AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gawked at my phone like the mediocre idiot Duncan Walsh already thought I was. I got a whole proper sentence. Two actually.
Tyler got his face in my phone and read the text.
“Who’s this Duncan guy?” he asked suggestively.
“Oh, this fifty-year-old guy I’ve been talking to online,” I said nonchalantly.
Tyler’s eyes almost popped out and I laughed.
“Elizabeth knows him. He’s a designer and he’s helping me. Or at least he thinks he is. I’m not so sure. He’s trying to be my mentor.”
“Your mentor?”, Ty cocked his head. He had no idea what I was talking about.
“I have a… hobby,” I cringed. “I’m making jewelry. Girls at school are buying them. It’s stupid.”
Tyler was confused and looked at me like he knew that wasn’t everything I had to say on the subject. I could see the decision-making process behind his eyes. His never-ending need to escape the complications in life overcame the small part of his mind that wanted to know if I was doing something stupid.
“If that’s your thing,” he seemed eager to change the subject. So was I. “How is school? Is principal Smith still preaching against shorts skirts and normal human needs?”
“You mean like the need to have a threesome on the football field? Yeah, he’s still not a fan,” we both laughed. In his senior year, my brother was caught with two cheerleaders with their clothes off, having a threesome right in the middle of the field. There was no real punishment for anyone involved, but principal Smith had strict rules about PDA ever since.
Tyler and I managed to escape all topics that would potentially get one of us in an awkward position for the next couple of hours. On our walk back, I sent a text to Hannah to tell her that she would after all see my brother like she hoped a few weeks ago, and I went backhomealmost happy.
Chapter Thirteen
Clementine
I opened the door to the Cole’s home and after a few steps inside I got a view to their living room and the tall, handsome smiling guy sitting on their couch, playing around with the pink balloons. He smiled, and I had to bite my lip to hide my own grin. He looked so good, I had to remind myself all the time that he was actually tormenting me. Well, that one was a bit of a stretch. All he wanted from me was to speak my truth, explain, and admit to every shameful decision I made. I preferred to wait until graduation and burry my secrets once and for all.
Lucas stood up and shook Tyler’s hand, ignoring me.
“Haven’t seen you around in a long time.”
“I’ve been busy,” Ty supplied and landed on the couch. Lucas followed him and turned his back on me like I wasn’t even there.
I was hurt he didn’t even say happy birthday to me. Not in the morning, when Troy and his parents sang for me, hugged me, and made me blow a candle on a miniature cupcake. Not at school, where we bumped into each other a few times. And not now, when we were pretty much alone if you don’t count the other self-absorbed quarterback in the room.
“How’s coach Howard doing? Clem told me he’s retiring,” Tyler started, and I huffed. They both shot me a surprised look.
“I’ll go change. I can’t standthattalk,” I dragged my feet up the stairs. The last thing I wanted was to listen to a conversation about football between two quarterbacks with egos the size of the state.
“What talk?” my brother yelled after me.
“Never mind,” I shouted back.
I went to my room, and I pulled out the dress.
I had a few. They were more appropriate for a night out, looking for someone to undress you, than a birthday girl just becoming an adult, partying with her forty-year-old neighbors.
I picked the long-sleeved one that covered everything from my neck to my mid-thigh. Everything except my back. It was completely naked. But I figured I could always stand by the wall like a fucking statue.
I went downstairs and straight to the kitchen, passing by the dinner table already set up by Elizabeth. I loved everything she cooked, but I was a total sucker for her baked goodies. I devoured those.
I refused to acknowledge Lucas and Tyler while I passed them by. I was scared of their possible disapproval of my outfit.
Elizabeth was helping Troy with his homework on the kitchen island. They both looked frustrated, but no one acted out. It was so different from what I’ve been used to. The funny thing was that I was starting to really enjoy everything that irritated me in this household in the beginning.
I looked at them for a while. Elizabeth lifted her gaze and smiled at me, but continued talking to Troy. She really loved being a mom.
