“Those things hurt like a bitch,” she announced.
She wasn’t sure who was the most surprised: Trevor, Ebony, Will, the others who only knew her by reputation, or herself.
And then Ebony’s lips closed and lifted into a smile. She reached over and picked up one of the heels, eyeing it. “I bet,” she drawled, then looked up at Annabelle with a deep grin and dancing eyes. “They are really cute, though.”
“They’re my mom’s,” she laughed, stretching out her cramped toes. She looked back at Will. “I see you escaped Claire and Claudia.”
He was smiling with an unreadable expression, but he leaned forward. “It was rough. They’ve got claws, you know.”
She thought about all the times Claire had grabbed her. “Oh, I know,” she agreed dryly. She looked up at Trevor, who seemed bewildered and lost. “Sit,” she insisted.
He hesitated, as if he wanted to ask her if she was okay, but he slowly pulled a chair over and sat down. He cast a look over at Will. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” he said finally. “Mom will be happy. Did you take any pictures?”
“Oh, I’m on that!” Ebony declared, rising quickly and producing a camera from the purse she had dangling around her wrist. “Both of you stand up. Get together.”
Will shot her a murderous look, remaining seated even as Trevor stood slowly from his seat. He still looked unsteady, as if he was unsure about what was going on.
When it became clear that Will wasn’t going to get up, Annabelle laughed, standing herself. She walked around the table to where he sat, taking his warm, familiar hands in hers to pull him to his feet. He rose reluctantly, shooting her a pained expression that made her giggle. Without her heels he towered over her, and for a moment she was surprised at how normal it felt to be like this with Will.
She released his hands quickly and forced a smile to cover up her sudden uneasiness. “Come on,” she insisted. “Think of how happy your mom will be.”
She stood next to Ebony as Will and Trevor stood shoulder-to-shoulder, not quite touching each other. Trevor smiled broadly in a practiced picture smile, but Will glared at Ebony behind the camera.
“Smile, Will!” Ebony called out to him.
“No.”
“Smile!”
“If you’ve got to do this, take the picture already.”
“Not until you smile. Until then, you and your brother can just hang out together all night.”
“Oooh, good one,” Annabelle told her, turning to her.
“Thank you,” Ebony returned pleasantly.
Will stared at the two of them, and suddenly his eyes fell closed and he smiled slightly, shaking his head. Then he opened his eyes and smiled.
Ebony was quick with her trigger finger. She managed to get two pictures before Will’s smile died and he dropped back into his chair.
“Here, lemme take some,” Annabelle requested, reaching for the camera in Ebony’s hand. Ebony hurried to Will’s side, leaning behind him and smiling prettily while Will just gave her a look that said, “Please kill me.” Annabelle laughed and took the picture, staring at the back of the digital screen as it refreshed for the next shot. When the image came back in, she felt her smile die. Ebony’s lips were pressed against Will’s cheek, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Will was rolling his eyes, looking exasperated. Annabelle forced herself to smile and took the shot. “Cute!” she declared, then turned the camera on the rest of the table.
She laughed at what hams they were—almost as much as her friends. She had taken almost twenty pictures before Ebony took the camera back and pulled Will to his feet.
“C’mon,” Ebony pleaded, when Will started to protest. “So I can hang it in my locker and say to myself, ‘Here’s my fantastic new friend, and the guy who is the reason we met!’” She deliberately turned to Trevor, who was frowning slightly. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Trevor shook his head, looking lost and out of place. “No… Of course not.”
Ebony smiled pleasantly and faced Annabelle and Will. “Good. Now come on, put your arms around each other and smile.”
Annabelle had never been as uncomfortable as she was in that moment. Her right arm just seemed to know where to fit around Will’s waist, and his left arm fell naturally around her shoulders as they smiled for Ebony’s camera. Anyone watching them should have thought it was peculiar how comfortable they were with one another, including Annabelle’s boyfriend—Will’s older brother—who sat to Annabelle’s left, a witness to the whole thing.
“Attention everyone!” came an announcement through the speakers. “We’re about to announce your Homecoming court, as voted on by the students!”
Cheers went up through the crowd. A mixture of relief and disappointment went through Annabelle as she and Will released each other. She reached out to take her shoes off of the table and slid them back on, catching sight of Ebony and her friends making mock throw-up faces. She knew she should be insulted, but somehow it only made her laugh. She squeezed Ebony’s hand in goodbye, then followed Trevor to the middle of the dance floor, where their friends had clustered together. She almost laughed at the sight. There was probably going to be a rather large gap in the middle of the floor in just a few minutes.
Annabelle was right. As the grade’s chosen royalty was announced, the space in the middle of the floor continued to grow larger. She stepped back as they started to announce junior royalty, to allow Claire to pass through, when the voice that came through the speakers said, “Junior Homecoming Princess… Annabelle Priestly!”
She stood rooted to the ground, even as cheers went up around her. Her smile felt frozen on her face as she slowly turned to face Claire, confused. She could see the vehemence in her friend’s eyes, but Claire, ever the showman, squealed and threw her arms around her in a hug.
She stumbled up to the stage, still confused, and couldn’t even bring herself to smile as she looked out into the blinding stage lights and sea of students. Fearing the worst, she looked up to see if there was a bucket of red paint on one of the rafters above her head, but there was nothing. She bowed her head for them to crown her, then accepted the robe and bouquet of flowers, slipping her arm through Zach’s. She curtsied and he bowed to the loud cheers, and then they moved to the back with the freshman and sophomore royalty to wait for the King and Queen of the senior class.
All Annabelle could do was look down at Claire, who was staring up at her with dark, burning fury.
Naturally, Trevor was the Homecoming King, and Claudia the Homecoming Queen. Annabelle joined the others in her applause, but she felt too numb to cheer. She couldn’t get Claire’s face out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried.
She was Homecoming Princess?
How had that happened?
Who on earth had voted for her?
As soon as the mandatory dance with Zach was over, she hurried to her table with her bouquet of flowers and started dismantling it with trembling fingers.
“What are you doing?” Erin asked, shocked.
“I don’t deserve this,” Annabelle told her, shaking her head. “Claire should have been Homecoming Princess, not—“
“Oh, Annabelle, I’m not surprised at all that you won,” Claire said, appearing at her right with Claudia. Her eyes were cold, but her tone light. “After the fiasco at the party, everyone knows your name. It’s only natural that they would vote for you.”
It would have been easier if Claire had slapped her. She forced a smile and shrugged, feeling tears in her eyes. “I’m sure you’re right. It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t know anybody.” She tugged one of the flowers out of the bouquet and handed it to Claire. “Here.” Claire took it slowly, and around the table, Annabelle passed out flowers to the rest of the girls, who were all staring at her in surprise.
When she was done, she looked back at Claire, still shaking. Her friend’s expression was cool, but it looked like some of her anger had faded.
For the rest of the
night, Annabelle stayed at Trevor’s side. When it was finally time to go home, she couldn’t bring herself to join in the festivities with everyone else, so she pretended to be tired and burrowed her face in Trevor’s shoulder. Finally, mercifully, the limo stopped in front of the houses and they climbed out, waving goodbye to their friends. Trevor walked her to her door and when he started to lean down to kiss her goodnight, she quickly dodged him and bid him goodnight, hurrying into the silent house. She knew it was cruel, but she couldn’t think about kissing Trevor. Not after everything that had happened that night. She just wanted to go upstairs and take off her dress and climb into bed.
She had just finished pulling out the bobby pins from her hair when she heard the soft tap on her window. Her heart skipped into her throat as she jumped to her feet, practically diving for the curtains. She threw them apart, an ache forming in her chest at the sight of Will looking back at her. She opened the window quickly, stepping back to allow him entrance.
As soon as his feet touched the ground she flung herself into his arms, sobbing.
He held her tightly, gently guiding her to the bed. They sat together on the edge of it, Annabelle sobbing into his vest. The thought of her makeup ruining his white shirt made her finally pull away, burying her face in her hands. She felt his hand lightly fall away from her back.
“So she didn’t take it well,” Will drawled.
“She’s going to turn everyone against me,” Annabelle whispered brokenly. “She’s going to make it so no one talks to me ever again. She’s—“
“Powerless. Your entire class voted for you, Belle. That means they know you. They like you. You’re not going to be alone. Even if she tries something, it’s not going to work. They chose you over her. And she’s probably kicking herself for putting you on display at the big game the day before Homecoming. She’s just taking it out on you.”
Despite it all, she felt her heart seize. Even though she knew Will had been at the football game the night before, she hadn’t thought about Will seeing the cheer. She hadn’t thought about him being there for Claire to so publicly declare that she was Trevor’s girlfriend. After Trevor getting hurt, and at the sight of Will, she had all-but forgotten about it. And yet somehow, the thought of Will being there for that bothered her more than she could put into words, for reasons she couldn’t begin to express.
“Besides,” he went on lightly. “Not being part of the in crowd isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It opens your weekends right up to do other things.”
She laughed weakly. “Other things?” she repeated. She didn’t know any other things. She only knew going out with her friends to the mall, or partying at someone’s house. It was all she had done since she had made friends.
But… that wasn’t really true, was it? She and Will had gone out and done things. Will had shown her so much more than just partying and watching her friends get drunk and do stupid things to make the others laugh. Will was full of these “other things.”
He smiled slightly. “Things you really want to do.” He tapped her lightly on the forehead. “Think about it. I’m sure you could come up with something.”
She couldn’t resist smiling. No matter how bad things seemed, Will was always able to cheer her up and somehow make them seem almost… trivial. He had some uncanny ability to make every bad thing go away—to make her look forward to the future. She didn’t know how he did it, but she was impossibly grateful to him.
“I don’t know,” she drawled, already feeling better, “you’re kind of the one who always comes up with the crazy plans. I just keep coming along for the ride.”
He grinned. “Tell you what, Belle. As soon as you come up with a crazy plan, I’ll let you drive.”
She laughed out loud, surprised to feel happiness bubbling up inside of her. “Is that a promise?” she teased.
“I’ll even show you how to put the roof down.”
She grinned. “Deal.”
Chapter Thirteen
Annabelle looked up at the scuffling noises outside of her window, her heart skipping excitedly in her chest. She set down her book and hurried to the window, opening it and looking down at the tree that separated her house from the Scarlett’s.
Just as she had suspected, there was Will, scaling the tree like an expert. She giggled at the sight, happiness overcoming her at his appearance. She had felt mellow and subdued all day after the night before, but at the sight of him she felt like a light had been turned on inside of her, almost giddy to see him again.
“Late night?” she called down at him.
He looked up quickly, his boyish features lighting up with a charming grin at the sight of her. He hoisted himself up onto the branch outside of her window, straddling it as he faced her. “Some friends of mine needed a ride.”
She grinned back, kneeling down on her floor. “And enter the gallant hero Will to save the day. It’s the curse of being a nice guy. Everyone’s got you on speed dial.”
“Maybe I’ll change my number,” he suggested, mock-thoughtfully.
She shrugged, smiling impishly. “Wouldn’t bother me. I’ll just toss rocks at your window until you open up.”
He laughed. “Okay. I’ll make an exception for you. But only because I don’t want to clean up broken glass when you pick up a rock that’s too big.” He peered past her into her room. “What’re you up to?”
“At nine o’clock on a Sunday night?” she returned teasingly. “I’m having a wild and crazy party in my room. Just about to bust out the disco ball and the smoke machine.”
“Crazy kids these days,” Will tossed back. “Just don’t know when to quit.”
She laughed. “How about you?” she asked. “Now that ‘Will’s taxi service’ is closed for the evening?”
He grinned mischievously, leaning toward her. “Well we do have an after-hours special,” he offered.
She felt her heart skip a beat, excitement and adrenaline rushing through her. “What?” she asked, not quite understanding his meaning through his words.
He held out a hand to her, his eyes dancing. “Let’s go for a drive.”
Her mind spun with all the different reasons why they shouldn’t. “Now?” she asked.
“No. Tomorrow. Yes, now!” He reached out for her hand, to pull her through the window. “Come on.”
She hesitated, but before she had decided on an answer she had already placed her hand in his. Will helped her through the window, her heart pounding in her chest as he guided her down the tree. She nervously darted a look between their houses, but the lights were off—no one was going to come running after them and tell them to get back inside. They were safe.
They hurried to his car, Will unlocking her door and holding it open for her. As he shut it, she reached across his seat to his door and pushed it open.
He caught it and slid in, flashing a charming, mischievous grin at her. He slid the key in, and unlike normal when he gunned the engine and took off, he started it quietly and drove slowly down to the end of the road. Once there, he took off with lightning speed, the tires squealing with protest. Annabelle let out a shriek and he laughed, lowering the top on the convertible. She couldn’t resist laughing as her hair whipped around her face in the warm night air, the rush of wind freeing and exhilarating as they drove.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked, over the music.
He shrugged. “Where do you want to go?” he asked back, grinning.
They were such powerful words. It was like the whole world was laid out in front of them. They could go anywhere; do anything. Will’s mood, so full of life, was contagious, and she felt herself be drawn further into him.
“Where do you go when you sneak out at night?” she asked.
He laughed. “Despite what you may think, Belle, I usually only sneak out because someone got in trouble and needed a ride somewhere.” He looked over at her and winked. “I need my beauty rest, you know.”
She laughed out loud. It felt like every time she was
with Will she learned more about him—another secret he never told anyone. It was addictive, and the more she learned, the more she wanted to know. “I won’t tell,” she assured him. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your rep or anything.”
“’preciate that,” he teased.
She grinned and looked around. “Well you seem to be the one with all sorts of secret fun spots. Are there any more that you haven’t shown me?”
He shot her a devilish smile. “There’s a few more.”
Another secret she could be privy to. She was almost giddy with excitement. “Well then take me to one of them,” she ordered.
“Bossy,” he shot out at her.
“Chauffer,” she shot back.
He glanced at her and grinned. She returned it with a brilliant smile of her own and settled back to see where he would take her.
***
“It’s so warm,” Annabelle gasped, slipping her fingers into the water.
Will laughed, even as he perched on the dock and pulled off his sneakers. “Did you think I’d take you swimming if it were freezing?” he countered.
“Maybe,” she returned, making a face at him. She looked around nervously at the secluded lake. “Are you sure this place is safe?” she asked.
He arched an eyebrow, then grinned devilishly. Barefoot, he walked over to her. “Afraid you’re going to be kidnapped and murdered out in the middle of nowhere?” he teased.
She felt a shred of terror go through her. “Well now that you mention it…” she drawled flatly.
He laughed and pulled on her hand, drawing her toward the dock. “This place is totally safe. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“You say that now,” she muttered. “Little late.” Still, she sat beside him on the dock and started pulling off her shoes and socks. She hesitated when she got to her jeans, wishing that she’d brought a swim suit.
Hands suddenly took her shoulders, turning her. She looked up, startled to see Will standing in front of her, his long-sleeved white button-down in his hands. He held up his hands, indicating she should put the shirt on.
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