As if school wasn’t already bad enough, now I’ll have to do more school outside of school.
I take one look at the stack of worksheets and wish I could disappear.
Chapter 6
April pulls her hair over her shoulder, inspecting the tips for split ends while we walk to school on Monday. I’ve been telling her about my ridiculous meeting with the assistant principal (or should I say my dad’s new wife, ugh) and how I now have to take tutoring. It feels good telling someone about this hell I’ve been placed into. I can’t tell my mom. She’ll either be pissed or stressed out or both. Probably both.
“So now I have to be tutored by God-knows-who,” I say with a groan. “If it’s Mrs. Lapin I’m going to drop out of high school and become a loser for the rest of my life, I swear.”
April laughs, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “I don’t think Mrs. Lapin would stay after school even if they paid her. She’s always rushing out the door right after the bell rings.”
“This sucks so freaking bad,” I mutter. We stop at an intersection and I turn to face her, putting my hands on both of her shoulders. “Don’t ever fail your classes,” I tell her, looking her in the eyes. “It isnotworth it.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t skip school unlikesomeone I know…”
There’s a quick honk of a car horn, which gets both of our attention. At the intersection, which is a four way stop sign, a red Dodge truck rolls down the passenger window.
“Is he honking at us?” April whispers as she goes very still at my side, then slides her purse around her shoulder. She keeps pepper spray in her purse, so she’s probably reaching for it right now.
“Hi,” some guy calls out from the driver’s side of the truck. I glance around, but no one else is out here. He has to be talking to us.
“Are you talking to us?” I say because he still hasn’t driven forward and this is just weird.
“Yes,” he calls back, leaning over so I can see him through the window. “You’re Natalie, right?”
All the air rushes out of my lungs. I don’t know if I’m relieved that the car honking guy isn’t some creeper asking for directions, or if I’m suddenly very nervous because I know him.
Well I used to know him.
“Yeah, that’s me,” I say. Beside me, April whispers, “You know him?”
Caleb Brown motions for me to walk closer. I’m still a little surprised and confused, but my legs comply without my permission and the next thing I know I’m standing next to his truck, peering into the window.
Caleb Brown is tall like his dad, with black hair cropped short. In junior high, he kept it long and shaggy, always in his eyes. Now he’s going for a more professional mature vibe, I guess. The sprinkling of freckles across his cheeks that I remember so well from when we were kids has faded into a dark tan. But his blue eyes are just as blue as I remember them.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“You own the store, right?” His brows pull together while he thinks. “The one on the boardwalk with the gifts and stuff inside?”
“The Magpie?” I offer, and he nods.
“Yeah, that one. That’s yours, right? Well, your mom’s?”
I nod, wondering why the hell he cares about that. “Cool,” he says, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “Well, um, you probably don’t remember me—”
“I remember you,” I say, cutting him off. “We were friends as kids.”
He smiles, his lips curving into that boyish look I remember so well. “Yeah, we were. It’s cool that you remember.”
My insides turn to mush at that smile. I mean. Whoa. I’d had the biggest crush on Caleb Brown as a kid, but I’m not an idiot as a teenager. I know he’s out of my league and way too cool and rich and popular for me to lust over now, but damn.
He’s crazy hot.
So hot it should be illegal.
“So…you want a ride?” he says, patting the seat next to him. “Your friend can come too.”
“No, thanks,” April says quickly. Her soft voice makes me startle because I’d totally forgotten she was even here. She tugs on my arm. “We like walking.”
