Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
“When did you get here?” I shouted, running over to her. “I didn’t see you at graduation.”
“I couldn’t make it in time,” she said, laughing and pulling me into a hug. “Had a work thing.”
Her words broke through the haze and I felt awkward. Shanda’s “job” wasn’t what I’d want, although she drove a shiny new cherry red Mustang these days.
Not my place to judge how she earned her money.
Shaking off my dark thoughts, I looked her over. “I really like your hair like that. The blonde is perfect on you.”
“Thanks,” she said. I wondered if she was here for Boonie, not that it was any of my business. “Damn, I need to pee. Wanna go with?”
As soon as she said it I remembered my bladder was about ready to explode. “Yeah.”
“Great. You can tell me all the gossip.”
I followed her back into the trees, stumbling over roots as the firelight and music faded. The night air was warm without being hot, and the sound of crickets surrounded us.
“Here, this spot looks good,” she said, pointing to a clump of bushes. It was completely shielded from the party. Five minutes later we’d finished our business and headed back down the hill. About halfway back I heard a girl laughing, along with the rhythmic grunting that could only mean one thing. I bit back my own giggle, shooting a glance at Shanda. She smirked, catching my arm.
“Hold on,” she whispered. “I want to see who it is.’’
“What?” I asked, scandalized. “No. No, we can’t!”
Her wicked grin flashed. “Sure we can. They’re in the open—fair game.”
I shook my head, but I followed her as she crept through the darkness. Then I stepped on a branch, making a loud snapping noise. The laughter stopped.
“What was that?’’ a girl asked. I recognized the voice—Allie Stockwell. Well, wasn’t that nice . . . Allie made a huge production last year about wearing her purity ring, announcing she would never sleep with a boy before she was married. Not only that, she’d done it while staring me down in the locker room pointedly. I hated the bitch.
“It’s fine, baby,’’ her partner said, the words heavily slurred.
I froze.
“Farell?” I asked, my voice unsteady. No. I’d heard wrong. Farell would never cheat on me—Farell loved me. I heard Allie gasp as I swayed, dizzy. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
“Who the fuck is in there?” Shanda demanded, her voice ringing out in accusation. She started forward, pushing through the weeds and I followed, praying I’d been wrong. We’d find Colby back there with Allie, or some other guy. Obviously I hadn’t heard right. Too much booze.
I stepped into a clearing to find them, half naked in the moonlight. My drunken boyfriend had rolled to his back, dick flopping as he tried to pull up his pants. Allie gaped at us like a fucking goldfish.
“Farell . . . ” I whispered, my world shattering around me. “Oh, shit. Why? Why did you do this?”
He tried to say something, then Shanda had my arm and was dragging me away.
This was what it felt like to be punched in the gut.
I literally lost my breath. I couldn’t take in air, couldn’t focus, couldn’t do anything but try not to fall on my face as Shanda hauled me away from my future ex-boyfriend.
“Fuck off, asshole!” she shouted over her shoulder. “You eat shit and die.”
Finally my head stopped spinning and I realized I was crying. Sobbing. We were nearly back to the party and I dug in my heels, pulling back against Shanda’s grip.
“I can’t go back there,’’ I hissed. “I can’t let them see me like this. Oh my God, how did this happen? Why would he do this?”
Shanda caught my shoulders, giving me a shake.
“I’ve got no idea why the hell he’d cheat on you,” she said. “I don’t care, either. Here’s what I do know—if he’s been fucking her, then all of his friends know about it and so do all of hers. That means everyone at the party but you and your best girls are in on this bullshit. You’ve got two choices here. You can run off and hide like you’ve done something wrong, or you can walk back down there, grab a drink, and then wait for him. When he comes back, you’ll throw that drink in his face and dump his pathetic ass. Then we’re going to dance and have fun and maybe get you laid by a real man, because he does not get to win.”
I stared at her, blinking.
“I don’t think I can do that,” I whispered. Shanda’s eyes narrowed.
“Listen to me—the world’s tough for girls like us, Darce. Girls from the trailer park. They think that because we’re poor, we’re trash, and that’s how they treat us. But we’re not trash. I don’t care how much money Farell has. He’s the trashy one here, not you. Sometimes you just gotta cowgirl up.”