“This is going to be fun.” He hands me my now empty water bottle. I can already picture it—him bugging me every time he comes over from now on.
“Stop acting like we’re friends,” I remind the both of us.
“Ouch,” he pouts, walking over to the pantry to grab a bag of popcorn and shoving it inside the microwave. He selects three minutes.
I bite my tongue not to intervene.
He notices. “What?”
“That’s way too long.” I saunter to him and press the Reset button. “It’ll burn. Two minutes tops, less if it stops popping.”
A mocking smile reshapes his lips as I enter the right digits and push Start.
“Kendrick’s right,” he says after a while. “You are bossy.”
I’m about to object when the door creaks open.
Zoey’s head slips into the doorway.
“Kass, would you be a doll and bring us water, chips, and paper towels while you’re at it?” Before I can gather a response, she tops it off with, “You’re sweet. Thanks,” and strolls back to where she came from.
A short moment of silence ensues.
Will fills the void. “Do you always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Let her boss you around.”
His question cuts me deeper than expected.
“What? She doesn’t boss me around. She’s my friend.”
He cocks an eyebrow.
“I swear, that’s just how we are. She’d do the same for me.”
“Whatever you say.” He shrugs, retreating to the living room. “Control freak,” he adds seconds before he’s out the door.
I can’t suppress a smile.
I know I told him we’re not friends now.
But… that doesn’t mean we can never be.
Kassidy
“Are you excited for your first day?” I ask Winter, taking an abrupt left that makes my car screech so loudly a lady walking her dog jumps two inches in the air. Glaring at my red car, she guides a hand to her chest. Shameful, I zoom down the street.
I’m sorry that I’m poor, ma’am.
I’ve grown quite familiar with that feeling recently—shame. I desperately need to get a job so I can afford to get my clunker of a car fixed. Still no luck. None of the places I applied to called.
“Excited for it to be over.” My cousin sighs, fidgeting with her clothes. I get it. Being the new girl ranks pretty high on the list of things that suck ass.
“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.” I laugh. “You’ll fit right in. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Anything I need to know? Any mean girl I should stay away from?” She shifts in my passenger seat.
“Bianca Reed and her minions,” I’m quick to say. Winter does not want to get in trouble with psycho Bianca. Everybody knows she’s a little… intense. “Definitely don’t give them a reason to hate you.”
She nods. “Noted.”
Pulling up into the school’s parking lot, I snatch the first spot I can find and kill the engine.
I glance at her. “Ready?”
“Absolutely not.”
“It’s going to be fine. You’re not alone. Kendrick and I are here, remember?”
She doesn’t reply, but I can tell the thought reassures her. She’s family. I’ll always have her back. We make our way to the entrance together. Diving deeper and deeper into the crowd, I catch Luke’s smile as we pass each other in the hall.
Luke Jenson, typical jock and Riverside High’s proudest accomplishment. He’s our varsity team’s golden boy, reputed best QB the school’s had in decades. Zoey dated one of Luke’s douche friends sophomore year, and although their relationship didn’t survive its first month, Luke and I remained friendly. And by friendly, I mean we smile at each other in the halls and talk in art class.
As Winter and I weave our way through the halls, I scoff at her worried expression.
“See? It’s just like any other school.”
She doesn’t reply, yet again too focused on trying to breathe.
“We’re here.” I stop in front of her locker—that I arranged for us to share so that she wouldn’t have to be locker partner with a complete stranger—and she stacks her books inside.
This day is going to be so stressful for her. I’ll do everything I can to make it drama-free.
Then I see him.
Down the hall.
The idiot Zoey spent all of last year blabbing about.
Haze Adams.
The students around us display the usual reaction. They keep their heads down, count the tiles, and wish to disappear from freaking existence. Nothing new here. I hate to say it—I hate to think it—but… I’m right there with them.
Am I scared of him?
You’re damn right I am.
Apparently, if you’re a female in this school, there are two ways you can feel about Haze Adams: you can either want to jump his bones, or pee your pants whenever he walks into the room. Zoey’s category number one.
I’m number two.
Don’t get me wrong, I get the whole smoking hot, tattooed, damaged-bad-boy appeal, but… I know for a fact Haze is involved in the same street fighting nightmare as Kendrick. I heard Kendrick talking shit about him to Will once.
If I’m not wrong, he’s also my brother’s biggest competition in the ring. Haze is more than just the kid your parents tell you to stay away from. And while the people at school don’t know as much as I do, they know enough.
Rumor has it Haze once broke a guy’s nose for looking at him the wrong way. Is it true? Probably. I’m so focused on trying not to meet his gaze that I don’t even think of Winter. I can barely comprehend what’s happening when Haze stops dead in his tracks.
And stares.
At first, I think he’s staring at me.
Until I realize I couldn’t be more wrong.
He’s looking at Winter.
“Tell me she didn’t,” I hear a girl mutter in the distance.
Shit.
She looked at him, didn’t she?
Of course she did.
My bad. I didn’t tell her about the dumbass rules of our school. Don’t talk back to Haze Adams, don’t get in his way, and especially don’t look him in the eyes. The guy is like high school royalty, feared but popular, hated but loved, a bully and a heartbreaker. Whispers pour over us.
“What did you do?” I ask.
“You tell
