Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
She opens her door and looks back at me. “It was nothing. I don’t ever think about them anymore. Good night.” And then she’s shutting her door.
She “dated” a Shark. Looks like Camilla needs her own dossier.
Later, I shower, put on a camisole and shorts, and crawl into bed. The flowers sit on my desk, their scent heavy and sweet.
My gaze falls to my apron on the floor, and I groan, getting up to move it to the hook on the back of the door.
Then I remember the tip that was left for me and pull it out of the pocket, open the envelope. It isn’t a tip.
Ava,
Surprise! I’m back in Nashville and I want to see you so bad. One of the guys under the bridge told me you work at this diner. Meet me there tomorrow after school. Please. I’ll come by every afternoon until I see you.
Mom
My hands shake and I fall back on my bed, numb. What the hell?
Two messages, both unwanted, on the same day. Crap. I tear the note into shreds and toss it in the trash.
What the heck does she want?
Tyler?
No way. She left us.
Like hell I’ll meet her. I fire off a text to Lou and let him know what’s going on, and he replies and tells me to take a few days off and lay low.
My phone pings with a text, and I snatch it up.
I can’t breathe, beautiful girl.
Give me a minute.
To catch up with you.
Wait for me.
It’s SA/Knox, and his words make me whimper. I clutch the phone, itching to reply, but in the end I set it down.
21
“Residents of Arlington Dorm! It’s football time at Camden Prep! Tonight’s game is against our biggest rival, Morganville Academy! Come on out and watch the game! Go Dragons!” Miss Henderson announces over the intercom on Friday afternoon. I hear her taking a deep breath. “Get to the stadium and scream your tits off!”
I burst out laughing.
Piper clamps a hand over her mouth. “Did she really just say that?”
“Balls, as Tyler would say. She did,” Wyatt murmurs from the desk where he’s checking out Tyler’s dragon drawing, which I picked up today when I saw him briefly at the group home.
“Football is king here,” I say.
“I’m glad you decided to go to the game, girl. You’re a badass, and you’re gonna show those assholes they can’t keep you down!” Piper calls out as she watches me rummage through my closet. She looks cute with her strawberry blonde hair pulled into schoolgirl pigtails and wearing a gray sweatshirt with a huge Camden dragon on the front. She even has a bright red C sticker on her cheek that clashes with her pink glasses.
“Yep.” Part of me dreads going, wondering how I’ll feel, but the other side wants to see Knox play, wants to see his face.
He came in late today and was waiting for me by my locker after lunch. He looked harried, and with his last text on my mind, I softened more.
Last period, the players and cheerleaders led a pep rally in the gym, and I watched him laugh and joke with Chance and some of the other players. He caught my eyes up in the stands and sent me a kiss on his fingers. After school when he walked me to my car, he mentioned the game, and I told him I’d think about it. Then, he kissed me, and all sane thoughts flew right out of my head…
Piper joins me at the closet when I pull out a pair of skinny jeans and a Camden Prep crop top. With the other hand, I hold up a denim sundress. “Which one?” I shake the two hangers at her. “Strappy flats with the dress or Converse with the jeans?”
Piper wrinkles her nose. “Hmmm—”
“Just wear what you always wear,” Wyatt says. “You’re pretty in anything.”
I grin. “First, I love you. And second, you’re right. Don’t want to overdo it. It’s just a game. Jeans and shirt for the win.”
Later, I feel the buzz of excitement in the air as we walk toward the stadium. I notice a familiar tall man at the bottom of the bleachers, watching the crowd. We’re several feet apart when our eyes connect. Wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, he looks as if he just came from work. A red Camden hat is on his head, the mahogany hair longer than standard for a businessman, the curls silky and dark brown. His expression seems anxious as he stares at me.
I elbow Piper. “Hey, isn’t that Knox and Dane’s dad?” I’ve seen pictures of him before in our school directory because he’s a board member.
She follows the direction of my nod. “Oh, yeah, that’s him. Good-looking for an old dude, right?”
“Mmmm.”
“Heads-up—Queen Bee and bitches arriving in three…two…one,” Wyatt mutters, and I look up to see a group of cheerleaders headed our way wearing cheer outfits, matching makeup, ponytails, and hair bows.