AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unfortunately, that’s not what I’m considering right now. I’m wondering how he can simultaneously be exactly what I expected and nothing like it.
I thought I came prepared today. Arrived with an impenetrable wall built up. But in a matter of a few minutes, Caleb has managed to throw me off completely.
And he stays silent until we reach the door placard reading 204. I yank at the door handle and another squeaky set of hinges announce our arrival.
I’ve spent many sleepless nights recently imagining how uncomfortable encountering my classmates this August morning might be.
Being entirely ignored was best-case scenario.
Arriving late with Caleb Winters in tow is the total opposite of the incognito entrance I was hoping to make.
“Lennon Matthews, I presume?” My attention is drawn from the sea of familiar faces gawking at me to the middle-aged woman standing at the front of the room. Her lips are pursed. A tight bun and crossed arms exacerbate her stern expression.
My manners kick in automatically. “Yes, ma’am,” I confirm.
There’s a sharp intake of breath behind me. I battle the urge to look over my shoulder and witness the moment Caleb Winters realizes I’m a member of Landry’s most disgraced family.
What little is left of it, anyway.
“And this must be Caleb Winters with you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Caleb steps forward, stopping about five feet to my left. Distancing himself from me. “I’m Caleb Winters.”
Confidence saturates his voice. Attention shifts from me to him. Judgmental murmurs morph into excited whispers. Pitying stares become admiring glances.
It doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t sting, because pain is easier to ignore when you expect it. But it does piss me off.
“I’m sorry we’re tardy. Caleb thought the room was the other way.”
I regret the hasty,falsewords as soon as they leave my mouth. I’m not a liar. Or I didn’t use to be. But it’s easy—disarmingly easy—to act poorly if that’s what people expect from you.
Everyone in the room is staring at me. But the gaze of the guy standing next to me feels different. Feels heavier, like a weight I can’t avoid. His attention crawls over my skin as an inescapable itch.
I want to ignore Caleb.
To be unaffected by his attention and presence. But I’m …not.
“I’ll let it slide since it’s the first day,” our teacher announces. “Just make sure it doesn’t become a pattern. Take your seats, please.”
There are exactly two open seats left. One in the second row and one in the very back. I head toward the rear of the room, disparaging stares following my journey from front to rear. A wave of snickers travels through the room when I stumble a foot from the chair.
I drop into the seat, willing the heat in my cheeks to disappear as the classmates around me shift at their desks, like unpopularity is a contagious disease.
I focus on my notebook, ignoring everyone in the room except the teacher.
Especially the guy sitting in the second row.
* * *
I stop off at my locker before lunch to dump the three heavy textbooks I’ve already accumulated this morning.
Landry takes its academicsveryseriously.
My plan is to avoid the cafeteria and eat lunch in the library instead. I’m about to head in that direction when I hear a voice that belongs to someone I’d really rather avoid.
Ryan James is a stereotypical jock. He’s been Landry’s quarterback since whatever age boys start playing football, and the status of that position combined with a seemingly endless supply of self-confidence has granted him some form of popularity.
He spent the first half of the summer directing more concentrated attention my way than I thought him capable of. My best friend—nowex-best friend—Madison was convinced he had a thing for me.
