by Grace Owens
30 DAYS
* * *
GRACE OWENS
Copyright ⓒ 2019 by Grace Owens
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Title Page
PROLOGUE
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6
DAY 7
DAY 8
DAY 9
DAY 10
DAY 11
DAY 12
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 15
DAY 16
DAY 17
DAY 18
DAY 19
DAY 20
DAY 21
DAY 22
DAY 23
DAY 24
DAY 25
DAY 26
DAY 27
DAY 28
DAY 29
DAY 30
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PREVIEW OF ‘ALWAYS YOURS’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For all the 90’s
romance movies
fangirls out there
PROLOGUE
COLLIN
”I’M SO FUCKING bored it’s not even funny,” I muttered, sliding the disgusting food around on my plate with the plastic fork.
“What the hell did you expect? This is Aberdeen. Since when did anything in this shitty town get funny?” Duncan, my brother, said. Unlike me, he seemed to enjoy the food our high school cafeteria served as he shoveled forkfuls of rice into his mouth.
He was right, and if that wasn’t enough, we were stuck here for another four months, if you counted summer break, before we left for college. Not that we would be getting far, three hours away to be exact, but at least we would be in the big city.
“Maybe we should do something to make it funny,” Rose said, tapping her perfect manicured nail on the table with an evil fucking grin on her face.
Blonde, smart, gorgeous as hell and perfect. That was a way to sum Rose up, but since she was dating my brother, I hadn’t touched her. It hadn’t mattered that I had seen her first, Duncan had been quick to call dibs on her the moment she walked by us in the hallway two years ago.
“What did you have in mind, babe?” Duncan asked.
“Hmm, the prom is coming up,” Rose answered thoughtfully. It was another month left to prom. I fucking hated formal things like prom. “Maybe Collie here should prove his skills.”
“Don’t call me Collie,” I growled. “And what skills are you talking about?”
“Maybe it’s time for you to prove that you’re as good as you say with the ladies.” Rose smirked at me.
I had never once bragged or boasted about my skills with the ladies, but I guess I had been getting a bit of free advertisement lately thanks to Jessica King. If I had known what a talker she turned out to be, I would have stayed away.
Too late now.
“It’s not my fault I’m liked by the girls around here.”
“Prove it.”
“You haven’t told me what the fuck I’m supposed to do yet.”
“Do you think you’re so good that you can make any girl in this room this year’s prom queen?”
There it was again – prom. If it hadn’t been for the smug look on both Rose’s face and Duncan’s, I would have told her no this whole shit. But they were smug and I felt the need to prove that what was said about me was true. Whenever someone challenged me, especially when my brother was involved, my moral compass went to shit.
“Of course,” I finally answered just as smugly. “Who?”
“Ooh, let me pick,” Duncan said excitedly.
I looked around the room with him. There were braces, bad perms, book nerds, mean girls, skanks, decent girls, emos. This school had it all.
“What do you say about Lauren Rogers?” Duncan asked Rose.
“Too easy.”
She was right. Lauren was in the categories bad perms and decent girls. She would be easy to make prom queen once I made people look past her appearance.
“Oh, I know! How about… Isabella Andrews?” Duncan asked, looking pretty confident with himself.
I groaned because I knew Rose would fucking agree to her.
Isabella Andrews.
Where to start? She was in one single category – bitches. My mother taught me better than to use that name to describe someone, but mean girls was too nice and she wasn’t a skank. She was known for turning guys down not so nicely. That poor fucker Mike Nelson had looked completely destroyed after asking her out once. Maybe that was because rumored had it she had kneed him in the balls.
She was a feisty one and not too bad looking. I just hoped to God she would go easy on me.
“You have thirty days, lover boy,” Rose said, smiling evilly.
“What do I get out of it?” I demanded.
“Bragging rights?” Rose suggested, looking at my brother. “A bit of fun before leaving for college.”
“Not worth it.” I stood up to leave, knowing my brother wouldn’t let this one go.
“I’ll cover for you all summer whenever needed,” Duncan relented.
Our parents weren’t as strict as some other’s, but they had rules and they had tightened them up real tight ever since last year when Duncan had failed his senior year due to spending too much time at parties and with Rose.
“You’ve got a deal,” I agreed.
Game on!
DAY 1
BELLA
”I’M SO FREAKING bored right now it’s not even funny,” I muttered, taking a bite of the disgusting pizza.
“Well, look at it this way, we’re out of here in just a few months,” Amanda, my best friend, said cheerfully.
She was right, but that didn’t mean it got less boring. My brother, Jackson, decided to show up that moment, saving me from making a bitchy remark. I hated being bitchy towards Amanda, but her cheerful attitude sometimes got on my nerves. This moment was no exception.
Most days we balanced each other out. I took her down a notch or two from la-la land and she cheered me up… sometimes.
Jackson and I didn’t look much alike even though we were twins.
I had dark brown hair, he had light brown hair.
My eyes were a deep shade of brown to match my hair and his was blue.
He was tall, I was short.
He took after our mom and I took after our dad.
The only thing we did have in common when it came to our looks was the pale skin. Maybe that was because we lived in a place where the sun barely made its appearance.
“Could you not do that in front of me?” I asked, making a disgusted face.
It wasn’t as if I liked watching my brother and best friend practically having sex while I ate my already disgusting lunch.
“What’s up, sis? Jealous?” Jackson asked.
“No,” I huffed.
I wasn’t.
I was okay with not having a love life. The last one I’d had three years ago ended worse than badly and I had no desire to ever do that again.
Amanda kept talking about the upcoming prom. I hated prom. I wasn’t even going. She could pout and give me puppy-eyes best she wanted. It was just a way for guys with a raging hard-on to press their bodies against some innocent girls, and maybe not so innocent girls as well.
Not for me.
After a while, I excused myself to go to Biology class. It was one of my favorite classes so even though we probably wouldn’t do anything, I still didn’t want to skip it.
As I s
lammed my locker shut, Collin Jacobs, the school’s bad boy, made his appearance. A little too close for my liking. He might have been able to dazzle the girls of Aberdeen High School with his crooked smile, but it had no effect on me. Not even his bronze colored sex-hair.
“Hi, I’m Collin Jacobs,” he said smoothly as if that would impress me.
“I know who you are,” I said and started walking.
“I’ll walk you to Biology.” He caught up with me and started walking next to me as if he owned the damn world or something.
“I can walk myself, thank you very much.”
“Great, then you can walk me.”
Was this guy for real?
I ignored him as he walked by my side. We were both in this class, but that didn’t mean I needed an escort. He smelled like smoke and it made my nose scrunch up. Sure, some guys had the ability to make the habit look sexy, but the smell always got to me.
“I’ll see you around, Isabella Andrews,” Collin said casually as I walked to my table in the back.
I just rolled my eyes at him and waved him off. I had no interest in the guy and I doubted he had any interest in me.
Collin kept looking at me over his shoulder from time to time during class, but I just shook my head at him and tried to concentrate on class. The class was too easy, though, and that made me zone out more than once as Mr. Pearson, the teacher, kept talking.
Later in Gym, we were playing volleyball. At least this was one of the classes I didn’t have with Collin.
“So, Collin Jacobs followed me to Biology today,” I told Amanda as we changed back to our real clothes after class.
“What?” she asked surprised.
“That’s what I thought, too,” I mumbled. “And he still did it even after I told him I didn’t want him to.”
“You didn’t want him to? Bella, he’s the sexiest guy in school, after your brother, of course, and you didn’t want him to walk you to Biology?”
“No,” I answered simply.
“Well, he sure seems to like following you,” she said with a snicker as we made it to the parking lot.
Sure enough, Collin Jacobs was leaning against my purple bug, also known as my car. He was smoking, but at least he put it out as I made my way towards him, saying goodbye to Amanda who was riding with my brother today.
“Are you following me?” I asked, throwing my bag into the back seat.
“No, I was just admiring your car.”
“Great. How about I show you what it looks like while I’m driving away,” I said and climbed into the driver’s seat.
He stopped me from closing the door and he smiled that damn smile again. He was starting to get on my nerves.
“Do you wanna go out sometime? Let’s say Saturday?” he asked in a confident tone.
“No. Now, if you excuse me, I have places to be and people to see,” I said, tugging on my car door.
He looked stunned as if he hadn’t expected me to say no and didn’t put up a fight as I closed the door. I didn’t understand why he had expected me to say yes, though. There were plenty of girls in this school that would donate their left boob just to go out with him.
I wasn’t one of them.
DAY 2
COLLIN
YESTERDAY HAD NOT turned out the way I planned. Sure, I had expected her to turn me down the first time, but she even managed to resist my charm the second time as well.
There were practically no girls in this school that had turned me down before. I had always been the one to turn them down. Sure, I’d had my share of girls from here, but they could be counted on one hand. There had never been anyone to hold my interest… until now.
Isabella Andrews had just served the whole purpose of this whole shit – she made my day exciting. I hadn’t really worked out a plan on how to actually make her prom queen, but I guess I would just get her to start dating me and she would automatically belong to the “cool” people and therefore, people would vote for her.
Fuck if I know. It sounds good to me.
I stood by her locker as she came in this morning, but she just shook her head in disbelief and ignored me.
This girl was fucking good at ignoring people.
“Are you going to James’ party tomorrow?” I asked.
“No,” she answered with a small laugh like it had been the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why not?”
“I have my reasons.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Come on. Give me something?” I begged, trying to give her my best pout.
“Like what?” she asked amused and slammed her locker shut and started walking.
“How about a date?”
“I don’t date,” she said simply, stopping in front of a classroom. “If I were you, I would try getting into a willing girl’s pants. It would save you a lot of time.”
With that, she opened the door and walked in, leaving me standing there for the third time since I started trying to get the girl to just go out on one date with me.
One. Date. Was that so hard?
Yes. Yes, it fucking was.
When Rose asked about my progress, I was honest. And what did I get? Her laugh. I still had twenty-eight more days, but apparently she was dead set on that I was going to fucking fail. Well, that only made me want to work even harder.
“Man, this is going to be fun,” Duncan said with a snicker.
It was. He was right about that. As much as I hated that it took a bet to get me going, Isabella Andrews was a challenge and I loved a good challenge.
Once again, I stood outside waiting for her gym class to end. This time, though, I chose to stand by the door. She hadn’t seemed too fond of me standing by her car. Just like yesterday, she emerged with that small chick that looked like a little pixie or something. If I remembered correctly, her name was Anna, Alice, or something.
“Do you wanna go out with me tomorrow night?” I asked for the last time today. I would let her sleep on it before I made my next move. There was nothing as bad as pushing a woman too far in one day.
“I have soccer practice tomorrow,” she answered, turning around, but she didn’t seem too surprised to see me here.
“You play soccer?” I asked surprised. I had never been into sports and I couldn’t give a shit about the sports at our school.
“Yes.”
“Well, do you want to go out after?”
The short girl smiled at me, which encouraged me. Or she just wanted me herself. Although, I had seen her make out with Bella’s brother a few times.
“You never give up, do you?” she asked, clearly annoyed.
“No,” I smirked.
“Whatever,” she mumbled and walked away. The small girl followed.
“So, was that a yes?” I called after her.
“I’m not going out with you!” she called back, turning around and laughed at me before turning back again.
Great. Just fucking great!
DAY 3
COLLIN
“CAN I RIDE home with you, Collie?” Duncan asked, catching up with me as we walked out to the parking lot.
“I’m gonna watch the soccer practice,” I told him and started walking towards the field. I hadn’t been bugging Bella at all today. In fact, the only time I had seen her was in the cafeteria and in Biology. She had ignored me as usual, of course, but what the hell had I expected?
“Soccer?” he called after me.
“Yeah. Catch a ride with Rose or someone. Or better yet, why the hell don’t you start driving your own fucking car?”
“Oh, what a great idea, Collie,” he said sarcastically. I fucking hated being called that, but he never seemed to listen. “Why didn’t you tell me this morning?”
“It’s more fun this way.” I smirked.
I heard him mutter “Asshole” as I walked away, but I didn’t care. It was his own fault that he hadn’t taken his own car this morning.
Watching Bella play soccer was… well, it was something,
alright. The way she moved with the ball in deep concentration was fascinating. And she was probably the only girl on the field that managed to pull off the blue shorts and yellow t-shirt.
I chuckled as the rest of the girls seemed to fight the urge to move away from her instead of towards her. It was almost as if they were afraid of her.
When the practice was almost over, Bella’s little friend came over and walked up the bleachers before sitting down next to me.
“Hello, Collin. I’m Amanda,” she said sweetly, the total opposite of Bella.
“Hello, Amanda,” I answered, trying to be all polite and shit.
“I’m Bella’s best friend and I’m also dating her brother,” she explained, but I had already figured that much out.
“Good to know,” I said, lightening a cig. She looked at me disapprovingly, but I didn’t give a damn.
”What are your intentions with my best friend… really?” Amanda asked in a curious tone, waving her hand in front of her face to keep the smoke away.
“I want to date her,” I answered, almost feeling like she could see right through my bullshit. Although, I hadn’t completely lied. I had every intention in dating Bella.
“She doesn’t date, but I’m sure she’s already told you that,” Amanda said, waving to Bella’s brother who was standing by the field. “But let’s hope for both your sakes that she’ll change her mind.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” I asked confused as she walked down the bleachers to her boyfriend.
“Goodbye, Collin Jacobs. And good luck. You’re going to need it,” she said with a smile and walked off.
Huh.
Well, the luck was needed. That was only confirmed by the fucking glare Bella shot me from the field as she had seen Amanda walk down. That was also the first time she had noticed me sitting there in the first place.
Once the practice was over and Bella walked over to the bench to retrieve her bag, I walked down to her.
“Hello, Isabella,” I said smoothly. “How are you?”