Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
When I lift my hand to return the greeting, she signals for me to join them. I nibble my lower lip and chance another peek at Sloane. It’s doubtful the blonde will notice my absence.
If she does, there’ll be hell to pay.
Summer and Sloane are like oil and water. They don’t mix. From the gossip I’ve heard swirling through the halls, they got into a fight in the girls’ bathroom about a month or so ago. Apparently, there was hair pulling and claws. I give Summer a lot of credit for standing up to the popular blonde. She’s a hell of a lot braver than I could ever be.
Instead of heading back to my spot, I detour to where the other two girls are hanging out. As I slide past a couple of other students, Summer pats the empty seat next to her.
“Join us.”
“Thanks,” I say with a grateful smile.
A loud buzzer rings throughout the stadium, signaling the start of the second half. Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, Jasper throws a pass that gets intercepted. The coach yanks off his ball cap before plowing his hand through his thinning blond strands and yanks the QB off the field.
When Coach Baker points to Austin, the dark-haired boy snaps his chinstrap into place and jogs onto the field.
Even though the stands have grown strangely silent, Summer rises to her feet and yells through cupped hands, “Go, Hawthorne! You got this!”
A few people turn and stare, including Sloane, who scowls before giving her the finger. Summer blows a kiss in the other girl’s direction. It’s difficult to contain the smile that trembles around the edges of my lips.
What’s official is that Sloane has finally met her match.
Austin exchanges a look with his sister before his gaze shifts, touching upon mine. That one moment of connection is all it takes for my heartbeat to explode in my chest before sending it into overdrive.
Even though it’s been a few days since I ran into him in the hallway, I still feel the burn of his fingers singeing the flesh of my arms through my clothing.
I’m forced from those thoughts when Jasper rips off his helmet before kicking over a jug of water. The coach doesn’t spare him a glance. Like everyone else filling the stadium, he’s focused on the game.
“Looks like someone’s about to have a tantrum,” Everly comments.
Yup.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Jasper will be pissed off for the rest of the evening. The muscles in my belly pinch as a fresh wave of anxiety crashes over me. His attitude and behavior are the last thing I want to deal with. There’s nothing I can do or say that will soothe his rage. My guess is that he’ll drink too much at the party afterward and pick a fight.
Hopefully not with me.
His words from earlier this week ring unwantedly in my head.
I’ve given you more than enough time, and I’m done waiting.
The thought of Jasper forcing himself on me is enough to have bile rising in my throat. And the idea of him doing it while pissed off scares the shit out of me.
I wish it were possible to feign a headache and go home, but there’s no way he’ll allow it.
Summer nudges me with her shoulder. “Hey, are you all right? You look kind of pale.”
I swallow down my nerves and force an anemic smile to my lips. “No, I’m fine. Guess I was spacing out for a sec.”
She raises a brow as if she doesn’t quite believe me. “Whatever you were thinking about must not have been very pleasant.”
That’s an understatement.
As tempting as it is to open up and confide, I keep the words buried inside. A deep sense of loneliness fills me. There is no one I can talk to about what’s going on in my life. How ironic that I’m surrounded by a sea of people and yet, I couldn’t feel more alone.
Then again, that perfectly sums up the years I’ve spent at this school.
I try to shake off the sense of foreboding that fills me by slipping the camera from my bag and adjusting the lens before bringing it to my face. Once I find Austin on the field, I snap half a dozen photos. The only time I feel like myself in this school and with these people is when I’m behind the camera, watching the world through the view finder.
The girls chatter throughout the game, including me in their conversation, but I can’t shake the unease that continues to fill me. I feel every tick of the clock on the scoreboard as each second slips by. When the buzzer sounds at the end of the fourth quarter, the crowd in the stands goes crazy, cheering and yelling. The Hawks have managed to pull off a win, thanks to Austin.