AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He grabs onto my shoulder. “Why?”
I fling him off. “It’s too hard Parker. I can’t be around you.”
“But I miss...”
“Back off!” Josie yells, running down the hallway.
Parker lifts his hands in surrender.
Josie shoves him away. “Don’t you think you’ve messed with her heart enough?”
Parker’s mouth hangs open as he stumbles to get his balance. He blinks hard as he pivots between me and Josie. “Josie, I’m not...”
Josie steps in front of me, her hands planted on her hips. “Don’t start, Parker. You just stay away from my best friend.”
I tap her shoulder. “Josie, let’s go.”
“Kylie,” Parker pleads. “Can’t I just...”
“No, you can’t,” Josie blurts, and then turns away with me.
As we pace up the hallway, I say mid-pant, “Josie, you didn’t have to do that.”
“No, I did. He doesn’t get to toy with your emotions.”
“I was already walking away from him.”
Josie sighs. “He was pulling you back in.”
“Ugh. My head hurts. When will this day be over?”
“We could play hooky?”
I splutter a laugh. “This is us we’re talking about.”
Josie and I spend lunch in the library, and I psyche myself up for my next class.
Chemistry.
The class that started this whole mess in the first place.
I was just a girl, lusting after the boy next door. It was innocent and safe because I had the protection of fantasyland. Now, the real world has made everything ugly and my heart is bruised and battered.
“Welcome back, class,“ Mr. Thompson says as we file into the science lab. “At the request of some students, today you can switch lab partners if you wish.”
I hug my books close, feeling a vortex of sickness swirling in my gut.
Before I step further into the aisle, I duck behind the workstation in the front row. I sit behind the desk and lower my head so I don’t make eye contact with anyone walking into the classroom.
If only I could clickmuteon my ears. Within the mass of footsteps moving into the room and between the desks, I hear two distinct voices.
Parker and Lewis.
On instinct, I hold my breath. My shoulder hunch forward, and I hope by making myself small, I somehow become invisible.
When their voices trail off close by, I slowly raise my head. From the corner of my eye, I spy Helen Redfern making her way into the classroom. She’s a diligent student who usually sits somewhere close to the front. I wave at her and she happily takes the seat next to me.
I breathe out in a hurry, glad I haven’t made eye contact with either boy.
