Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
I’m not interested in any of the girls, or guys for that matter, at school. I’m an eighteen-year-old straight-A student who plays center for the West High Wolves, and I’m focusing on my future. I’m friends with a couple of the guys in my grade, but overall I’m a loner. I’ve enjoyed being that way for so long that even playing football doesn’t have the same luster it used to. I’ve always been a big kid, so my parents put me in sports hoping to socialize me. I succeeded at every ball they put in my hands, but still remained the same. I’m quiet for the most part, and when I speak, it’s because I have something to say. The girls at school think that makes me stuck-up, but I can’t be bothered to care. If that’s what they think, then I’m better off skipping the winter formal and leaving high school without the experience.
I catch the sight of someone walking on the side of the road as I pull into the gas station. It takes me a second to realize it’s a woman bundled up in a big jacket—the leggings showing below her heavy coat give it away. I think about stopping and asking if she needs some help, but the gas station is literally thirty feet from where I spot her. I jump out and start the gas, trying to get the damn thing to come on. It’s cold out, and it’s pumping like molasses.
Looking around, I try to spot the woman again, but I don’t see her. Hopefully she made it inside and isn’t stuck out in the cold. I don’t know why I’m worried about it, but I guess there’s something in me that’s protective in that way. My mom said I had a tender heart as a kid, always rescuing animals I found.
When the gas finally clicks, I finish up and hop back in the Jeep. I blow on my hands trying to warm them up before I drive away. As I’m leaving, I catch sight in my rearview of the woman coming out of the store.
I don’t know why, but the sight lingers in the back of my mind the whole way to school.
3
Lily
I pick at my torn leggings as I sit in the main office of the high school. At least I’m not bleeding, but falling on the steps on your first day at a new school isn’t the way I wanted to start. I can still feel the burn of embarrassment on my cheeks, but maybe no one noticed. At least no one really seemed to. Not even the girl who’d shoved me, nor her friend. Except for a few giggles no one really said anything.
Sitting back in my chair, I wait for someone to help me. I was told to take a seat and they’d have my class schedule shortly, along with someone to show me around. That was twenty minutes ago. I glance around the office. It looks like it’s decorated for a party. Gold and red balloons and ribbons line the walls, as well as posters that read #1 State Champs. I’m guessing they’re about football. The last school I was in didn’t have a team, but this school is about four times bigger. It gives me hope that I’ll be able to blend in and fade into the background, going unnoticed. Left alone.
“At least we won’t freeze our tits off anymore.” I glance up at the voice and see a brunette in a cheerleading outfit and a high ponytail. She’s talking to another girl who looks exactly the same, only her hair is red and curly. It’s the two girls who knocked me down this morning. They acted like I was invisible, so at least that part of my plan is working.
“That’s the only plus side to cheering for the basketball team here. The games are inside. There aren’t even any good ones to look at.” The redhead pouts a little, and I look down, hoping they won't take notice of me. I go back to playing with the hole in my leggings.
“Hey, did you hear Ren got a full ride to Minnesota? Brent hasn’t even gotten an offer yet and he’s the freaking quarterback,” the brunette says in a horrified voice.
“I heard he’s been going up there on the weekends or something. Probably up there getting his dick wet,” the redhead adds. I feel my face warm for the second time today. Maybe that’s how girls talk to each other. I wouldn't know. I haven’t had a friend in a long time, and when I did it was before sex was a blip in our minds.
“Shit. God, he’s such an asshole, but I’m still going to see about getting with him. Being a starting football player’s girlfriend will make freshman year of college a cakewalk.”