Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Right, sure.” Ainsley gives a sarcastic laugh.
“Don’t you still like him?”
“Duh. He’s basically obsessed with me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Bree cocks her with confusion. “Didn’t he call you Amy the one time he talked to you?”
“Shut up.” Ainsley huffs her frustration. “He’ll come to me. I just need to find a way to get close to him first.”
“You know where he hangs out. That nasty bar in town. You should go there and make him notice.”
Wow, that’s sad. Imagine thinking it’s that hard to get in Lawson’s pants. Or that he’d even remember your name the next morning.
I’m tempted to text Lawson and let him know he’s got a secret admirer. I think I still have his number in my phone from when he messaged me after the accident to see if I was okay. I thought that was really nice of him, but then Sloane and I bumped into him on campus one morning on our way to Dad’s office, and he’d donned a blank look when I brought it up and admitted he must’ve texted when he was high or drunk.
I must let a snicker or two slip because suddenly Ainsley jerks up.
“Mind your business much?” She turns around with nostrils flared. “Are you spying on our conversations now?”
Bree gives me a snide look. “That’s creepy, Casey.”
“Oh my God, you’re going to, like, stalk us, aren’t you?” Ainsley raises her voice because she likes an audience. “Eavesdrop so you can show up everywhere we go. That is so disturbed.”
Bree turns to Ainsley, suddenly serious. “No, but the concert’s sold out. She won’t get in.”
“Fucking seriously?” I laugh in Ainsley’s face. “I’d rather count the blood vessels on the inside of my eyelids than follow you two vapid imbeciles around all weekend.”
I don’t know where it comes from, but I snap. The entire class stops to watch me fully lose my shit. At a neighboring desk, that girl Jazmine is laughing into her hand.
“I have sweaters with more personality,” I aim at a shocked Ainsley. “And I don’t know what’s wrong with this one,” I say, nodding at Bree who turns to look behind her, “but she’s obviously suffered some sort of traumatic brain injury from all the pills her mother was popping while she was pregnant.”
The bell rings, and before Sister Katherine can break us up or throw me in detention, I grab my bag and slap my quiz on her desk. Then I walk out of there on a strange high that has me a little dizzy. My fingertips are cold and sensitive when I open my locker and stick my head in to take deep breaths. I don’t know where that came from, but it was exhilarating. Like I’d been hijacked. Fully disembodied and not in control of my own voice.
And I loved it.
Because fuck those girls. Fuck this school.
I’m coming out of my shell armed.
When I pull my head out of my locker, I notice someone out of the corner of my eye. Jazmine leans against the wall of gray metal, once again sporting a smirk on her face.
“What’s your problem now?” I demand, fixing her with a scowl.
“Not a thing.” Her lips curve again, dark eyes dancing with humor. “That was fun.”
It was. But I don’t know this girl and I’m still wary of her intentions.
“So, what do you want?” I put my history textbook away and grab my homework for second period.
“Nothing. I’m just impressed,” she says, watching me. “About time you show some backbone. I keep hearing about your sister cutting people down. I was starting to think she was the only Tresscott with some actual balls.”
I slam my locker shut. “Whatever.”
I’m almost surprised Ainsley and Bree haven’t shown up with their crew for a rematch, but the hallway remains bitch-free. I start walking to second period while Jazmine matches my steps. Her skirt is about three inches shorter than regulation, the top two buttons of her white shirt unbuttoned. Mine are buttoned to the neck.
“Feel a little taller now, don’t you?” Her voice holds a mocking note. “The colors are brighter, right?”
“If you say so.”
“What’s next for those two?” she asks with a laugh. “You’ve had weeks to think about what you’d do when you worked up the nerve.”
She’s not wrong. They’ve been on my case since I transferred to this school. Cruel. Relentless. Ainsley especially, with her insatiable appetite for tormenting me for little else than sick entertainment.
Yeah, I’ve thought about it.
“Not sure what’s next,” I answer. “All I know is I’m officially out of patience, so they better watch their step.”
“Or what?”
I glance over, dead serious. “Or I’ll ruin their fucking lives.”
CHAPTER 14
LAWSON
THIS DESOLATE ISLAND OF MISFIT BOYS HAS BECOME AN UNBEARABLE prison of boredom. I’m almost sorry I was so efficient at causing the departure of the soon-to-be ex-Mr. and Mrs. Goodwyn. They did make a cute couple. And yes, I know it makes me a diabolical asshole, seducing two teachers and destroying their relationship, but I enjoyed playing with them. Besides, I’m not the one who said those marriage vows. Ergo, it’s not my problem they cheated on each other with me. But it is my problem that they’re gone. They were a nice distraction from the ever-so-dull normality of being that has become the life-sucking status quo at Sandover.