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“Rules? Am I not allowed there or something? What is it?” They weren’t listening to my questions. Scarlett was glaring around me at Lilly, who stared back at her wide-eyed. It was as if they were talking in another language.
“Oh, come on, Scarlett, who is she going to tell?”
“Fine.Fine.” We stopped outside my class, and Scarlett released me. “If I don’t see you around before school ends, I’ll text. Do not say a word to anyone, got it?” Her gaze snapped from my face to Lilly. “This is fucked up, Lil.”
Lilly flashed me a half-smile. “Becca’s cool, I can tell. It’ll be fine. See you tonight,” she said and backtracked down the hallway. Scarlett inhaled deeply, and I got the feeling she wasn’t happy Lilly had invited me to Rogues. Whatever the hell Rogues was.
“Guess I’ll see you later,” she said.
And with that, she left me standing there, feeling more confused than ever.
* * *
When I entered math,Evan was already there, sitting in his usual seat. He looked up, but I averted my gaze. I couldn’t escape him since our desks were next to one another, but I could ignore him, the way he’d ignored me so many classes before. But something felt different, and I didn’t need to look at him to know he was watching me as I made my way to the back of the room. It was as if his heated gaze burned into me, setting off the butterflies I felt around him.
Sliding into my seat, I tried to remain calm when really I was a quivering mess. What was it about him? He was everything I needed to stay away from, but in a strange way,he’dinserted himself intomylife. Not the other way around. Sure, he spent most of his time ignoring me, but he always seemed to show up when I needed someone.
“You look different.” His measured voice slid over me like butter.
Refusing to turn to him, I kept my eyes straight ahead, drawing in even breaths. His soft laughter filled the space between us, but then the teacher started the lesson, and the room fell silent.
By the time the bell rang, I felt ready to combust. Evan hadn’t tried to talk to me again, but his words replayed over and over in my head. Something about the way he’d said it, like he didn’t approve, made no sense. Before, I’d stood out; people had noticed me—judgedme. Now, I blended. Sure, I didn’t have any particular style nailed, but the blue wash cropped jeans, sneakers, and dark tank top was a lot more fitting for Credence High.
I didn’t hurry to get out of class, and by the time I’d stuffed everything into my bag, the classroom was empty. Except for Evan. He lingered in the doorway. Keeping my head down, I tried to slip past him, but he stepped into my path.
“Don’t let this shithole change you.” He hesitated, and I waited. I waited for him to call me “Math girl,” but “Becca” tumbled from his mouth.
My eyes went wide, and I opened my mouth to say something. Anything. But he was gone before I could find my voice. With a resigned sigh, I walked to my next class. His words bugged me. He didn’t know me any better than anyone else here did, but he’d seen something in me, that much I knew. He saw past the clothes I wore, and the fake smile I tried to plaster on my face. He saw me. I didn’t know how or why, but he did.
But I had to change, didn’t I?
If I wanted to fit in at Credence High, to make friends and earn my place, I had to leave behind the old Becca and embrace new Becca.
* * *
“So what is this place?”
“You’ll see.” Scarlett kept her eyes on the road. When she said she’d text me after school, I wasn’t expecting her to ask me for my address so she could pick me up. Mom took one look at her rusty Volvo and insisted Dad drive us, but he’d laughed her off, dropping a kiss on my head and telling me to go have fun. I think he was just relieved that I was finally hanging out with kids my age again, doing normal teenager things.
“Nice house, by the way. Westgate is probably the nicest neighborhood in Credence.”
“Where do you live?” I deflected her comment, hoping she wouldn’t say any of the areas Dad had warned me to avoid.
“Credence Woods, the best damn trailer park in the whole of our shitty town.”
“You live in a…”
“Trailer park?” She laughed. “Yeah, so? A lot of the kids at Credence do. There are a couple near the school.”
“Oh.” I’d never met anyone that lived in a trailer park before.
“I take it they don’t have trailer parks where you come from?”
“I don’t think so.”
Not unless you were camping on vacation, they didn’t.
“Where are you from again?”
