“Yup.” I veered off to my bedroom and kicked the door closed.
Dinner at the country club with my father and his business associates—there was no way this wasn’t going to suck.
CHAPTER TEN:
New Guy
MY HEART WAS IN MY THROAT, and it felt like I was dragging my stomach beneath my feet. All day, I’d heard the whispers. There’s another newguy in school.Have you seen him? He’s so hot.Where did he come from? Who are his parents? Idon’t recognize his last name.
I rolled my eyes. Of course, everyone wanted to know who his parents were and what type of money he had. The people here were so shallow.
But I had yet to actually see him. We didn’t have a single morning class together, which I was admittedly disappointed about.
Hitching my backpack higher on my shoulder, I kept my head down as I made my way through the quad. I rounded the corner of the building, eager to have some peace and quiet for the next forty-five minutes.
I came to a sudden, screeching halt. Sitting beneath my small shade tree, wearing expensive sunglasses, Trent was the picture of ease. His dark blue pants were perfectly pressed; his matching suit jacket with the school logo was folded neatly next to him. The sleeves of his white button up shirt were rolled up to his elbows.
No one, not even Simon, could make this stupid school uniform look good—but Trent did.
My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I momentarily considered finding somewhere else to sit for lunch—until he looked up at me and smiled. Whoa. That was a deadly sight.
“Hey,” I said.
“Chloe.”
I suppressed a shiver. Man, the way he said my name… it rivaled the way Simon said it. I moved toward him, dropped my bag to the ground, and sat.
“I see you’ve found my secret hiding spot,” I said.
“Why would you need to hide?”
“Why not?” I shrugged.
He laughed like he had Saturday night, like we shared some inside joke that only he knew about. Trent leaned back on his hands, stretched out his legs, and crossed his ankles.
“How’s your first day so far?” I asked, trying my best not to stare at him.
“Well, you were right. Everyone is being super nice, especially the girls.”
I turned away so he wouldn’t see me scowl. I was surprised Olivia wasn’t telling everyone he was hers now. Although, it was only noon, so she still had a couple hours. I didn’t know why, but the thought of Olivia and Trent made my blood boil.
“So, why are you hiding?” I asked.
He lazily shrugged one shoulder. “Just wanted some time to myself. And this is the only place with any shade.”
I laughed. “That’s why I like it here, too.”
“Does that mean you’re willing to share?” He sliced a look at me, but all I could see was my reflection in the lenses of his sunglasses.
“I see you found our spot,” Simon said to Trent. Then Simon held out a purple popsicle—my favorite kind—and sat on my other side.
I took the popsicle, thankful to have something to distract me. “You two know each other?” I asked, glancing back and forth between them.
“Yeah, we’ve had classes together all morning. I’ve been showing him around,” Simon said.
“Oh.”
Simon was so close his shoulder brushed mine each time he brought his popsicle to his mouth. On my other side, Trent looked completely relaxed, but the muscles in his arms were tense. The testosterone radiating from them was thick enough to choke me.
“So…” I said, suddenly desperate to break the awkward silence. “What’re we doing after school?”
“What do you want to do?” Simon asked.
Instead of responding, I bit off the top of the popsicle. Once it melted enough for me to talk, I said, “I don’t care. But I have an appointment at four-thirty.”
Trent stood abruptly. I stared up at him, willing him to sit back down. Trent scooped up his blazer and then removed his sunglasses. Piercing blue eyes landed on me, holding me captive. I suddenly couldn’t breathe as I waited for him to say something.
Without a word, he put his glasses back on. “See ya later,” he said.
I drew in a deep breath and refocused my attention on the popsicle, mostly so I wouldn’t stare after him, though that’s really all I wanted to do.
“Thanks for this,” I said, holding up the popsicle. “How’d you know purple was my favorite?”
Simon smiled. “Lucky guess.” Then he chuckled. “Honestly, purple was the only color left.”
I laughed.
“How about my house after school?” he asked, brow raised. “We can swim.”
“I didn’t bring my bathing suit.” I frowned.
“I don’t see a problem with that.”
I glared at him, unspeaking, but it was hard to suppress my smile when the glint in his eyes told me he was only teasing.
After a moment, he said, “We’ll go by your house first then.”
“Sounds fun,” I said, but it really didn’t.
I loved to swim, but his house was also Olivia’s house, and if she was there, too… Maybe I could come up with a believable excuse not to go. At the very least, I wouldn’t have to stay too long because I had to meet with Jaxon.
The bell rang. I stood and gathered my stuff. Simon draped his arm around my shoulders, and we headed inside for our next class. From the corner of my eye, I saw Trent staring at us. His expression was murderous. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge, and goose bumps erupted on my arms. I stepped away from Simon, causing his arm to fall away from me.
“Meet you after final bell, yeah?” Simon asked.
“Yeah.” I forced a smile.
His smile, though, was genuine, and a stab of guilt hit me. It wasn’t fair to lead him on. Then again, I hadn’t really given him any signals to make him believe we were anything other than friends.
What was the harm in hanging out with him until I left? It would make being here
