Wayward: St. Croix Falls Book 1

by Melody Personette

  “I hear she came in with Angie,” the purple haired girl said.

  Her friend’s head whipped around to face her, eyes widening. “For real?”

  The girl nodded, her lips curling in distaste. “Mmhmm. Weird right?”

  “Totally.”

  “She shouldn’t be associating with her if you know what I mean,” the purple haired girl said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

  Her friend nodded like that made total sense.

  What was so strange about Mia walking in with Angelica? Before she could ponder that question though, the teacher stepped in. He was not what a math teacher was supposed to look like. Balding and older and boring. This guy was the opposite. Maybe in his mid-twenties, shaggy brown hair tied back at the nape of his neck and brown eyes that made the color of dirt look beautiful.

  It took everything in Mia to keep from gaping at him. He flashed the whole room a dashing, white toothed smile as he walked to the desk and set his briefcase down. “Alrighty, good morning everyone.”

  Almost all the girls in the class answered. “Good morning Mr. Linden.”

  Mr. Linden’s eyes roamed the room and stopped on Mia. His smile momentarily faltered as he cocked his head. “You must be the new student,” he said, singling her out. Great. Just what Mia wanted.

  All eyes turned to openly stare at her. Her whole face heated as she gave a small nod. “Yes,” she said, her voice cracking.

  Mr. Linden glanced down at one of his papers. “Amelia Avery.”

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “Do you go by Amelia or Mia?”

  “Mia.”

  Mr. Linden’s brown eyes crinkled with a smile as he met her gaze. His smile was warm and friendly when he said, “Well it’s a pleasure to have you at our school Mia. I hope your first day is going well.”

  Mia nodded, and he seemed to realize having a conversation in front of everyone was not Mia’s cup of tea because he cleared his throat and set his paper down. He continued to survey the rest of the class. “Alright, let’s get started then. I see everyone is here…”

  Just then the door opened, and Rhett of all people swaggered in. Still wearing those dumb sunglasses. He looked like a lost Rockstar today with his tousled hair and in a pair of black jeans, black boots, a gray sleeveless shirt under a black leather unbuttoned vest.

  All eyes shifted from Mia to Rhett and several of them narrowed. A few of the kids looked disgusted by the sight of him. Even Mr. Linden looked displeased, his eyebrows furrowed like Rhett was a math equation he couldn’t solve. Mia frowned. She’d thought Rhett would be the most popular kid in school. The kids with roguish good looks and bad attitudes were usually the ones who sat at the most populated table at the cafeteria. Everyone wanted to be friends with them. But it seemed not in St. Croix Falls.

  “Mr. Alder, how kind of you to grace us with your presence,” Mr. Linden said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Rhett sketched a bow, smirking at all his classmates before his eyes landed on Mia. His smirk widened, and his eyes glittered with amusement at the sight of her. Her stupid heart rate kicked up and her face flushed at his attention.

  “You are quite welcome,” he said, never taking his eyes off Mia. Ignoring the stares and the disapproving look from Mr. Linden, Rhett made his way down the isle of desks and sat right behind Mia. Of course.

  Chapter Eight

  Mr. Linden narrowed his eyes on Rhett, glancing between him and Mia. Mia wanted to tell the teacher she had nothing to do with Rhett. They weren’t friends. She didn’t even like him. But it seemed that now she would be grouped in with him by association. Mr. Linden cleared his throat and gave his head a little shake before turning his back on the class to write on the white board.

  The purple haired girl turned in her seat to glower at Rhett with a pair of piercing blue eyes. “You shouldn’t be here,” she hissed.

  His smirk didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Haven’t you heard Lilac? It’s a free country. I can do what I want.”

  “You don’t belong here anymore. You lost that right a long time ago.”

  Rhett’s jaw clenched. “Mind your own business,” he snapped.

  Lilac sneered and turned in her seat but not before shooting Mia a glare as well.

  Mia frowned and glanced over her shoulder at Rhett while the teacher’s back was still turned. “What was that about?” she whispered.

  Rhett shrugged lazily and sat back in his seat. “Lilac and I don’t get along. It’s nothing.”

  It seemed like something to her. But instead of pressing, Mia turned back around. She’d ask Angie about Lilac later.

  Not five minutes later though, warm breath tickled her ear. “Psst.”

  A shiver ran down Mia’s spine when she glanced around and found Rhett had scooted his desk right up against her chair, so he could lean forward and whisper in her ear. She gave him a scowl and turned back around.

  “Psst,” he whispered again.

  Mia spun around even though a little thrill ran through her. “What?” she whispered, shooting him a withering look.

  He leaned forward so they were almost nose to nose. “I’ve taken your warning about you not doing what your told into consideration and decided I don’t care.”

  Mia’s eyes widened. Was this guy for real? “What?”

  “You heard me. Say whatever you want. Avoid me as much as you want, but you know I’m right. Angelica and Cillian? They aren’t trustworthy,” he murmured, lips still kicked up in a smile.

  Mia’s eyes narrowed. “Whatever. Just leave me alone.”

  He shrugged as Mia spun back around. A minute later, however, she heard another infuriating “psst.”

  Taking a deep breath through her nose, she turned and found him tapping a pencil against the side of his desk. “You going to the party tonight?”

  “With Angelica. Yes.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be there too.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Maybe I’ll see you there.”

  Mia scowled. “Well I’d rather not see you. You’ve been nothing but mean to me. What makes you think I want to spend any time with you?”

  He gave her a secretive smile like he knew something she didn’t. “You should probably turn around before Linden notices.”

  Mia wanted to hit him but instead she turned back around just as Mr. Linden faced the class. The rest of math class was torture. Rhett’s desk remained right up against her chair. She was hyperaware of his every movement and every breath. Every snicker and snort. Mia gripped the edges of her desk, hating the impact he had on her. By the time the bell rang, Mia was all keyed up. She jumped out of her seat, grabbed her stuff and left before Rhett could “psst” at her again.

  Mia scanned the crowd of students, hoping to catch Angelica between classes so she could tell her who had decided to sit behind her in class. She didn’t spot Angelica’s head of blond hair though, so she hurried to her locker and fumbled for the key in her pocket. Mia would need to get a lanyard or something, so she didn’t lose this thing. She balanced her things under one arm on her hip as she fit the key in the lock and turned. The locker swung open and Mia searched the inside for her social studies textbook.

  Someone cleared their throat next to her. Hoping it was Angelica, Mia grinned and shut her locker door a little to see who it was. Her smile died when she came face to face with a pair of brilliant green eyes that always seemed to be laughing at her. Dread settled in the pit of her stomach. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Wasn’t it enough to bother me during math?”

  Rhett smirked and produced a black key from his pocket, fitting it into the locker next to hers. No. Way. What were the odds. “Seems we’re locker mates.”

  Mia’s mouth fell open as he opened the locker door and reached in to grab a book. This had to be a mistake. Or a really huge coincidence. “You did this,” was what came out of her mouth.

  Rhett quirked an eyebrow at her. “How could I have done this? I skip school s
o much no one ever sees me here. How could I have access to assigning lockers?”

  “I don’t know,” Mia huffed. “But this is… this is strange.”

  “What? That we happen to share locker space?”

  “Yes.”

  “That would be called a coincidence Mia.”

  Her eyes narrowed as he blew a strand of black hair out of his face.

  “I don’t think it is.”

  “Paranoid much?”

  She shrugged, shutting her locker. “I have to go.”

  “I guess I’ll see you tonight,” he said, sliding his sunglasses in place over his eyes.

  Mia bumped right into Angelica as she left her locker. Angelica shot Rhett a glare over Mia’s shoulder. When she glanced back at Mia her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What’s he doing by your locker?”

  “His locker is right next to mine,” Mia grumbled, pointing at the locker to the left of hers.

  Angelica’s eyes widened. “Wow that is such a weird coincidence.”

  “Um, this is no coincidence. He did this somehow. I know it.”

  And now Angelica was looking at her like she was crazy too. Angelica held her book and binder to her chest, arms wrapped around them. “That sounds kind of paranoid. I don’t think even Rhett would go that far.”

  “How would you know? Did you guys date or something?”

  Angelica blanched and made a gagging noise. “No!”

  Mia threw her arms up in exasperation. “Then what am I supposed to think? You seem to hate him, and he hates you. And you seem to know so much about him. So why? What happened between you two?”

  “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it,” Angelica said.

  “Well I want to know. At least tell me if you guys were friends or not.”

  Angelica sighed, shoulders slumping. “Yes ok, we were friends. We never dated or anything like that, but we were close.” The sadness on her face and the glint in her eyes made Mia deflate a little and feel kind of bad for pushing her to answer. But she needed to know.

  “What happened?” Mia whispered.

  Angelica shrugged, folding her arms tighter around her things. “Life happened. Both our lives changed. We drifted apart. Words were said and that’s that.”

  Mia grimaced. Now it made sense. They must have had one of those arguments that went down in history. The kind that couldn’t be undone and words that couldn’t be unsaid. But with Rhett she honestly wasn’t surprised. He had a big mouth. “I’m sorry, that must have been hard. No wonder you don’t want to see him, besides the obvious reasons of course,” Mia said, rolling her eyes to try and lighten the mood.

  It worked. Turned out it didn’t take much to brighten Angelica’s mood. Angelica giggled, directing her toward the right of the hallway. “No kidding. Now we should get to class before the tardy bell rings.”

  ***

  The rest of the school day went by without a hitch. Mia sat with Angelica at lunch and saw Kai in social studies. She didn’t mind him at all. He was super friendly and the jokester of the class.

  Once school let out, Mia headed out toward the track area where the track team were lined up and doing stretches. Mia had asked Angie for the coach’s name earlier and now she made a beeline toward Coach Deja, a tall impressive looking woman in shorts and a muscle shirt with a whistle around her neck. Her thick brown hair was tied up in a bun on her head and her bark brown skin contrasted strikingly with her dark blue eyes that pierced Mia when they turned on her.

  “You lost?” she asked. Despite her appearance, her voice was lyrical and enchanting.

  Mia shook her head. “No. I’m Mia… I’m new here.”

  Coach Deja nodded. “I know. Can I help you with something?”

  “Um, yeah, I know it’s kind of late in the season, but I was wondering if I could join the team…?”

  Coach Deja raised a slender eyebrow. “The track team?”

  “Uh, yeah…?”

  “Well you’re right, it is a little too late in the season.”

  “I know I just… I’m really good,” Mia offered a little too desperately. She would really like a team sport to get involved in, to give her something to do. Plus being on the track team would remind her of home. “I won almost every competition we were in and I was top student in my old school.”

  Coach Deja put her hands on her hips, giving her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, I would love to have you on the team, honestly we could use some fresh members but it’s just too late. Next year, though. We’ll need a few extra seniors next year anyways.”

  Mia bit her lip and nodded. Bummer… but what else had she expected? For the coach to bend the rules for her? “Alright, thanks anyways. I’ll try out next year then.”

  “Please do. I would love to see you on the team.”

  Mia nodded and headed back toward the school. Just as she turned around, though, she caught Lilac watching her with a smirk on her lips as if she’d heard the whole conversation and was laughing at Mia for not getting onto the team.

  Mia scowled and spun around. It was too late in the season. It had nothing to do with her running skills. She could go the last month of school without track. Mia could always run on her own. Besides she didn’t have time to sit here and argue with the coach. She had a party to get ready for tonight.

  Chapter Nine

  Mia changed into a dark teal dress ten minutes before Angie had told her she would come pick her up. Her mom was at the bookstore late again so luckily all Mia had to do was shoot her a quick text saying she was going to a party. If her mom had been home, there would have been fuss about the dress and the party and rules and all that. She got a quick text back saying, have fun. Be careful. Be home by ten. Mia assured her mother she would be back before ten. The only reason she was going to this party was for Angie. And because she was a tad curious about these famous falls that the town was named after.

  Angie was right on time. She picked her up at exactly six o’clock and they headed out together. The whole way Angie gushed about the falls. How beautiful they were. How much Mia was going to love them, being a city girl and all. How she hoped Rhett wouldn’t be there and hoped all of her cheer team gal pals were.

  The party was being held on a campground in the woods near the falls. As they parked and trekked down the short path to the campsite, Mia remembered why she was a city girl. She hated all things nature. Bugs buzzed around her. Mosquitoes tried to land on her skin. Perspiration quickly wetted her forehead. She didn’t mind earlier when she’d been running. At least then she was moving too fast for any bugs to land on her. But at a party where she would be walking or standing? Yeah, no… Not her thing. How anyone could enjoy hiking or being out there for any length of time was beyond her.

  Mia and Angelica rounded a corner and found the party in full swing. A bonfire next to an enclosed picnic area where a few guys grilled some hot dogs. Girls sat around the fire making s’mores. Couples made out in the shadows and others danced like no one was watching.

  Mia had to admit, they didn’t have parties like this in the city. The only parties she’d gone to there were school functioned on the grounds or in the gymnasium. From across the fire Mia caught sight of Lilac with a posse of friends around her. She wore a simple white dress that barely reached her knees and a pair of heels that were impractical for partying in the woods.

  The girl’s sharp blue eyes cut through the fire and straight to Mia, her nose wrinkling.

  Mia frowned, a shiver running down her spine at the girl’s attention. “Hey Angelica… what’s up with that girl?” Mia whispered, nodding in Lilac’s direction.

  Angelica glanced up and her eyes narrowed when she saw Lilac staring at them. She scowled. “Lilac. She’s kind of the queen of the high school. I’d watch out for her. She’s a little bit crazy and territorial.”

  “Territorial? You make her sound like a wild animal,” Mia said half joking.

  Angelica smirked and shrugged. “She can be sometimes. Just… w
atch out for her. She’s bad news.”

  Mia sighed, giving her a teasing grin. “You mean like everyone else in this town?”

  Angelica pointed at her. “You’re catching on.”

  “She and Rhett didn’t seem to get along in class this morning…” Mia trailed off, hoping Angelica would fill her in on the details concerning that relationship.

  Angelica grimaced. “I’m not surprised. They’re kind of… rivals. They really do not like each other. It’s a long story. Hey, why don’t we go get some…” Angelica was suddenly cut off by her phone ringing in her pocket. Frowning, she fished it out and checked the Caller ID. Her face paled.

  “Everything OK?” Mia asked.

  Angelica blinked and glanced up at her. “Oh, yeah, it’s fine. Just… family. Um why don’t you go get drinks? I have to take this.”

  “OK.” Mia cast her a confused look but didn’t say anything as her friend walked away.

  Angelica answered her phone and took a few steps away from the party, her usually bright features souring. Mia turned and headed to where someone had set up a row of foods and drinks on one of the picnic tables. She grabbed two red plastic cups and filled them with punch before heading back to find Angelica. But when she got back to where she’d sworn she’d left her friend, she found Angelica gone.

  “Angelica?” Mia called, glancing around. She didn’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’d gone back to the car to get some privacy while talking to whoever had called?

  Still holding the drinks, Mia made her way to the parking lot and nearly dropped both the cups when she saw Angelica’s car gone. What the…? Had she just ditched her at a party? Mia didn’t even know anyone there. How was she supposed to get home now?