that's even your real name?'
The grin on his face widened. I tried not to look. 'First of all, you're adorable.' I shot him a glare and he chuckled with a little shrug. 'Secondly, something about you seems very...familiar.'
The choice of words made my stomach flip. My eyes stung. 'You know what? I don't even know why I'm talking with you.' I got up and then started towards the tent.
'Hey, I'm sorry. Charlotte, what's wrong?'
I paused. 'It's nothing. I'm fine. I'm going to bed. You can leave now.'
'Charlotte...'
'Please.' I couldn't look at him.
'What'd I say?'
I sighed a shaky breath and shook my head. 'It's nothing. I'm going to bed. Night, Liam.'
Chapter 3
'Charlotte Patterson, have you been paying attention?'
I couldn't think. Snickers erupted around me and the back of my neck felt hot. Someone in the front row said something, temporarily catching the teacher's attention.
A small ripped piece of paper landed on my desk with the answer written in pink ink. I turned around to see who had sent it. A short, curly blond girl waved her pen at me.
'Thank you,' I mouthed.
My hand clamped down on the paper just as the teacher glanced back. 'The Gettysburg Address,' I said, answering his hanging question.
His brows narrowed and I forced a poker face. He grunted and walked back to the front of the class. I sighed and stuck the note in the pocket of Liam's jacket. I still wore it. The warm musky scent felt like home.
The bell rang. I dumped my book into my backpack and took off into the crowd of students.
I scanned the halls for Liam. Not a sign of him anywhere. Maybe he didn't go to school here. I hadn't seen him since the night at the campground.
'Hey, Charlotte, wait up.'
I took a chance and stopped amongst the swarm of oncoming teenage traffic. The corner of someone's plastic folder nearly took off my ear, but I wanted to find the voice.
'Over here.' The tiny blonde from class waved. Why couldn't it be Liam?
Seriously. I had issues.
'Wait there,' she said.
I couldn't have gotten to her if I tried.
'Hey,' she said again, once the current brought her closer. We both followed the other students down the hall. 'I'm Ty. Well, Taylor Jacobs to be exact. But I prefer, Ty.'
I couldn't help but smile at her perkiness, and she did save me from the clutches of Mr. Castrow. 'Hey. Thanks for helping me back there.'
'No problem. You're the new girl, right?' She laughed and rolled her eyes. 'Of course, you are. Glad to have you on board. This school so needs more interesting people.'
'I'm not that interesting.'
'That's where you're wrong Charlotte. Everyone around here's so into fitting in and who's on the cool list. It's plain tiring. You're the first person I've met who seriously doesn't seem to care.' She motioned her head to the oversized bunchy jacket of Liam's that hung to my knees.
'Ah, thanks, I think?' I didn't exactly know what to say.
Ty laughed, nudging me in the shoulder. 'See? Don't worry, that's a good thing. So what class do you have next?'
'Oh, um.' I fumbled with my backpack and pulled out my schedule. Three days here and I still didn't have the thing memorized. 'Chemistry with Mr. Phelps. Sounds thrilling. You?'
'Sweet. Me too.' You would have thought she'd won the lottery. I chuckled.
I didn't have a clue what Mr. Phelps said during the lesson. I spent the entire class texting back and forth with Ty. The class bell rang and I eagerly looked forward to lunch. 'Ready to eat?'
'Oh, no.' Ty pouted. 'I've got the second lunch session. I have math next.'
Just my luck, what might have been a fun time with a new friend, now had become an impending claustrophobic moment of doom; lunch, when everyone enjoyed mocking those who didn't have someone to sit with. Oh well. After three days, I was used to it.
With my head down, I crossed to the lunch line. I could feel eyes on my back and could have sworn people were whispering about me. I shrugged it off as nerves, remembering. I'd thought wolves followed me too. I grabbed a sandwich and juice, then shoved them on my tray. The quicker I could get this done, the better.
An empty table stood on the left side of the cafeteria. Head held low, I darted towards my target. When I dropped my tray on the table, I almost lost my drink.
I sat down, took a bite of my egg salad sandwich, and realized I had forgotten napkins. I could never manage to eat anything messy without half of it landing in my lap. I went to get some.
I grabbed a fistful and headed back across the cafeteria to my table. I stopped short. An overwhelming scent of rich pine hit my nose. Liam sat at my table, along with four other teenaged boys I had never seen before. They stared at me as if in shock...all of them except, Liam.
He wore a smile that literally touched his ears. He looked amazing. The thin material of his black t-shirt fell over his square shoulders, revealing the faint line of well-defined pecks underneath. My heart felt like it stopped and restarted again.
No. No. Not amazing. What is he doing here?
He leaned on the table, his disheveled ash blond hair catching whispers of sunlight that washed in from a small skylight overhead giving it and his light bronze skin a faint illuminating glow. I swallowed hard.
'We thought we'd join you,' Liam said, smiling.
My focus flicked to the others sitting with him. Two tall lanky teenagers with matching sunburned complexions and raven dark hair sat bookending Liam and a much younger scrawny guy with a beat up grey hoody. He couldn't have been more than fifteen and reminded me of a group from my old school who thought World of Warcraft was a religion. A large blond jock type sat in the middle, starring.
I shifted my feet and tried to think rationally.
'What are you doing here?' I asked Liam.
'Eating,' he said.
I scanned the table. Nothing.
'Where's your food?'
Liam's face lit up.
'Stop looking at me like that.' I kneaded my hands to take my attention off him, feigning casual. I wouldn't let him know how jumpy he made me and prayed he couldn't tell my face warmed.
'Like what?' he said, grinning. 'Nice jacket.'
My stomach flipped and I became grossly aware of the long thick leather sleeves covering my hands. I tucked my arms around my chest. 'I was cold. It's drafty in here. Besides, it's your fault for giving it to me.'
Liam chuckled.
'So does this mean you guys are going steady now?' the left bookend asked.
'Yeah, are you his girlfriend?' The opposite sunburned twin asked. 'Cause if not, my schedule might be open.'
The left bookend snorted a laugh. 'You wish.'
My mind went blank with embarrassment. I didn't have words.
'Shut up, you guys,' Liam said. 'I knew I shouldn't have brought you.'
'Wow, Liam,' the large Jock said, shaking me from my numbed state. 'You weren't kidding. She does smell like a bitch.'
