by Caity H.
Hello, Honeybee
Caity H
This novel is a work of fiction. All characters and events are purely works of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons living or dead is coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. For more information regarding permission, write to Caity H: [email protected]
Hello, Honeybee
Copyright © 2013 by Caitlan Honer. All rights reserved. Published by
Cover Photo copyright © 2013 by Joanna Griffith. All rights reserved.
Bee graphic copyright © Caitlan Honer. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Caitlan Honer
First printing in 2013
Dedication:
There are a lot of people who’ve encouraged me throughout this process of writing. I am very grateful to all of the people who’ve been here since the beginning, family, friends, and all those who read Honeybee on Inkpop.com. I’ve felt so blessed throughout writing Honeybee, having so much support and love.
To Carman and Kaylyn, you two have been there since the beginning, pushing me to finish the book and helping me figure out the story of Lex and Olivia. I love you both very much, and I couldn’t have done it without you.
To Joanna, thank you for helping me with the cover picture and for being so excited about this book, and others. It means so much to me!
To Jelsa, and countless other Inkies, I’m very grateful to you all for helping me with the editing process. All the threats really kept me going. I’ve come a long way since the first draft of this book, roughly three years ago, and I have you all to thank for that.
Thank you to my mom for always being there and supporting me and my dream to be an author. I love you very much!
There are a lot of people to thank, a lot of people who read this story and helped me make it better. I am truly blessed to know so many amazing people, and I love you all.
Biggest thanks go out to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this ability.
Much love,
Caity
Table of Contents
Chapter One – Senior Year
Chapter Two – Word Games
Chapter Three – Barbeque
Chapter Four – Kidnapped by Crush, Send Help
Chapter Five – Boy Shopping
Chapter Six – Monday Madness
Chapter Seven – Pillows M.I.A
Chapter Eight – Nothing Short of Curious
Chapter Nine – Distant Memories
Chapter Ten – Late Risers
Chapter Eleven – To Curse, or Not to Curse
Chapter Twelve – Too Complicated for Curses
Chapter Thirteen – Fighting for First
Chapter Fourteen – Friendly Fighters
Chapter Fifteen – Date with a fro-yo boy
Chapter Sixteen – Surprise!
Chapter Seventeen – Rekindling
Chapter Eighteen – Strolling with Stargazer
Chapter Nineteen – Goodbye High School, Hello Summer!
Chapter Twenty – The Smurf
Chapter Twenty One – It’s Graduation, Baby!
Chapter Twenty Two – You, Me, and the Tree House
Chapter One – Senior Year
His tall body moved through the crowd of students. A smile lit up his face, and his dazzling green eyes sparkled. Lex Diamond. With his shaggy blond hair, muscular body, and star soccer player status he was the it guy of Riverside High School.
His arm was wrapped around his girlfriend, Cassandra Peacock. They had been together since last summer. She was the typical skinny blonde that popular guys in movies always went after. It killed me to see them together. Ever since I was fourteen I’d pictured Lex and I falling in love one day, and becoming the “it” couple at school. The memory from four years ago surfaced in my head.
“What do you think about starting high school in a few weeks?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “It should be interesting.” I glanced around the tree house, the picture of our families together on the Fourth of July years earlier, sitting on a small table. A prickling sensation touched my eyes when I looked at my dad, his arm wrapped around Mom and me. It still hurt to see his picture. My dad was such a big part of my life, when he died I thought I would never stop crying. Sniffing, I turned back to Lex. “It’ll probably be lonely, too.”
“Why is that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I didn’t really have any friends in middle school, Lex. I doubt I'm going to have a better time in high school.” I replied honestly.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I know I wasn’t a very good friend to you.” He grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb over my skin. His touch sent shivers up and down my spine.
“It's okay,” I said, letting my breath out shakily.
“I think I should have my first kiss before I go into high school,” he said abruptly.
“Haven’t you already?” he shook his head. “Oh.” My eyes looked at our hands and realized that they were intertwining. He was holding my hand. Lex Diamond was holding my hand. Lex. I felt my body temperature rising.
“Honeybee,” he said, using the nickname he’d given me when we were kids. I looked up at him. I could get lost in those deep green irises. His eyes shifted to my lips.
I blinked and then it happened.
He leaned forwards, pressing his lips against mine. After the initial shock, I leaned into the kiss, letting the sensations of his lips on mine wash over me. Butterflies filled my stomach, and I felt like I could burst from the happiness pouring into my body.
After a few moments, he moved away. He leaned his forehead against mine, our noses touching. Nothing could’ve kept me from smiling at that moment. Things were changing.
I sighed, letting the memory fade away. After we had kissed, he didn’t talk to me the rest of the summer, and ignored me at school. When he became popular, things really changed. I was no longer someone he could spend the weekend watching movies with.
“You’re doing it again,” Bethany Bridges mumbled, pausing in her rant about Mr. Trill’s science assignment that was due next Monday.
I looked up, blonde waves swaying in front of my eyes. “What?”
“Olivia, I’m your best friend.” She leaned on one hip, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know when you’re checking out Lex again.”
I gaped and slapped her arm. “I’m not checking him out. I’m glaring at him in secret,” I corrected her.
She titled her head to the side, black hair falling over her shoulder. “Alright, what happened?”
“What always happens,” I mumbled, leaning my back against the lockers. “He brings up some memory from our childhood and embarrasses me with it.” He’d told them about a time we went swimming and I accidentally walked into the men’s restroom and came out crying. It was a tad bit hurtful that people laughed at my childhood traumas. It hurt worse that Lex was the one telling them.
“Want me to run him over with my car?” she asked, slamming her locker shut. “Maybe I’ll hit his pretty little girlfriend too!” She beamed.
I laughed, shaking my head. “No, that’s not necessary. But you’ll be happy to hear I stuck my tongue out at him when his back was turned.”
She chuckled. “You sure showed him.” We walked toward our next classes. “Good grief that man gets on my nerves.” She frowned.
“I know,” I murmured. The fact my heart had been wrapped up in him since I was fourteen made it easy to love him, and also incredibly easy to loathe him. It was utterly confusing.
“I bet it makes Cass
y jealous,” she started, glancing at me.
I raised an eyebrow in question. I wasn’t Cassy, and I was pretty sure nothing about me made her jealous. I had thick blonde hair, blue eyes that required glasses, and a slim build. She was thin and busty; the boys were wrapped around her finger.
“When he calls you Honeybee,” she clarified.
“Why?”
“Because!” She declared. “He doesn't have a nickname for her, and your nickname has the word 'honey' in it. I'd feel jealous if my super-hot boyfriend called a girl he didn't seem to like honey.”
I smirked and glanced over at her through my glasses. “You think he's super-hot?”
She burst out laughing at me. A few students looked at us like we were a pair of orange leprechauns walking down the hallway. They had no patience for people who enjoyed having fun.
“What?”
“I do not think that Lex Diamond is hot!” she exclaimed loudly. “I was talking from your point of view.”
I slapped her arm. “Shut up!” There were people around who did have working ears. I didn’t need it getting back to him that I thought he was hot. He had enough power over me already.
“It's true!” She giggled. I dragged her into our homeroom, stopping the conversation. We sat in the second row and waited for Mrs. Bitsley to come in.
The rest of the classroom was busy texting, talking, and eating leftover lunch, but they all noticed when Lex came in. Everyone stopped their chatter as he walked through the door.
I used to get flustered when he walked into a room, hoping he would smile, or acknowledge my existence and our former friendship. Not anymore though. Now I would just turn my head, hoping he would walk by without throwing an insult.
“Honeybee, want to go swimming later?” he asked as he walked by. His sarcastic question sent the whole class into laughter. My cheeks burned bright red. He smiled and walked to the back where the rest of his friends were. The chattering soon continued, filling the classroom with noise.
Bethany glared at Lex once before turning back to me. “Ignore him. We only have a few more weeks of school and then we’ll be free of him. It’s highly unlikely that his soccer scholarship will get him into the schools we applied to.”
I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but it almost made my heart sink farther. As rude as Lex could be, he was still one of those people I secretly wanted to become friends with again. A part of my heart still longed to be with his. I didn't like admitting it out loud, but Lex still held me prisoner. If he changed his ways I wouldn't stand a chance. I would fall into his arms faster than he could tell me he was just kidding.
"Yeah, I can't wait.” The words fell from my lips with no gumption.
"Olivia," she sighed, slapping the top of my desk. "You will get over that jerk when you don't have to see him every day." I wasn't so sure. Even when we got out of school for the summer, I would still see him all the time. Living next door to him was both a privilege and a punishment. "Trust me, Livie. Things will get better in time."
"If you say so." I adjusted the clunky blue glasses that sat atop my nose. The pair of sky blue glasses had graced my face for the past couple of years. I'd lost my fire truck red glasses when Lex accidentally stepped on them. There was very little chance it had actually been a mistake.
Sighing, I turned my attention to the front of the room. The white board had nicks of color across its surface, missed when the teachers using it erased their notes. The California sun streaked through the windows, the cracks and dirt shadows on the linoleum floor. The teacher's desk was at the front of the classroom, papers and pencils scattered over the top of it.
"You're still coming over to my house after school for swimming, right?" Bethany looked over to me, an expectant smile on her face.
I nodded. "Of course. What are the odds that Lex tells them my swimming pool horror today?"
She grinned, shooting a glance back at him. "He's probably stalking you and listened to our conversation last night."
I frowned at the idea. Lex didn't really strike me as the stalker type. Of course, we hadn't really talked much other than passing snide comments in the hallway. I supposed it was possible that he became a secret stalker in my absence. Maybe it was even because of me that he turned into a creeper.
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. "No. He wouldn't waste his time outside my window when he could go make out with his girlfriend, or work out," I decided.
With a shrug of her shoulders, she pulled out her notebook. "You never know," she said. Mrs. Bitsley, our English teacher, came in and our conversation came to an end.
The sun shone down on me, my body temperature rising. I was outside the school waiting for Bethany. Since I was without a car, and we lived ten minutes away from each other, she dropped me off on her way home. She was currently finishing up her math class. I usually got out ten minutes before her. Sometimes because Mr. Jerr went long, often though it was because she got held up; either with friends or math problems she needed help with. I assumed that was what held her up today.
The sound of footsteps echoed against the emptying patio. Expecting Bethany, I turned my head and smiled. As fast as the smile appeared, it disappeared and my head snapped back away from the two bodies moving my way.
Lex and Cassy walked over, hand in hand. His head leaned closer to hers, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered sweet nothings. A smile graced her face and pink tinted her cheeks.
I bit my lip in jealousy, trying not to picture what it would be like if I was the girl in his arms. How would it feel to hold his hand, and feel his lips again? What kind of things would he say to me? What would he say to elicit a blush, giggle, or smile?
The two of them stopped a few feet from me, still hand in hand. Cassy moved closer to him, her chest touching his. She blinked up at him, eyes wide and innocent. I almost snorted at the thought of Cassy being innocent. She was anything but.
“You want to come over later?” She tugged on his shirt gently as his arms slid around her waist.
“I can’t tonight,” he replied. “I’ve got plans.”
Her bottom lip jutted out, eyebrows crinkling. “Fine. I’ll see you later,” she sighed.
I cringed and felt bile in my throat at the scene that unfolded in front of me. The sun peeked from behind the clouds, and the wind rustled Cassy’s hair, her skirt billowing around her slim figure. Lex’s shirt molded against his muscles and his blond hair gleamed gold. It was like the universe was intentionally creating beautiful scenery to make the romance even more intense.
Almost in slow motion, I saw as they leaned closer until their lips met. My stomach dropped and I turned away to avoid seeing anything else. In my chest, my heart ached for the boy I would never call my own.
“See ya,” Cassy murmured with a low voice, before skipping off to the car that awaited her. When the gleaming silver car left the parking space I kept my eyes pointed at the ground.
Lex sighed, his hands slipping into his jeans pockets. He seemed oblivious to the fact I was there. Maybe if I was lucky, he wouldn’t realize I was there and walk away without shooting an arrow into my heart with cruel words.
He turned around. “Hello, Honeybee.” My nerves jumped at the easy tone to his voice. He was never casual with me, always curt and annoyed. What is going on? “Honeybee,” he said again.
“What?” I tried to stay calm, but Lex had a way of making me severely nervous. Whether it was from the butterflies or fear of what he would say, I couldn’t tell. At the moment it was probably a mix between the two. “What do you want?”
He grinned, his white teeth contrasting against his tan face. “You’re still upset about this morning aren’t you?”
Duh.
“Of course not,” I muttered sarcastically. “Who wouldn’t be overjoyed that their childhood stories were the butt of everyone’s jokes?”
"I guess not you," he replied easily, his body moving to the spot next to me. My breath caught in my throat wh
en his arm rested behind me. "Would you believe me if I said I was sorry?"
"No," I muttered. "You don't feel guilt."
He smirked, but said nothing.
Silence dragged on between the two of us, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was sitting next to me. Where was Bethany? She would know how to handle him. Of course, that would probably involve some sort of torture device and poisonous reptiles.
He cleared his throat, nabbing my attention from the line of ants moving toward poorly discarded lunch. "My mom wanted me to make sure you knew you were invited over to the house tonight, you and your mom."
I almost felt bad for him. His mom had no doubt forced him to ask me. Our parents weren't oblivious to the fact we had grown apart. I was pretty sure they were concocting a plan to get us to be friends again. I wouldn't mind a bit if they were. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed Lex and being able to trust him with things.
"I'll talk to her when I get home. I don't know if we're busy," I replied honestly.
A laugh escaped his lips. "I'm ninety percent sure your mom already knows and is planning to come, which is why I don't know my mom made me talk to you about it," he trailed off. "Anyways, knowing you, the only plan you might have is with that friend of yours." I glared at him. Just because that was true, didn't give him the right to make fun of my social life, or lack thereof. "Regardless of any plans you might have with Bridges, I don't think either one of us really have a choice. Knowing our moms, if we are anywhere but my backyard eating hotdogs tonight, we will be in big trouble."
"My mom loves me, maybe she won't subject me to spending more time with you," I mumbled under my breath.
A glint caught his eyes and he raised an eyebrow. "And what is wrong with spending time with me?" he questioned. "I am a joy to be around."
I scoffed. "To who? Those popular people you call your friends?" I grumbled, grabbing my backpack and standing up.
He caught my wrist. "Hang on, Honeybee,"
"What?" I snapped. "It's true."