Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 87911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“I’m starving,” Ian said.
It was lunchtime.
They all headed into the cafeteria. Like most high schools, the cafeteria was where anyone could find out the groups of different people who attended the school.
The jocks with all the cheerleaders sat to one side.
The bikers tended to take the opposite end of the hall. It was their space, and their own bunch of groupies would surround them.
Then you had the nerds, and other groups of kids, waiting. Some of the beauty queens, and then the losers’ table as well.
He didn’t pay attention to any of them.
All of his crew pushed in line, grabbing a couple of sandwiches, pizzas, and fries, and they headed toward their table.
Ian nudged him, pointing to the corner, near the wall. Almost invisible, Chloe sat on her own, eating her lunch, staring at a book.
Why was she always fucking reading?
“Go, have some fun with this.”
Alfie glared at Ian. He was going to have to kick his ass so the guy knew his place. No one was replacing him at the top of their group.
With his tray in hand, he walked over to Chloe.
She didn’t look up for several seconds, and he got tired of waiting for her.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked.
Chloe looked up, her eyes going wide. “Why?”
“I was thinking we could hang out today. It’ll be fun.” He didn’t wait for an invitation. “You’re going to have to tell your friends to fuck off.” He took a bite of his large pizza.
“I eat lunch alone. I don’t have any friends.”
He knew that. She never hung around anyone. Was always alone. It made sense.
Again, he hadn’t paid particular attention to what she did or didn’t do.
“So what are you reading?” he asked.
“A book.” She slid it closed, and he watched as she took a bite of apple. “Why are you sitting here rather than with your friends?”
“I think a change is as good as the rest. How is your, erm, face?”
“My face?”
“You took a nasty fall.”
Her face went bright red. “Oh, I’m fine.”
“You okay? It wasn’t me who tripped you.”
“I know. Someone in front of me did.”
“You didn’t see who it was?”
“Nope. Have no clue. It’s fine.” She finished her apple, and he realized she wasn’t looking at him.
“You know it’s rude not to pay your dinner guest any attention.”
She glanced up and quickly looked down. “I don’t feel comfortable you being here.”
He also noticed her leg was constantly moving, bouncing up and down.
His presence made her that nervous? Taking another bite of pizza, he tried to think what to say. What did he say to this girl? He wasn’t used to trying to be nice.
Gritting his teeth, he looked for anything to talk about. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
She looked up then, her blue eyes staring right at him. They were the color of the ocean, brighter than his own blue.
“You are?”
“Yeah, I heard what happened at the club. Your mom finally ending things with him.”
She nodded.
“Will you see him again?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since she kicked him out. Your dad was there when she handed him a suitcase full of stuff.”
Alfie had noticed when it came to Lily, his father liked to bend over backwards to help. It wasn’t like Lily gave Eagle the time of day either. At one point, he thought they were having an affair, but it wasn’t the case. Lily was truly oblivious to the attention coming her way from Eagle.
“Did he make it easier for her?”
“I don’t know. I think he was there to stop my father doing anything stupid, you know?”
He was probably there to stop Lily from taking Kurt back, but Alfie didn’t say anything. “How was history?”
“You care about history?”
“Yeah, I do. I mean, I suck at it.”
“That why you don’t turn up?” she asked.
“One of the many reasons I don’t turn up. Besides, after this morning, I didn’t want to see Miss Hops. Did she notice I wasn’t there?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“Damn.”
Chloe chuckled.
Alfie stopped as he listened to it. The sound didn’t last for long, and it wasn’t fake either. It was a sweet, light sound.
He realized he’d never heard her laugh, chuckle, giggle, or make any kind of noises other than anger and frustration.
“It would have been hard for her not to notice you weren’t there. A little advice in the future, cut class with a teacher who hasn’t seen you before that lesson.”
“You ever cut class?” Alfie asked.
“No. Never.”
“That is lame.”
“Yeah, well, I have a plan, and I’ve got to stick with it, to see it through.”
“A plan?”
“Yep, a top secret one.” She tapped her nose.
“You’re not going to tell me.”
“Nope.”
Now his curiosity was getting the better of him. “I know what my plan is.”
“Yeah, I think the entire school knows what your plan is. Take over when it’s time for your dad to give up his cut, right?”