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“Just friends who like to give each other rides to parties?”
“What?” she said with a shrug. “It’s not like we’re giving each other rides at parties. And since we’re just friends, I’m more than happy to ditch him if there’s any chance it will help convince you to come tonight…”
“I told you I’d think about it.” I groaned.
“And I know that probably means you’re not coming. I’ll have no fun without you.” Her eyes widened, and she slowly batted her eyelashes. She looked like a puppy sitting at the foot of a table, begging its owner for scraps. “There will be dancing…” She almost sang the words, doing her best to tempt me. I didn’t really enjoy parties, but she knew I was a sucker for a good dance floor.
“Please…” Mia wasn’t giving up.
“Ugh, okay, fine. I’ll meet you there.”
“Perfect.” She gave me an innocent smile, like she hadn’t just gotten her way by unfairly dangling a dancing carrot in front of me.
We started down the bleachers together. The arena had almost cleared out, but as we headed down the corridor that led to the lobby, I noticed some commotion up ahead. It was one of the Ransom players. He was still in his hockey gear and surrounded by a group of girls. He had his back to me, and I could see his surname and number written across his jersey. It was number twenty-three. Reed Darling.
He was tall, at least six feet. And even though he was wearing hockey pads, it was obvious he was packed with muscle. Without his helmet on, I could see he had messy, dark hair. His face was turned away from me though, and a part of me was curious to find out if he was as gorgeous as Mia said. She was clearly right about his reputation when it came to girls. He’d barely left the ice, and already they were swarming him. The way they were giggling with each other as he spoke to one of them made me feel a little sick. He was exactly the kind of guy my mom had warned me about. The reason my no-jock rule existed.
“Those girls don’t seem too concerned with his bad reputation,” I said to Mia.
She snorted in reply. “I’m not sure why you’re surprised, Vi. He’s a bad-boy hockey god. He might strike fear into the hearts of most guys, but most girls are handing him their hearts on a silver platter.”
“Well, from where I’m standing, it looks like the hockey players in Ransom are pigs too.”
I thought I’d kept my voice quiet, but Reed Darling turned to face me, and his deep blue-gray eyes flicked up to meet mine. I was somewhat disappointed to realize Mia was right again. He was gorgeous with striking features and the kind of piercing gaze that delved right into the depths of your soul, leaving you a little breathless. No one should look as perfect as this boy, and reputation aside, I could easily see why people loved to talk about him.
There was judgment in the look he gave me though, and his expression was stern, matching the hard planes of his face. The intensity of his glare sent a shiver up my spine, and I quickly glanced away before dragging Mia to the front entrance as fast as I could.
She giggled the moment we were out the door. “I think he heard you.”
I shrugged, trying to look unbothered by the prospect. What did it matter if some guy heard me call him a pig? He was acting like one, flirting with all of those girls. They were clearly too distracted by his good looks to be concerned with the fact he was bad news. I just had to forget that, for a moment, I had been a little distracted by him too.
2
VIOLET
“Please, Betty, not now,” I begged, as my car exhaled one last broken wheeze and chugged to a stop at the side of the road. As if she hadn’t made her point clear enough, she emphasized her protest to life with a loud and resounding bang.
“No, no, no,” I groaned as I tried to restart the engine.
This day was going from bad to worse. Jeremy still wasn’t answering my calls, and I was running late for the party because I had foolishly waited at home for my mom to call. As usual, something came up, and she had to cancel. I didn’t need my car breaking down on top of everything.
It was dark and below freezing outside, and if the car refused to start again, I knew I wouldn’t last five minutes without the heater on. I had no choice but to get Betty going, so I kept trying to convince her to give life another chance. “I promise I’ll be nicer to you, Betty. I’ll use that wax you like next time I wash you. I’ll give you a nice oil change and check your tire pressure. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’ll do whatever you want. Just please start.”
Betty chose not to respond, and the engine continued to click. She’d always been a temperamental old thing, but I had a feeling she was on her last legs. The move to Minnesota might have finally finished her off.
I tried restarting her a couple more times before I gave in. It was clear Betty wasn’t going anywhere fast, so I tried calling Mia. There was no answer. I also tried Jeremy, but unsurprisingly, he didn’t pick up either. I even asked ChatGPT what to do, but the AI app simply answered by explaining there were various reasons a car wouldn’t start and advised I consult a mechanic.
I swore and jumped from the car to check under the hood. This wasn’t the first time Betty had conked out on me, and I’d always managed to get her going again somehow. Surely, she didn’t need to see a mechanic. She was just being difficult. A frigid gust of wind slammed into me as I emerged from the vehicle, and I had to suppress a shiver. The person who named Sunshine Hills must have had a sick sense of humor. There was only one hill, and I was beginning to forget what the sun looked like.
I blew into my frozen hands and jumped up and down on the spot to stay warm as I stared at Betty’s engine. I wasn’t sure why I thought this might help because I knew absolutely nothing about how cars worked. But I was desperate. I wasn’t far from the party, but I didn’t want to leave Betty out here in the cold.
I considered calling my uncle for help but immediately rejected the idea. He thought Mia and I were meeting some friends to see a movie tonight. But here I was, on the outskirts of town, about as far from the movie theater as you could get. He would freak if he knew Mia and I were going to a party with no parental supervision. And if I called him for help, he’d find out the truth, and we’d both be grounded for the rest of the year. Luke was taking his position as my temporary guardian far too seriously. He really needn’t worry. It wasn’t like my mom would care.
I turned on the flashlight on my phone and held it over the car engine. The light did little to help the situation. I couldn’t see anything smoking or hissing, and there were no obvious chunks of metal hanging at awkward angles. The engine looked very much like I imagined an engine should, and Betty’s mystery illness remained as inexplicable as it had been before.
“Crap. Crap. Crap.” I slammed Betty’s hood back down. “I thought we were friends,” I yelled at her. “How could you do this to me?” To make sure she fully understood my disappointment in her, I swung my foot at one of Betty’s wheels.
I swore again as the kick connected with the tire and my toes collided against the tip of my boot. I hopped backward from the car on one foot, only to slip on the icy ground. My breath caught as my feet flew out from beneath me, and I landed in a heap on the side of the road, snow flying up around me.
