“Freya,” I answered, reaching out to shake her hand.
“What a cool name! You’re the new girl, huh? Your accent’s funny. Where are you from?” she rattled off at lightning speed.
“You’re really full of energy, aren’t you?” I asked dryly. I wasn’t meaning it as a joke, but she laughed anyway.
“Yeah. My mom says if I wasn’t in dance, I’d never wear myself out.”
My heart squeezed painfully at the mention of dancing. Shortly after losing my mom, I’d tried to throw myself back into drill team, but all it did was remind me of how much she loved watching me perform. I couldn’t stomach the thought of never seeing her cheering me on in the audience again, so I’d given it up completely.
“I’ve been dancing for as long as I can remember. Mom says I was dancing even before I could walk.”
I watched Stella’s eyes light up as she talked about her mom. Mine used to do that, too.
“Does this school have a Drill Team?” I asked conversationally. Stella seemed nice enough, and if she was making the effort to be polite, the least I could do was offer the same in return.
In the blink of an eye, Stella’s hyper behavior deflated with just that one question. Strangely enough, I found myself a little sad that her sprightliness had disappeared. She was so tiny and full of life in just the few sentences we’d exchanged that I already picked up on the fact that the frown marring her face seemed out of place. “Yeah, they’re called the Sommerspoint Sassettes.”
Disbelief bubbled up from my throat in the form of laughter. “Are you kidding me? They actually call themselves that?”
“Yeah,” Stella answered, a small grin returning to her lips. “It’s kinda lame.”
“Are you on the team?”
“Oh, um, no.” Stella’s eyes went to the ground as she spoke. “But they’re having tryouts next week if you’re interested.”
“Oh, no. That’s not really my thing,” I answered, intentionally leaving out the fact that it had been just a few months back. She didn’t need to know that. She opened her mouth to say something just as the second and final warning bell rang. I needed to hurry or I was going to be late for my first class. A class I had no clue how to get to.
I pulled my schedule out of my bag and looked at my first class.
“What do you have?” Stella asked, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look at the paper in my hand.
“English with Mrs. Wilkins. Room 103.”
“Oh, yay! I’m in that class! Come on. I’ll show you where it is.” As I followed behind the redheaded woodland fairy, a wave of unexpected relief hit me. I’d gone from someone who didn’t want to make any friends to someone following after a little ball of energy in the span of just a few minutes. Oh, how my opinion had changed the instant I met Stella. She was one of those people who were impossible not to like.
I kept my gaze on Stella as we made it into the classroom, not bothering to look around and see who all was there. Other than my new sort-of-friend, it wasn’t like I knew anyone else anyway. We found two empty seats right next to each other a few rows from the back and sat down just as the last bell rang. Mrs. Wilkins stood from her desk and made her way to the door. She looked to be in her mid-to-late fifties and wore clothes so old they’d fallen out of style, come back into style, and fallen out all over again. And judging by the way she slammed the door shut on a boy who tried to come running in just a few seconds too late, I was pretty sure she was going to be a drill sergeant.
What fun.
“Rule number one in my class: if you’re late, you’re not getting in. Rule number two: do not disrupt. If you do, you’re out and rule number three: do your assigned work. If you follow these rules, we’ll get along just fine this semester.”
I couldn’t speak for anybody else, but I was going to make sure I followed her rules to the letter. Mrs. Wilkins was a little scary. I reached into my bag to pull out a notebook and pen when I heard a deep chuckle from behind me.
“Well, hey there, new girl. Looks like it’s my lucky day.”
My gaze shot over to Stella who was staring at me wide-eyed before I turned around to see who that deep voice belonged to. I was immediately sucked into a pair of endlessly dark eyes, partially shaded by a flop of brown hair.
Great, just what I need.
“Parker,” I said with a casual tilt of my chin in acknowledgment.
The florescent lights in the classroom glinted off his lip ring as he grinned at me. “Weird-named Freya. How you doing this morning, gorgeous?”
“Well, I was doing just fine…until now.” I tried not to let his calling me gorgeous have an effect on me, but my stupid stomach dropped as his stare bore into mine. I’d only seen him twice and I could already tell Parker Owens was going to be a problem for me. A buzzer went off in my brain, sounding, Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Stay the hell back!
A disgruntled snort pulled my attention away from Parker and over to the blonde girl sitting next to him. Her top lip was curled in disgust as she glared at me like I’d just peed in her cheerios. Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than I already had, and definitely not wanting to get into trouble on my first day, I spun back around in my seat and faced the front of the room where Mrs. Wilkins was writing something on the dry erase board.
Trying to ignore the hushed voices that spoke behind me and focus on what the teacher was saying was damn near impossible when I heard the girl who had been staring me down whisper to Parker.
“Freya? Her name is Freya? What kind of stupid name is that?”
“No stupider than Brynn,” Parker shot back. By the sound of her offended gasp, I could only assume that unfortunate name belonged to Little Miss Lip Curl herself.
“I think it’s a beautiful name,” he continued, and I felt my cheeks heat at the compliment even as I tried to act like I wasn’t eavesdropping. I could see Stella out of the corner of my eye subtly trying to get my attention, but I kept my focus firmly on Mrs. Wilkins. “It’s only the first day of school, Brynn. At least wait a week before you let your bitch show.”
“Mr. Owens,” Mrs. Wilkins called out, turning the entire classroom’s attention to the guy sitting behind me. “Already disrupting my class on the first day, I see. Why am I not surprised?”
“Not at all, Mrs. Wilkins,” Parker spoke in a smooth cadence. “Have I told you yet how lovely you look this morning?”
She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Your charm won’t work on me, Mr. Owens.”
“Well, that’s a shame. I’m still waiting for the day you leave Mr. Wilkins and run away with me.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one immune to Parker Owen’s charm as the entire class burst into a fit of giggles and laughter. Even Mrs. Wilkins’ cheeks were turning a little pink.
“Do you think you can manage to make it through the rest of the period without causing any more problems?”
I didn’t turn around to see his face, but I could hear the smile in his voice as he answered. “For you, I’ll try my very best.”
I tried my hardest not to laugh, as I looked down, unseeing at the textbook open on my desk. English was going to be an interesting period, to say the least.
“How do you know Parker Owens?” Stella whispered exuberantly as we exited the classroom? I’d somehow managed to make it through the rest of the period without acknowledging the boy who sat behind me. It wasn’t easy, that was for sure. People like Parker demanded attention just by existing and when they didn’t get it, they turned into whiny little children; case in point, the pen which he kept jabbing into my back every few minutes.
“I don’t know him,” I answered simply as we headed for our lockers to exchange books.
“Sure looked like you knew him to me.” She giggled. Her voice held so much delight I almost didn’t want to let her down.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t. Not really, anyway. I ran into him down on the beach by my house. He’s kind of a jackass, if you ask me.”
Sh
e released a wistful sigh as she traded one book for another and closed her locker. “Yeah, he can be sometimes. But then he can also be really nice, you know? I’ve known him since we were little, and he wasn’t always like he is now. It’s the people he hangs out with, I think. They’re a bunch of assholes. Guess it just rubbed off on him after a while.”
“Who does he hang out with?” I asked, unable to curb my curiosity when it came to Parker. He was an enigma, rude the first time we met, yet charming and charismatic in class. He was like a puzzle I didn’t want to figure out, but couldn’t resist all at the same time.
“Oh, you know... the ‘popular’ kids.” She used air quotes on the word popular, adding an eye roll for good measure. “Typical high school jerks. The jocks, cheerleaders, kids like that. Parker’s like the ringleader of that crowd. It’s weird, really. He never came off as clique-y or anything like that until we got to high school, but those guys just flock to him like he’s their king or something. It’s kinda pathetic. He dated Cassidy Ashworth for, like, two years a while back. She’s the most popular girl in school. Even after they broke up, they kept running with the same people. It’s this twisted little hierarchy with those guys. I just keep my distance.”
Nothing she was telling me was shining Parker in a good light. It just confirmed that my opinion of him was dead-on.
“Well, Spritely Stella, you’re better off without losers like that in your life.”
“Spritely?” she giggled.
“Yeah, you know, like one of those little woodland fairies you read in children’s books. You’re tiny and full of energy, like a sprite.” I smiled as she laughed at my description.
“Spritely…” she said thoughtfully. “I like that. Well, Mystifying Freya, I have to get to class. Here, give me your phone.”
I quickly handed it over. “Mystifying?” I asked as she fiddled around with my cellphone.
“Yeah,” she replied, handing it back when she was finished. I looked down to see she’d programmed her number into it. “You’re the mysterious new girl in a small town, might as well get used to it.”
I laughed again. I’d laughed more with Spritely Stella in just a couple of hours than I had in months. It felt nice. “See you around.”
“I called myself from your phone so I’d have your number, too,” she told me as she walked backwards down the hall. “We should hang out some time.”
I found myself answering, “I’d like that,” and genuinely meaning it. I still didn’t want to make a lot of connections in Sommerspoint, but I liked the idea of having Stella in my corner. I could already tell she was going to be a good person to have around.
“Cool. I’ll call you later.”
The rest of the morning went by without any issues. I’d paid more attention to each classroom I walked into, not wanting to risk another run-in with Parker if it could be avoided. Luckily, we didn’t have many classes together and those we did share, I was able to find a vacant desk far enough away from him that I didn’t have to deal with his annoyingly demanding presence. When I walked into Biology, he was sitting at a table with another guy who looked to be around Parker’s height, but where Parker was leanly muscled, the other guy was beefier. The first thing that popped into my head was that he had to have been one of the jocks Stella was talking about. Their heads were leaned in as they talked, and I thought I could get past unnoticed. I was wrong.
“Hey, Freya! Come sit here,” Parker called just as I stepped up next to his table. “Dude, move somewhere else,” he said to the guy next to him, elbowing him in the ribs.
“No, thanks.” I answered quickly, not bothering to stop. I’d spotted a seat at the table in the back and I was determined to get there before I got sucked into Parker’s vortex.
I sat at my table and hefted my bag onto the top. I’d been so focused on avoiding Parker that I hadn’t noticed the person sitting next to me until he spoke.
“Hi. I’m Michael.”
I turned to see a boy smiling at me. He was good-looking enough, with sandy blond hair and pale blue eyes. He didn’t have the same in-your-face persona Parker had, but he was still attractive.
I offered a polite smile. “Freya. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too. So, you’re the new girl everyone is talking about, huh?”
I groaned and rubbed at my temples. “Yeah, I guess that would be me. No offense, but don’t you guys have anything better to talk about around here than some new student?”
He laughed good-naturedly. “No offense taken, and no, not really. Sorry, but in a town this size, we’re limited on entertainment. You’re probably going to be it for the next few months.”
“Lovely,” I deadpanned.
“We had a foreign exchange student once. I think he was from Brazil or something. You should have seen the commotion that caused.”
“Well, fingers crossed someone else comes along to take over the title of ‘new kid’. I’m not really big on attention.”
We both remained silent as we prepared for class to start. A few minutes later, Michael asked, “So, you know Parker Owens?”
My head fell back with a sigh. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? I don’t know the guy! I ran into him once, that’s it. And it wasn’t all that pleasant of an experience.”
I looked over at Michael to see he was a little startled by my sudden outburst. “Sorry,” I quickly apologized. “It’s been an exhausting day.”
He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, no problem. I only asked because he keeps staring back here. He looks pissed.”
I turned my attention to Parker’s table at the front of the room. Sure enough, he and the jock he was sitting with were staring back at me. The muscle head looked amused while Parker studied me with narrowed eyes. Just like at the beach, it felt like he could see too deeply inside my head. I quickly averted my gaze from his penetrating stare. “He’s weird,” I mumbled, more to myself than to Michael.
“Well, you’re one of the only girls in school to think that. Most of them would be falling over themselves for his attention.”
I gave him a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, I’ll pass. That’s not really my style.”
Luckily, the teacher chose that moment to walk into the room and begin class. I spent the rest of the period forcing myself to keep my head down, even though I could feel Parker’s eyes on me the whole time.
As I stepped through the cafeteria doors, I scanned the tables looking for somewhere out of sight where I could sit in peace. Unfortunately, almost every table seemed to be filled with loud, boisterous teenagers. It wasn’t until I saw a familiar cloud of unruly red curls that I breathed a sigh of relief. I made my way over to the table where Stella was sitting, dropping my bag in front of an empty chair.
“Someone sitting here?”
“No!” she responded excitedly. I was beginning to think Stella’s response to almost everything was pure excitement. “Have a seat. I’m so glad we have the same lunch hour.”
“Me, too.” I gave her a small smile as I sat down and scooted my chair in, silently appraising the rest of the people around me. Obnoxiously loud laughter drew my attention to a table near the back of the cafeteria. As soon as my gaze fell onto a familiar pair of dark brown eyes, I instantly regretted looking in that direction. Parker sat front and center, surrounded by a group of people who just oozed popular crowd. I recognized a few of them, one being the bitchy girl, Brynn, I had English with and the other was the boy Parker had been sitting with in Biology. From how they were staring down other students and leaning in to snicker with each other, they didn’t exactly come off as approachable. That tiny voice in my brain screamed for me to turn away, but something in Parker’s eyes refused to release my gaze. I was stuck. His brows were drawn together as he stared at me, an unreadable expression on his face as his intent focus bore into me, sending a spark of electricity throughout my entire body.
“Those are the guys I was telling you about earlier.” Stella’s vo
ice helped to pull me out of the intense moment I seemed to be having with Parker even from all the way across the room.
I blinked and shook my head to clear it as I turned back to Stella. “Huh?”
“Parker’s friends,” she said with a curl of her lip. “They’re loud and annoying. Honestly, I don’t know how he can stand most of them. They’re a bunch of jerks.”
I briefly glanced back in that direction to find Parker’s eyes were still on me even though the perky little blonde at his side was doing everything in her power to get his attention.
“Who’s the girl?” I asked, trying to mask the disgust on my face as Cheerleader Barbie practically shoved her entire tongue into his ear. “She looks like she’s trying to taste his brain.”
Stella’s cheerful laughter cut through the raucous sounds of the table we were discussing. “That’s his ex, Cassidy.”
“They don’t look much like exes to me,” I said, turning my full attention to Stella and trying my hardest to ignore their table.
“Yeah, you’d think that…except for the fact he that can’t seem to take his eyes off you.” She gave me a little wink as a huge smile spread across her face. I let out a scoffing laugh in an effort to ignore the heat setting my face on fire. “Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.”
Against my better judgment, my head moved back in the direction of Parker’s table. Sure enough, his eyes hadn’t moved an inch, only it was no longer just him who was focused on me. The look on Cassidy’s face was full of animosity as she glared at me. Brynn leaned over and whispered something in her ear before they both looked back at me, their lips tilted down in twin expressions that let me knew I wasn’t going to be making friends with them any time soon. Parker seemed oblivious to the laser beams his girlfriend—or ex-girlfriend—was shooting at me, but one thing was for sure. If those were the types of people he chose to associate with, then Parker Owens wasn’t someone I needed to be spending any time around.
The bell dismissing school finally rang and I let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the day to be over. But as soon as I stepped through the door, that relief was replaced with frustration. Rain was pouring down in sheets as the wind blew fiercely. We were in the middle of a decent storm, and I was without a car or an umbrella.
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