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I was just as bad as those girls, spreading rumors and lies to hurt others. This isn’t like me, and guilt is already churning in my stomach.
Roman isn’t looking at me—he’s looking out the window—and Hunter’s face falls, his eyes finding mine across the cafeteria. Fuck. If anything, I just made this so much worse. I upset and hurt two people I’ve never wanted to hurt.
Jace stands up and points at me. I shake my head and shrug. The expression changes as he narrows his eyes at me. Roman is glowering at me now and says something to Jace. Then all three of them watch me intensely, and my body thrums with nervous energy. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but Jace tilts his head as if to say “game on,” and I know I shouldn’t have played with fire.
Dad picks me up after school. He won’t be able to do it again. This is only because it’s my first day. I’d told him I can take the bus. I don’t mind.
“I spoke with Ella today. It makes no sense, you catching the bus when the boys come here every day. They can give you a lift in the morning.”
He called Jace’s mom? I was about to protest when I realized I hadn’t seen Grady yet. The school’s big, and he’s a senior this year, but I’d been hoping to see him. Even if he still thinks of me as an annoying little sister, I’m okay with getting a lift from him.
“Yeah, I’ll go speak to Grady. Jace isn’t really talking to me right now, Dad.”
I feel, rather than see, him look over at me.
“Jace isn’t talking to you? You used to be best friends. It wasn’t your fault you had to move so far away. I knew you didn’t like talking about them, so I didn’t mention them when I called. But I didn’t realize he wasn’t speaking to you at all.”
I shrugged. “It was my fault. I didn’t talk to him while I was gone, even though he tried. It was just too hard.” I take a deep breath; I’m beginning to understand how much I hurt them by not calling or telling them why. “I ignored all their calls and messages.”
“Oh, Mila, baby. You should have told me. I could have helped. Now, you’re here without friends.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I have friends. My old friends are here, and it’s been great seeing them today.”
I don’t want him to find an excuse to send me to Lakeview Prep. And I don’t want him worrying about me being alone or something. I would work out the thing with the boys…hopefully.
“Well, I guess it would be best to speak to Grady. But, tonight, we have some special guests. If you remember.”
“I finally meet Kate, Madison and…” I trail off, hoping Dad will fill me in on his name, because for the life of me I can’t remember it.
“Asher.”
Right, Asher.
Well, this better be good after the long ass day I’d had already.
Kate is beautiful, and Madison is the spitting image of her. They have this dark brown hair that’s shiny and straight. Just so shiny…I need to ask them what they use, because mine is never that shiny.
They’re both tall. It’s like everyone is taller than me these days.
Asher…fuck. He is hot, and that’s so bad to think about, because my dad really likes his mom. So much that I have a feeling one day Asher will be my stepbrother. So, I’m hoping he’s an asshole. He’s a football player, so chances are kinda high he is. Plus, that will help with any attraction there.
“Hey, it’s nice to finally meet you. Coach talks about you all the time.” Asher holds his hand out for me to shake. Okay, maybe he’s just trying to be nice in front of my dad so he doesn’t get kicked off the team.
I glance at my dad to find him beaming. Turning back to Asher, I say, “It’s great to meet you too.”
Is this handshake lingering a little longer than usual? Shit. Has dad noticed? Or am I just reading into this because Asher is gorgeous and that hair, like his mom’s, is dark brown and styled just right.
Madison is wary of me and won’t make eye contact, but Kate comes right in with a huge hug and smile. “Oh, Mila, I have heard so much about you. I think we will get along well.” She then whispers in my ear, “Madison is a little shy, so she takes a while to come out of her shell. She isn’t being rude like so many people seem to think.”
I pull back and nod. I understand what she means. How someone being standoffish can be mistaken for snobbery. I’ll have to make sure Madison feels comfortable around me, and hopefully we can be friends.
Kate hugs my dad and kisses him, laughing at him for burning the pasta he attempted for dinner. The way he lights up and laughs so freely with her, I know Kate’s perfect for him. I’d never seen my dad like this with my mom. Not once.
And, yes, my dad, the chef. He didn’t put enough water in the pot and left it on the stove for too long. He’d been busy watching game tapes and was only alerted to it when I yelled out from upstairs that there was a burning smell.
The smell is embedded into the house now. I tried to spray some perfume to cover it, but nothing did. So, we had the windows open even though it’s warm out.
Dad decides that even pasta is too hard for him and orders takeout. I tell him he should have done that first. I can’t cook either, so we were gonna have a lot of takeout in our future. I need to learn, since I can’t live off pizza forever. Although it’s a nice idea.
