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Openingthe door, she hesitantly peeked out.Thehallway was empty except for one student running in the opposite direction from her before sliding to a stop in front of a classroom and entering it.Keepingher head down,Allondrastepped out of the restroom and headed for the health office, misery growing inside her with every step.Thosegirls were right—she was a nobody and probably would always be.
* * *
Fivedays later…
Allondratapped her pen against her thigh, waiting for the bell to ring so she could get out ofWorldHistorywithout giving into the urge to look over her shoulder atWestsitting in the back of the room.She’dmanaged to avoid him since she’d heard about his plan to ask her out.Atthe health office the other day, she used agonizing menstrual cramps as her need to go home—she was in the middle of her period, so it’d been an ideal excuse.Hermother wouldn't question it since she’d had bad cramps a few times before.Thankfully, the nurse had taken pity on her and allowedAllondrato go home since she did look like she was in a lot of pain.Ifonly it hadn’t been from a broken heart.Theonly downfall was her mother had made an appointment with their gynecologist tomorrow for an examination.
Ithad been a rough few days forAllondra—first, the mess withWestand then finding out her father’s company was transferring him, and they were all moving toDenverafter the end of the school year.Whileshe couldn’t care less about going to a new school, she hated the thought of being three-quarters of the way across the country from the rest of their extended family—especiallySadieandAuntEmily.
Afterher father had broken the news the other night, her aunt invited the two girls for a sleepover to create as many memories as they could in the short time they had beforeAllondra’sfamily moved.Thetwo girls often spent weekend overnights atAuntEmily’shouse, complete with pizza, movies, dancing, gossiping, and painting each other’s nails.
Onceher aunt had gone to bed,Allondraconfessed toSadiewhatWestplanned to do, and her cousin’s response, after threatening to kick his ass, had been simple. “Whenhe asks, just raise your chin, look bored, and tell him ‘No, thanks.’”
They’deven practiced it a few times, withSadiebeingWest.Allondrastill wasn’t sure she could pull it off, but she really didn’t have any better ideas.
She’dgotten out of tutoring for the rest of the year after using the upcoming move as an excuse that she no longer had time to stay after school to help the group.Mr.Patelwas very understanding and asked the backup tutor to fill in for the remaining few weeks.Withthat taken care of, the only timeAllondrahadn’t been able to avoidWestwas the two classes they had together.Historywas easier since he sat far away from her, but chemistry had been excruciating, trying not to glance at him or burst into tears.Wheneverhe asked a question or tried to engage her in conversation, she’d kept her answers short or pretended not to hear him.Unfortunately, it hadn’t seemed to deter him one bit.
Yesterday, he’d been standing with a few sophomores, including his friendRyan, a short distance from her locker.Shehadn’t heard what they were saying but noticedWestglancing in her direction.Ryanhad followed his gaze and then said something that had everyone in the small group laughing, includingWest.Allondra’scheeks had burned, and tears threatened to fall as she slammed her locker shut and spun away.Shethen took the long way to her next class to avoid walking past them.
Onlyfour weeks to go before the last day of school.Afterthat, she would never have to seeWestor any of the mean in-crowd again.Shewas torn between wanting time to fly and hoping it would slow down so she could have more sleepovers atAuntEmily’swithSadie.
Whenthe bell rang,Allondrathrew her books and pen into her bag and made a beeline for the door, managing to be the first one out of the room.Shebreathed a sigh of relief that she evaded the jerk again.Hurryingto her locker, she quickly spun the dial to unlock it and opened the door.
“Hey,Allondra.”
Shefroze at the sound ofWest’svoice.Itseemed to have gotten deeper over the past year with each passing week, and despite not wanting it to, the delicious timbre sent shivers down her spine.
Aftera quick glance in his direction, she focused on searching for her math book.Shekept her tone flat and her response short. “Hey.”
Heleaned casually against the row of lockers next to hers, holding his history textbook and a spiral notebook against his chest.Allondradid her best to control her breathing and blink back a few tears that wanted to well up.
“Areyou okay?You’renot tutoring the group anymore.”
“I’mfine.Ijust have too much work of my own to do.”Ittook everything in her not to look at him again.Maybeif she were rude, he’d go away.
“Listen,Iwanted to ask you something.”
Shit.Hereit comes.Youcan do this.Justlike you andSadiepracticed.“Yeah?What?”
Shefound her math book, stuck it into the bag, and put her history andSpanishbooks into the locker.Westhesitated, probably wondering why she wasn’t giving him her full attention.
“Um…Iwas wondering…uh…would you…um…would you like to go to theSophomoreSocialwith me?”
Allondraswallowed hard and bit her lip.Herheart sank.Untilhe said those words, she’d prayed it had been a false rumor, but now she knew it was true.Shecouldn’t stop herself from glancing around the hallway.Whatshe saw had her stomach roiling and her knees quivering.Whilefreshmen and some juniors strode down the hallway, chatting and seemingly oblivious to the drama unfolding, clusters of students from the sophomore class watched her andWestwith rapt interest.Somewhispered to each other while others eagerly awaited her response.Severalpointed their phones at her andWest, clearly recording them while waiting for the big joke to be revealed and for the shy wallflower to be humiliated.Whateverhappened in the next few seconds would be the talk of the tenth grade for days, if not weeks.
Hercheeks flushed, but somehow, she found the courage to tilt her chin up.Sheused a bored tone asSadiehad instructed. “No, thanks.”
Shecaught a flash of shock in his eyes before she diverted her gaze, slammed her locker shut, then turned away and hurried through the mass of students toward her next class.Behindher, gasps, murmurs, and a few curses of disbelief reached her ears, but she ignored all of them.Alump formed in her throat, and she swiped her eyes, preventing a few threatening tears from falling.Heremotions were split between anguish, contempt, and triumph.Shewas proud she hadn’t givenWestand the rest of the in-crowd the satisfaction of humiliating her.Now, if she could only get through the last few weeks of school without falling apart, she'd be okay.
ChapterThree
Twentyyears later…
“Allie, were we really that dorky back then?”
Alliegrimaced as she eyed the five-by-eight photograph her cousinSadieMcKennaheld.Theframed image was from nearly two decades ago and had been sitting on an end table next to a sofa, which was nearly as old but still in fairly good condition.Bothfifteen-year-old girls were grinning, each with an arm over the other’s shoulder.WhileSadiehad the appearance of the cool, popular, athletic, and attractive teenager she’d been back then,Alliehad been a nerdy wallflower.Thephoto had been taken at the end of her sophomore year atHoldenHighSchool, two weeks before she and her parents had moved toDenver.
Atthe time, while she’d known she would miss herAuntEmily,Sadie, and the rest of her relatives in the area,Alliehad looked forward to starting over in a new school and making friends.Anythingwould’ve been better than her time atHHS, being targeted by the mean girls and seeing that bastardWestall the time.God, she hated the memories of those days.
