AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Evan tilted his head, watching me.
I blushed. It was impossible not to when he looked at me like that. As if I was some forbidden fruit not to be touched… or tasted. Licking my lips, my mouth suddenly dry, I said, “Nothing, just thinking. Will you be at the party tonight?”
He shook his head softly, and I noticed his hair had grown out a bit. It looked good on him.
“Nah, not really my scene. See you around, Becca.”
Evan disappeared down the hallway, and I slunk back against the locker with a soft sigh and something that felt a lot like disappointment settling in my chest.
* * *
“You look freakin’awesome.” Lilly clapped from the back as I climbed into the front seat of Scarlett’s car.
“Yeah, looking good, new girl.”
“Aren’t we past that yet?” I rolled my eyes dramatically, and Scarlett laughed.
“Yeah, you’re right. We need a new name for you. Hmm, how about—”
“Becca, yes, that works,” I interjected, unsure if I wanted to hear any of her nicknames for me.
Scarlett smirked, pulling back onto the road. One of the football players was throwing the party, and since Eric played on the team, he got invitation rights.
“Talk me through it again. How did someone like Eric end up playing football?”
“What are you trying to say,Becca? Us emos can’t play sports?”
“No, not at all. He just doesn’t scream football player.”
“People change, I guess. He used to run with that crowd. All jocked up, but then Mischa got sick, and things changed.”
“Scarlett,” Lilly warned.
“Chill. I’m not telling her anything people don’t already know.” She glanced sideways at me. “If you want to know the ins and outs, you’d have to ask Mischa.”
I watched the town roll by. Eric and Mischa weren’t around much, and when they were, they tended to stick to themselves. It seemed like everyone at Credence High had something going on. I was still unsure whether that made me feel better or not. We moved out here to leave behind the secrets and lies, yet since I’d arrived, it seemed my life was drowning in them.
It was just the little things.
What was it like growing up in Santa Barbara?
What were your friends like?
Did you have a boyfriend?
Do you stay in touch?
Mostly, I just smiled and deflected the questions with a vague answer. It was Kendall who bugged me the most. The way she watched me from across the hallway or the cafeteria. It was as if she knew. Knew that my life here in Credence was fake. Built on white lies and half-truths. Of course, it was impossible. She was no one—just a girl who took an instant dislike to me because I was different from her.
“I look okay, right?”
Mom had screwed her face up when she’d seen my outfit—a denim dungaree skirt that finished just above my mid-thigh—but I think it was the calf-length black boots, my latest thrift store purchase, that had almost given her a heart attack.
“You look amazing. The guys are going to die when they see you. Especially Vin.”
“I’m not interested in Vin,” I said, twirling the bangles lining my wrist.
“Well, he’s sure interested in you. He doesn’t shut up about you in history.”
