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Cassie grabs my arm briefly before quickly recovering. “Hey, Ry. I’m good, thanks.”
He turns his attention to me, and I see him scan my body as I do the same thing to him. Ryland Turner is smoking hot. He’s wearing a pair of loose-fitted jeans that hug his legs but aren’t skinny jeans, and a T-shirt fitted tight enough that I can see his abs ripple underneath it. His shaggy blond hair is artfully styled, and his sapphire blue eyes twinkle as he peruses my form. Pouty full lips draw attention to his mouth, and I watch as he uses his tongue to wet the bottom one. Fuck! Inner me is drooling over a teenager. I should be arrested for the thoughts I’m having.
“Hi, Mackenzie, and welcome to Summerville. I’ll be happy to be your escort for the day. Come on, we have French first.” Ryland startles me out of my dirty thoughts, and I’m guessing from the smirk on his face that I may have been projecting one or two of them.
Fucking hell, Kenz, get your shit together. You have a perfect poker face.
He opens the door and gestures for Cassie and me to go first.
“I’ll see you around, maybe at lunch,” Cassie says as we enter the teen-filled corridor. She quickly disappears, and I find Ryland looking at me intently.
“It’s Mac,” I tell him quietly as he leads me down the locker lined hallway.
“Oh okay, cool. How do you know Cassie?” he asks, making polite conversation.
“Oh, I live at the foster home with her.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” he replies, and I shrug.
“Don’t be, it’s better than the last place I was at.” I point to my face, and he winces slightly, and then there’s an awkward silence.
“So what do you do for fun around here?” I ask him, changing the subject as we walk toward our first class. Thankfully, French is one of the languages I’m fluent in, but I’m not sure whether to play it cool and pretend I’m not or to just own that shit. I’m supposed to be a good and studious teen, so I’m leaning toward fluent.
“Um, well, I guess there are sports if you’re inclined, but mostly we hang out at the Mug Shot Diner with friends. There are places to party, too, if you’re interested in that.” He sounds almost as awkward as I am when he tells me about it, like he’s not used to it, but I guess he has been in a boarding school for years. This must be a new experience for him too.
I need to figure out where the kids that are missing used to hang out and with whom, but they are all from last year’s graduating class, and Ryland is new at the school, so he’s not going to be any help in that respect. I need to ask someone else. I think I’m going to ply Cassie for information. She seems to be a fount of knowledge, plus she lived with the kids, so she’ll know what they used to do or if any of them were particularly friendly with others.
Thankfully, we stop at a nearby door. I hadn’t noticed while we were walking, but now that we’re stopped, I can see we’re getting all kinds of looks from the students around us. I guess we must make a weird sight with big, blond, beautiful Ryland walking next to little old goth me.
“Ryland,” a husky female voice calls out, and when I turn in that direction, I see Miller, Jessica, Bishop, and Lathan, who’s grinning at me, with three other girls. The one who’s in the lead is tall and has hair so blonde it has to be from a bottle. She’s wearing an outfit much like Jessica’s, all pastels and pretty, and she has a smile on her face that doesn’t quite meet her eyes.
“You must be the new street trash Jessica was telling me about.” She eyes me up and down. “Goth sluts aren’t welcome in this school. You alternative freaks are nothing but trouble, with your drugs and wild ways. It’s all a sin in the eyes of the church.” Oh my lord, what kind of backwater, alternative reality did I just fall into? Hello, Footloose, you’re missing some cast members.
“Seriously?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Lathan is still grinning, while Bishop and Miller hide smirks.
“Sophie,” Ryland chides gently. “Don’t be like that. It’s okay to be different, and I’m pretty sure that the church preaches acceptance, not prejudice.”
“Not the church they go to,” I hear Lathan mutter, but no one else does because they are all raptly waiting for the drama to unfold, but the last thing I need is attention, so I decide to diffuse the situation.
“Thanks for showing me to class, Ryland,” I say politely before I push the door open and walk in without a backward glance. I am going to cut my losses there, since I’m not interested in the drama that comes along with being his friend, not to mention I’m not sure if I could stop lusting after him, and nobody wants pedophilia on their record.
After being so excited to go to high school, I have to say it’s completely underwhelming and fucking cliché, like every book I’ve ever read. Sophie is obviously the mean girl, and I don’t have time for that shit. No wonder Team Basilisk hasn’t got anywhere in the investigation if they are drawing attention to themselves and hanging around with that crowd.
I know Anders and Dayton are established in the community, but I wonder where the last two members of their team are. I must remember to ask one of them when I get a chance. Probably Lathan because he still looks happy to see me.
I take a seat at the back of the classroom as the rest of the students flow in behind me now that the drama didn’t escalate. Ryland, of course, is in my class, as are the other boys and girls who were in the circle. Not long after, another group walks in. The boys are all wearing letterman jackets and are large and beefy. I’m going to guess they belong to the football team. The other group couldn’t be more opposite. Instead of strutting and being loud like the football guys, these kids practically slink into class and take seats in the front row. They are so involved in their conversation about what I’m assuming is a video game—because I’d hate to think that they know about kill shots in real life—that they are oblivious to everything around them.
Lathan takes a seat next to me and the other guys and girls, with his group spread out around us. Sophie sits next to Ryland and engages him in conversation about an upcoming party, and Jessica’s doing her best to draw Miller’s attention, but he’s sketching on a book in front of him and only responds with single word answers. Bishop has a pretty chocolate-skinned girl on his lap, and my eyes widen minutely before I look away.
Holy fuck. These guys are too old to be messing around with these teens. I hope it’s for show, but out of the corner of my eye, I see her lean in and kiss him. He doesn’t push her away. In fact, I see him slide his hand up and under her shirt. It only stops when Lathan loudly drops some books down on the table next to me. Bishop removes his hand before pushing her from his lap and sits her on a chair next to him. She pouts, but he ignores it and keeps talking to her.
“Hi, I’m Lathan.” His friendly voice has me turning to look at him.
His glasses are slightly crooked on his face, and I reach up to straighten them as I reply, “Hi, I’m Mackenzie, Mac if you want.” He startles slightly until he realizes what I’m doing, and then he beams at me.
“Ew, Lathan, what are you doing talking to her and letting that skank touch you? You should probably wash your glasses now.” The annoying voice comes from behind me, and I drop my hand.
