Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
I cringe, unable to hide the hesitation in my tone. “Sure is.”
Her eyes sparkle with happiness. “That’s amazing. You get to see him all the time now. I bet he gave you the biggest hug ever,” she says, not understanding the dynamics of our strained relationship.
“Yeah,” I say with a forced smile. “I saw him in the student office this morning and then again at lunch. He found his place with the football team.”
“Oh, can we go to his games like we used to?”
“I’m sure he’d love to see you cheering him on at his games,” I tell her, knowing damn well he wouldn’t feel the same way about me being there. “Listen,” I say, needing to change the topic. “Did you want me to drive you to school tomorrow? I could go in with you and make sure you have someone to hang out with. I don’t want you to be all alone.”
Her eyes widen with horror, and she shoves away from me. “No way. I can’t have my big sister walking me into school. Don’t you know how not cool that is? But I mean, you could definitely drive me. Just drop me off around the corner.”
My mouth drops open, and I gape at the little brat. “First of all, I’ll have you know that I am the coolest person you’ll ever meet. You’d be lucky to have someone like me walk you into school. And second, if I’m driving you, then I get to go in.”
“Forget it. I’ll take the bus.”
“You know, I could always ask Dad to take you.”
Her eyes bug out of her head. “No. No, please don’t. You know how loud he likes to sing in the car. Everyone will see.”
I laugh and push up off her bed. “Ah, if only you had a cool big sister to drive you instead.”
“Ugh,” she groans. “Fine. You can drive me, but you’re not walking me in.”
“Fine, but I’m not dropping you around the corner. I’m stopping right at the school gates.”
Hazel groans and lays down on her bed again, picking up her pen to get back into her work. “Fine. Only if the music is turned down.”
I grin wide, knowing she couldn’t resist. “You got yourself a deal,” I tell her, and with that, I make my way back to my room and hit play on my playlist before getting to my homework, refusing to get behind on day one.
I try to keep Noah off my mind, but it’s hard. Seeing him today feels as though I’ve been hit by a train. Everything is scrambled. My thoughts, my heart, my emotions. I’m all over the place. But I’m not going to let him break me, no matter how hard he pushes me away.
I’m just about finished when my phone rings, and I scramble through the sheets to find it. Tarni’s name flashes across the screen. “Hey,” I say, quickly answering the call before I miss it.
“Hold up,” she says. “I’m adding Cora and Abby.”
Before I can even respond, Tarni is gone. The call goes quiet for only a moment before she returns, the girls all speaking over each other as though they were already mid-conversation. “Yo, Zo. You there?” Tarni questions.
“I’m here,” I say, pushing the rest of my homework aside and getting comfy on my bed, realizing I’m in for the long haul now.
“Abby is holding out on us,” Tarni says. “I’ve been dying to know all the filthy little details about her sexcapades with Liam.”
“Ughhhh,” Abby groans. “Not gonna happen. It was hot and wild, but now that we’re back at school, it’s nothing but an old wives’ tale. I’m better off pretending it never happened.”
“I’m so angry with him,” Cora says. “He’s such a player. I don’t know what you were thinking getting involved with him in the first place. Surely you knew he was going to break your heart, right? No guy just suddenly changes like that, no matter how tight your vag is.”
Rolling my eyes, I put my phone down on my bed and hit speakerphone before getting up and closing my door, not needing Hazel to overhear this. She’s a feisty kid who’s growing up way too fast, but she doesn’t need to be exposed to this. Most of the time, I can’t stand being exposed to it. But if I weren’t friends with these guys, I’d literally have no one.
Climbing back onto my bed, I drag my homework in front of me again before starting on what’s left of my calculus work.
“Men can change,” Abby continues. “Whether it’s for good or bad, they change.”
“I second that,” I say, adding my two cents to the conversation.
“Well, Liam isn’t changing for the better,” Tarni says. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s hot, but he’s not about to quit screwing around and start dating, and if he did, it wouldn’t be with a junior. He’d date girls like Shannan Holter.”