her playfully. “I’m sure you sing a completely different tune when you’re with the lover boy.”
“I do no such thing!” She pushes her hair behind her ears.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
I slide into the chair and pull out the books I’ll need while Evie tells me everything that happened on her vacation, since we didn’t get much chance to do so with everything that’s been going on.
The last bell rings shortly after, making Mrs. Ryan’s scowl deepen as she watches students hurry inside. She’s known as one of those hard-ass teachers that expects nothing but perfection.
“Settle down,” she barks, her voice deep and raspy, a smoker’s voice. She’s older, probably in her mid-fifties, and her dark hair is chopped in a bob. Clever, bright blue eyes take in the full classroom, making sure to meet every student straight on.
“I don’t tolerate tardiness and noisiness. You’re here to learn, not mess around. If you can’t do that for the next forty-five minutes, you better leave right now.”
The quiet that settles over the classroom is almost deafening. Evie and I exchange a look, but say nothing.
“Now that that’s settled…”
Just then the door to the classroom opens and we all turn toward it as one.
“Who is that?” I ask in a whisper.
I’ve never seen this girl before. Greyford is a relatively small town and everybody knows everybody. Besides, she—whoever she might be—is the kind of girl you don’t forget that easily.
She’s around five foot six, and really thin. Her bright pink hair is covered with a beanie and she’s dressed all in black—from her leather jacket all the way to the tips of her military boots. Dark purple lipstick covers her lips, which are tipped in a mocking half-smile.
Leaving a hall pass on the teacher’s desk, she goes to the first available spot and sits down.
We all follow her with our gazes, trying not to be too obvious and failing miserably.
I look at Evie and she just shrugs, her eyes looking even bigger behind her frames than usual. “I have no idea.”
“So, listen to this.” Evie loops her arm through mine as soon as we meet in the hallway later that day.
“Evie, are you about to tell me some gossip?” I cover my mouth, feigning a gasp.
She, in return, slaps me playfully on my shoulder. “Shush! This is really interesting— besides, it’s not gossip if it really happened.”
“Depends who did the telling. But fine, I’ll play. Spill. What did you find out that made you turn to the dark side?”
Evie doesn’t gossip, so this should be good.
After chemistry we each had to go in our different directions; she had math while I had my world history class. Now it’s finally lunch break, which is good because I’m starving.
“The new girl? The one with the pink hair?” Like we get new people often enough for there to be any clarification necessary. The last time somebody new moved to Greyford was over a year ago. “Apparently, she was caught stealing at the gas station, but Mr. Lopez and Mr. Callahan caught her. They called the police since they didn’t know who she was. Turns out, it’s good that they did because she’s a teenage runaway.”
My mouth falls open. “What?”
Evie nods solemnly. “Yup, that was my reaction too. There are stories, but nobody knows the real reason she ran away.”
An uncomfortable shiver shakes my body. “She must have had it pretty bad to do that.”
“I guess so.”
“So, what is she doing here?”
If you’re running away, why would you run to a small, gossipy town like Greyford? It makes no sense. It’s way easier to get lost in a big city.
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Callahan said they could take her in until this whole situation settles down.”
My brows shoot up. I don’t know much about the Callahans except that their daughter Willow is in our year. “That’s nice of them.”
“I think so too. They’re nice peo— Uh-hu…” Evie stops in her tracks, pulling me to a stop too. She gives me a quick glance before her eyes turn forward.
“What now?”
She nibbles at her lip nervously. “What is Noah doing with her?”