Thin Skin: A High School Bully Romance (Vestamont High Series Book 1)

by Indi Bluehart

  Thin Skin

  Vestamont High Series - Book 1

  Indi Bluehart

  Contents

  Books By Indi Bluehart

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Don’t Miss A Release!

  About the Author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and all incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 Indi Bluehart

  First Edition June 2019

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Books By Indi Bluehart

  Vestamont High Series

  Thin Skin - Book 1

  Book 2 - Coming soon!

  Mailing List

  If you’d like to be notified when book two in Indi Bluehart’s Vestamont High series is released, sign up for the mailing list.

  Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time. And of course, no spam!

  Chapter One

  Vestamont High School, VHS, was the worst thing that ever happened to me in my entire life. When I was fiveand I wanted a puppy for Christmas and I didn’t get it, I was devastated. That didn’t even come close to what it was like moving to Spring Meadow.

  “Alyssa! You’re going to be late!” my mom called from downstairs.

  My feet pounded against the carpeted stairs and across the living room floor, stopping to take a quick peek into the kitchen. “You sure you won’t change your mind on my homeschooling idea?”

  “Not going to budge,” my mom said without looking up from the plate of bacon she was carrying to the table. She set it down and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to me. “You’re going to have breakfast, aren’t you?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. No time. And I’m not even a little hungry.”

  “Those darn butterflies.” My mom gave me a quick hug and pulled back to look into my eyes. “It’s going to be fine.”

  “Thanks, mom,” I said pulling back with a smile. I didn’t want her to worry about me. “Gotta go.”

  “Okay, honey. Have a lovely day.”

  I flung my backpack over my shoulder and left the house that still didn’t quite feel like home.

  My little family of three had to move because my dad got a job offer he couldn’t refuse. I had no choice but to go with them and finish out my senior year at a new high school. I’d begged for homeschooling but my mom shot the idea down without much of a discussion.

  Leaving my best friend behind was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. She’d promised to text me every day and I knew she would try but her life would go on as usual. The only thing that would be different at my old school was that I wouldn’t be there.

  There had been others waiting in line to take my place as Bailey’s best friend. She was the gorgeous, popular girl that everyone liked and others wanted to be. I pretended not to care about the others but leaving Bailey behind had been painful. It changed me in a lot of ways I wouldn’t ever be able to explain. Losing her was akin to grieving the loss of a loved one because essentially, that was what had happened.

  The moment I’d heard we were leaving, I put up a shell around myself. I needed to be hard. Emotionless. It didn’t always work but a lot of times, it did.

  But now here I was, walking to my new school that was only four blocks away from my new home in my new town. A home that was far larger than what our family of three needed. It was just me, my mom, and my dad. When my dad had been offered the job here in Spring Meadow, he hadn’t wanted to move but he couldn’t resist the salary they’d offered him. He said it would be life changing.

  All of the houses in town were mansions and all of the cars sparkled and shined with newness and polish. There wasn’t a single ‘wash me’ written in dust on the back of any window. The convertibles all had their tops rolled down even though it was September. Mops of hair flopped around like flags on a windy day.

  It seemed like I was the only one walking to school. I couldn’t even pretend not to hear the comments and giggles over the engines and blaring radios from the cars that passed by. I’d heard words like ‘poor’ and ‘sad’ and even a ‘pathetic’ or two.

  Not that it mattered but my family wasn’t poor. Far from it, especially now with my dad having his new job. It was just that my parents thought I could have a car when I got a job and earned the money to pay for it myself. Clearly, the other parents in town didn’t feel the same way.

  Already I was sticking out like a sore thumb. What a great way to start the year.

  Vestamont High wasn’t a large high school. It was a private school in Spring Meadow with roughly one hundred and fifty students in my senior class. It was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone.

  When we first toured the school, the principal had told us that everyone was kind and welcoming and that I’d surely fit right in. He must have been talking about a different school.

  A black sports car pulled up to a stop sign just as I came up to the curb. I hesitated, glancing briefly at the four guys in the car all leaning so far back in their seats it looked as though they were laying in a bed.

  The driver shot me a quick glance. It seemed as though he was waiting for me to cross. The second I took a step into the crosswalk, he hit the gas and then the brake quickly jerking the car in my direction.

  “Whoa!” I said with a gasp as I held out my hand in front of me, lightly touching the fender of his car.

  “Hey!” the driver shouted. “Don’t fucking touch my car!”

  “Oh,” I said yanking my hand back in shock. It took a few seconds for it to register that he should have been apologizing to me, not yelling at me. After all, the jackass had almost just hit me with his stupid expensive car.

  He hit the gas, speeding off as his friends chuckled.

  “Uh, I have the right of way!” I shouted after them but they were long gone and his noisy car would have drowned out my voice anyway. “Idiots.”

  As I approached the school, I walked down the sidewalk that went around the student parking lot. Nearly every car in the lot was pristine and looked like it should have been in a James Bond movie. The few that weren’t perfect were still quite nice but they were parked at the back of the lot.

  Students were gathered around their cars and scattered on the front lawn. The only one heading toward the doors was me.

  I kept my head down not wanting to make eye contact with anyone but my eyes kept trying to dart around against my will. Every eye had landed on me at some point and none of them had felt welcoming or friendly.

  It made me sweat.

  It felt like I was being judged.

  There was no doubt that they all knew I was new to the school. Everyone had their friends alreadyand I was the outcast. I didn’t have a chance at not being a loner.

  It was going to be a long school year but with my hard, protective shell, I could do it. It wasn�
��t like I had a choice in the matter. Not finishing and not getting into a good college just wasn’t an option as far as my parents were concerned.

  The bell rang as I was about ten feet away from the doors. I moved my feet faster because I was already nervous about finding my locker and getting to my first class on time.

  The principal talked to my parents and me when we’d visited about their procedures. There would be two bells every morning and again after lunch. The first was a warning bell letting the students know they had three minutes to get to class. The second bell was to inform the students there were only thirty seconds left to be seated in your desk. If you weren’t there, you’d be marked tardy or absent. Attendance was important.

  I glanced over my shoulder but the other students didn’t seem to care that the first bell had rung. None of them were moving. They were still looking my way, some of which wore peculiar grins and others with sneers stretching their faces.

  The group wearing the sneers were the ones closest to me. They were on the lawn with their short skirts and their dark, perfect eyeliner.

  I pushed open the door, sucking in a breath the second the door closed behind me. The halls were empty except for a boy standing at his locker at the far end of the hall.

  He looked up at me and then back toward his locker, pushing his glasses up his nose. I exhaled my frustration loudly. Not that anyone would care. At least the guy with glasses hadn’t given me the same looks that those outside had.

  It didn’t take long to find my locker. Getting the combination to work, on the other hand, was a bit more challenging.

  I twisted the dial as I stared at the piece of paper folded in the palm of my hand. My right hand shook as the students finally started to fill the hallway. The last thing I wanted was for any of them to see exactly how nervous I was. That definitely wouldn’t help matters.

  A tall girl came up to the locker next to me. She looked down her nose at me, taking a step to the side as if she was afraid I was infected with a terribly contagious disease.

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The thought to reach over and touch her elbow crossed my mind but that would definitely make things worse than they already were. But the idea did make me smile slightly.

  She must have been my good luck charm because my locker opened on my next try. I stuffed my things inside, taking only the book I needed for my next class.

  The classes at Vestamont were supposedly designed to look good on college applications. One thing I had liked about the school was the variety of creative courses that they’d offered.

  Math and science hadn’t ever been my strong suit and thankfully the courses I’d taken at my old school had been enough to fulfill certain requirements. Senior year wasn’t going to be challenging when it came to my grades. At least that’s what I hoped.

  As I was about to close my locker, someone smelling of musky deodorant and leather stood next to me. He took off his jacket and shoved it into his locker.

  “Don’t even think about stealing it,” he said looking me up and down suspiciously.

  “What?” I said my eyes widening as I shook my head.

  “If it’s missing, I’ll know it was you that took it,” he said with a sneer.

  My throat felt like sandpaper. “What are you talking about?”

  “I saw you staring at my jacket with envy. You probably want to sell it so you can buy a bike or something,” he said.

  “I don’t want your jacket. Or a bike.”

  He snickered. “Everyone wants what I have. Everyone.”

  I blinked at him several times until I realized who he was. He’d been the jackass driving the black car that had almost hit me on the way to school.

  He thought he was hot shit.

  His blue eyes locked onto mine sparkling mischievously. It pained me to even think it but I couldn’t stop my brain. He was insanely hot.

  He ran his fingers through his messy chestnut brown hair as his lip curled up on one side and his nose wrinkled as if he smelled moldy cheese. “What is wrong with you?”

  I felt lost. His voice rumbled through my stomach, vibrating my insides in an unexpected but rather pleasant way. This jerk shouldn’t have this effect on me. I should have smashed my fist into his chest for having tried to run me down.

  The asshole was several inches taller, which was admittedly a bit intimidating. And the way he was looking at me, made me feel like I was shrinking.

  “Nothing,” I said wishing my voice had been stronger… bolder… braver.

  “Then why are you staring at me like that? Are you a stalker?” he asked.

  “No,” I said feeling perspiration beading up at the back of my neck.

  He shook his head and leaned in closer. His voice was just above a whisper. “Don’t touch my shit, understand? I’ll know if you do.” His eyes darted to the side as someone walked by. He waited until they were out of earshot. “Most importantly, stop fucking looking at me like that.”

  He slammed his locker closed and my entire body shuddered along with the noisy metal door. He turned and walked away from me, wrapping his arm around a girl who had her hair pulled back into a sleek, tight ponytail. She was wearing a tiny plaid skirt that bounced upward flashing her underwear with each step.

  The girl laughed as she glanced over her shoulder at me. I narrowed my eyes at her but she’d already turned away.

  I sighed as I turned to my locker. Of course, I would have been given the locker next to the guy who hated my guts for no apparent reason.

  I closed my eyes and stuck my head halfway inside my locker as if I were looking for something. What I reallywanted to do was crawl inside and wait for the school day to end.

  The second bell rangand I gasped. I was going to be late for my first class on my first day in my new school. Perfect.

  Chapter Two

  I found my classroom just in time. The only desk available was one near the window at the front of the room.

  I didn’t want to but I couldn’t stop myself from taking a quick glance behind me. Every face was unfamiliar but only one of them was looking back at me.

  The girl with the ponytail so tight it made her eyes bulge was staring at me while she clicked her pen. Click-click-click-click.

  “Good morning, class,” the man behind the desk said taking off his thick-framed glasses. He set them on the desk and crossed his arms. The young teacher looked like he could have been sitting in one of the desks himself.

  None of the students responded.

  The man looked at me, grinning as he cocked his head to the side. “A new face.” It sounded like he’d muttered ‘thank God’ but there was a good chance I’d imagined it.

  He slid a paper off of his desk and flipped it around. His finger slid down the list, stopping about halfway down the paper.

  “Alyssa Hill?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said tucking a strand of brown hair behind my ear before bringing a fingernail to my lip to gnaw on nervously.

  “Welcome to Vestamont. Everyone here already knows me but I’m Mr. Rivers,” he said with a small, friendly nod. “Where are you from?”

  I cleared my throat and pulled my fingers away from my lips. “Chicago.”

  “Go back,” someone behind me muttered and a small chorus of snickers rippled through the room.

  Mr. Rivers hardened. His shoulders broadened.

  “That’s enough,” Mr. Rivers said. “There will be none of that in my classroom.”

  He walked over to my desk and turned his back to the class. Mr. Rivers leaned over. He was so close I could smell the vanilla scent from his shampoo.

  His voice was soft and low to make sure no one else could hear. “Their bark is worse than their bite. Don’t worry about them. I’m glad you’re here.”

  He placed his warm hand on my shoulder and gave me a light squeeze. Mr. Rivers walked back to the front of the class and clapped his hands.

  “Let’s get started,” he said promptly followed by a groan.

/>   Mr. Rivers picked up a book and started talking. I watched his lips move but I couldn’t hear any of the words.

  Someone might have thought that I couldn’t focus because I was stunned by how good-looking Mr. Rivers was, but that wasn’t it. The problem was that my desire to be anywhere else in the entire whole wide world was so strong that it was utterly distracting me.

  With every passing minute, the room felt like it was getting hotter and hotter. It was like I was standing in the middle of the desert all alone.

  The bell rang and everyone shot up. It took me several seconds to realize what had happened.

  I grabbed my backpack and lingered so I could be the last student to leave the classroom. Mr. Rivers noticed my apprehension as he slid his glasses back on.

  “Alyssa,” he said as soft as cotton. “I know first days can be rough. Especially at this school.”

  “You can say that again,” I said unable to find my smile.

  “It’ll get better,” he said crossing his arms as he stared into my eyes. “Most of the students at Vestamont have been together since first grade. Not many new faces have come here over the years.”

  I was still searching for a smile for him but I must have left it at home. Perhaps it felt out of my body when that jerk who thought I was going to steal his stupid jacket almost hit me with his car.

  “I don’t want to keep you,” Mr. Rivers said. “But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m a great listener.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”

  What I wanted to ask was how they let a student teach the class. Mr. Rivers was simply being a nice guy but I couldn’t help but feel odd having him so close to me.