I smiled when I woke up to familiar banging of pots and pans because that meant my mom was finally home again. Even ten minutes before my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and quickly got ready for school. Because the weather was supposed to be nicer than normal today, I chose a nice black sundress with spaghetti straps and an open back. It reached mid-thigh and I paired it nicely with heeled black booties with high white socks underneath.
My finger combing was the extent of my hairstyle, and I brushed the wand of my mascara through my lashes a few times before deeming myself ready. Happily, I skipped down the stairs and entered the kitchen with a smile on my face as the smell of eggs and bacon floated through the air. My mom was standing by the stove with her fuzzy red robe on, hair in a messy ponytail on her head. I grinned widely as she turned the heat off and began moving the bacon onto a plate.
“Smells amazing, mom.” I pipe up and my smile widens when one appears on her face.
Abandoning her breakfast, my mom steps forward and wraps her arms around me. I reciprocate the action, nuzzling my cheek into her shoulder as I take a deep breath. My eyes shut and for the first time in days, possibly even a week, I feel at ease.
“It’s so nice to be home, honey,” My mom murmurs. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I say and then pull away. I offer her another smile upon seeing she was looking at me as if I were a fragile doll. “Now how about some breakfast? The bacon smells amazing.”
She nods and gestures to the counter. “Take a seat, I’ll get you a plate.”
I follow her orders and sink into a stool at the island while inhaling a deep breath of the delicious bacon aroma. As mom places a plate of beautiful scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me, heavy footsteps descend down the stairs, and a moment later Luke barrels into the kitchen. When he sees the stove, a huge grin stretches across his lips, and he throws his arms around my mom.
“Thanks for breakfast, mom,” Luke mumbles tiredly as he hugs her. “It’s good to have you back.”
“I’m starting to think that you two only like having me around for the meals,” My mom teases before waving Luke to the stool. “Take a seat, honey. I’ll fix you a plate.”
Luke slips into the seat beside me and my mom puts an equally as delicious looking plate in front of him, too. We both scarf down the meal- one of the first homemade meals we’ve had since she left- not so graciously. I talk to my mom in between bites, asking how her trip was, but she does most of the talking while we attack our meals.
“So,” My mom leans against the counter by the stove after she told us all about the book signing and frowns at me. “Where’s your car, Lauren?”
I frown at the reminder of my beloved car and tell her, “Betsy wouldn’t turn on yesterday after school. I think the battery died or something. But my friend is going to fix her up this weekend, so no worries.”
My mom raises an eyebrow skillfully. “Which friend of yours is a mechanic?”
I realize quickly that she’s probably thinking about Bailey and Sasha considering I hadn’t told her anything about my personal life recently. My mom was usually my biggest confidant besides Stephanie, but ever since the release of her last book, she’s been so busy that I haven’t had time to tell her about anything that’s been going on recently.
“Nathan Rhodes,” I say tentatively before I glance at the clock and saw it was 7:44. The memory of Nathan telling me he would pick me up at 7:45 hits me in the face immediately. “Oh shit, I have to go.”
“At least pretend like you don’t want to curse in front of your mother,” My mom teases as she smiles at me. “And Nathan, huh? Will I be meeting this illusive Nathan?”
I jump up and grab my backpack by the doorway before rounding the island to give my mom a quick kiss on the cheek. “Maybe some other time, but I have to go or else I’m going to be late. I’ll see you after school, mom. Have a good day!”
“Have a nice day at school sweetie,” My mom says with a voice full of optimism and joy. “I’ll see you later.”
I smile at her one last time and walk toward the front door. As I’m simultaneously walking out and pulling a cardigan over my bare shoulders, I hear my mom tell Luke to go get ready for school before he’s late. The sun was shining brightly down on my front lawn to lessen the effects of the cold air and, sure enough, Nathan’s car was idling outside of my house.
Despite the warmth from the sun, I was still more than grateful when the heater was on when I climbed into Nathan’s car. “Hey Nate.”
“You’re right on time,” Nathan appraised, mildly impressed.
He pulled away from the curb and began driving down the street as I nodded. “Well, as you said, you’re going to leave without me if I’m late.”
Nathan chuckles, the sound vibrating in his chest roughly, making him seem even more manly if that was even possible. “You know I wouldn’t actually leave you without a ride, right, Collins?”
A smile tugs at my lips as I say softly, “I do now.”
While I had a feeling he had been kidding about leaving me if I weren’t on time, it still warmed a part of me that he was being so thoughtful. I look out the window with a small smile on my lips as a song on the radio catches my attention enough to make my smile widen. I turn toward the radio dials and turn it up a notch to confirm that it was, indeed, Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.
When I was younger, my parents used to play records on Sunday mornings, and Bob Marley was a frequent contributor. His album, Exodus, was constantly playing at my house. And of course, Three Little Birds was a song that I would forever think of fondly as I remembered back on the beloved Sunday mornings with my family.
“You like this song?” Nathan asks, glancing at me briefly before settling his gaze back on the road.
I can’t help the way my smile stretches wider. “It’s one of my favorite songs.”
“Yeah?” Nathan presses as he steals another glance at me.
“Yeah,” I say fondly and divulge without hesitation, “I used to listen to this album with my parents when I was younger.”
When I glance back at Nathan, he’s smiling my favorite half smile, and there’s an indent on his cheek where his adorable dimple resides. The morning sun is shining through his window, illuminating his profile in a soft glow that radiates warmth. I stare at him long enough to remember this moment, the moment when he didn’t put a mask on or pretend to be some tough guy who cares about nothing.
“That’s the record you were looking at in the record store,” Nathan says suddenly, and his words completely catch me off guard.
I tear my gaze away from him when I realize I was staring and murmur in confusion, “What?”
He pulls into the school parking lot, staring straight ahead, a trace of his smile still on his lips. “Nothing.”
I didn’t question him further because he parked and hopped out of the Mustang before I could. I hesitated before following his actions, climbing out of his car and then slinging my backpack over my shoulders. The second I stepped out of Nathan Rhodes’ iconic Mustang, I could see heads turn and could practically feel the weight of the whispers.
I glance at Nathan to see him paying no mind to the stares or the beginnings of the new rumors as he instead waited for me. I walk by his side and we head toward the front doors but change our path when Nathan notices Asher and Vincent leaning against the side of the building, a cigarette in Asher’s hand.
As Nathan and I approach them, Asher’s grin widened. “Good morning, Lauren. You look especially beautiful today.”
A warm blush coats my cheeks as I smile at him. “Thanks, Asher.”
Nathan scoffs beside me. “What, I don’t get a good morning?”
“You’re not a pretty girl,” Asher counters with a cheeky grin and then winks at me. But the thing about Asher is that I know he was being harmless in comparison to the sleezebags around school who eyed me up and down and tossed me a wink to accompany their cat calls.
“Yeah,” I grin wickedly at Nathan. “Just an ugly one.”
Nathan scowls at me and Asher as Asher and Vincent both snicker at my comment. The first bell rings and Nathan unexpectedly grabs my hand to drag me toward the doors without saying goodbye to his friends. I feel my cheeks warm again at the feeling of Nathan’s large hang enveloping mine, our fingers laced together like it was the most natural thing in the world.
When we got inside, though, he promptly dropped my hand like it was on fire. “They’re making you mean,” Nathan complains begrudgingly. “I want you to stop hanging out with them.”
I roll my eyes at him and say, “You’re just being a baby. I happen to like Asher and Vincent, thank you very much.”
We walk side by side until I reach my first period class and I stop by the door. Nathan doesn’t slow down, but turns around to face me as he walks backward down the hallway.
“Asher and Vincent are bad influences on you, Collins,” Nathan calls jokingly. “I want improvements by lunch.”
I can’t help but laugh and call back, “We’ll see about that!”
He laughs too and I enter my first period class with a smile on my lips despite all the attention I’d already managed to get in the past five minutes of being on school grounds. This morning was turning out unexpectedly well, and I knew it was all because of a certain bad boy.
* * *
By the time the lunch bell rang, my mood was still as light and cheery as it had been in the morning. I had been smiling at strangers in the hallway, actually replying when random people say hello to me. In fact, everything had been going so well, that when I saw Bailey and Sasha walking towards the library, my first instinct was to smile brighter.
“Hey Bailey,” I chirped. “Hey Sasha.”
To my surprise, Sasha scoffed at me. “So what, now we’re good enough for you?”
I came to a halt in my path. “What?” A frown turns down my lips for the first time all day and I stare at Sasha incredulously. “What are you talking about?”
She stops too and pushes her glasses up her nose. “You haven’t talked to us ever since you started acting like a slut.”
Her words are like a slap in the face as I splutter, “I-I do not act like a slut!”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Sasha snaps without remorse in her voice. “Your clothing and reputation say otherwise.”
I stare at her in disbelief as a feeling of betrayal settles in my chest. I glance at Bailey fleetingly, hoping for some kind of give away to what she’s feeling, but her gaze is glued to the ground to avoid eye contact. People pass by in the hallway, but I’m too focused on the sudden hostility that Sasha was throwing at me to mind their stares.
“What reputation are you even talking about? I’ve only ever had one boyfriend, and that was Thomas.” I defend. “Besides, you two shut me out before, not the other way around.”
Sasha rolls her eyes sadistically. “Just because I’m not popular doesn’t mean that I don’t hear things. Like how you’ve been hooking up with Nathan Rhodes and Brett Peterson. There’s a new rumor every day about who you gave it up to.” Sasha looks down at me like I was a piece of dirt on her shoe. “And we both know you slept with Thomas.”
Shock rolls through me when she says this, because I was well aware that I hadn’t told either of them, but apparently Thomas had spread that piece of information himself. Her hurtful words slice through me harder than Nina’s ever do because we were actually friends before all of this social experiment stuff and yet she thought this lowly of me. I just shake my head at her as
I try to think of what to say to defend myself.
“I’m not hooking up with Nathan or Brett, or anyone for that matter,” I start off but a voice interrupts me before I can continue.
“Hey Collins,” Nathan’s bored voice calls from behind me and then his arm drapes around my shoulder casually a moment later. “Are you coming or what?”
I frown because I realize that surely wasn’t helping my current case. Nathan seems to pick up on the tense atmosphere and looks away from me to Sasha and Bailey with a bored expression on his face. Sasha is just looking at me with a snake like smirk as if she had just proved her point.
“Go on Lauren,” Sasha spits bitterly. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your next hookup.”
I watch her with an incredulous look on my face as she passes me with Bailey in tow, leaving me frowning at the spot she had just been standing. All I could think was, when did Sasha become such a self righteous bitch? I regained composure and notice that the hallways had emptied out as I was getting chewed out by my ex friends.
“What the hell was that about?” Nathan asks gruffly.
I think about telling him, about unloading the hurt I was feeling, but think better of it and shake my head. “Nothing,” I mutter and then glance at him. “I need to grab some books from my locker. Will you wait for me?”
Nathan frowns at me for a moment. “That sure didn’t seem like nothing.”
“Nate,” I say warily. “Please, just drop it.”
He looks at me for a minute longer, looking like he wanted to continue questioning me, but luckily he drops it. “I’m not sure if I want to wait for you,” Nathan says as his voice becomes light and teasing again. “Have you gotten nicer since this morning?”
I smile gratefully and nod. “I promise I’ve shown some real signs of improvement.”
“Alright,” Nathan agrees with a tiny smirk. “Then let’s go.”
As I switch out my books from the first half of the day to the second half, Nathan leans against the locker beside mine and rambles on about how Asher became a bad influence on me. I ignore him with a smile on my lips, entertained by Nathan’s playfulness. When I was done, we begin walking toward the cafeteria together.
I noticed Brett standing by the staircase beside the entrance to the cafeteria as we approach and he glances up in time to see me and smile brightly. “Hey Lauren.”
I smile back at his friendly attitude. “Hey Brett. What’s up?”
Nathan comes to a halt a few feet away when he hears Brett greet me and stands rigidly by the cafeteria doors.
“Justin and I are throwing a party for winning sectionals,” Brett looks almost shy for a second. “You should come. It’s this Friday.”
Seeing as I have no plans on Friday, I nod eagerly. “Yeah, that sounds awesome. I’ll bring Stephanie.”
“Great,” Brett shoots me a grin. “Justin will love to have her there.”
“Can we go to lunch now?” Nathan asks roughly beside me, his voice in a bored monotone as his narrowed gaze was fixed on Brett.
I roll my eyes at Nathan’s rude behavior but turn to smile at Brett one last time. “I’ll see you in Environmental, Brett. Thanks for the invite.”
“See you in class,” He replies through his everlasting grin.”
Nathan begins walking through the cafeteria doors before Brett even finishes speaking, and I have to pick up my pace just to catch up. When I finally fall into step with his long strides, I joke, “Stop running away, would you?”
Instead of joking back at me, Nathan turns to me with a deep crease line between his eyebrows and a frown on his face. “Who was that guy?”
“My friend Brett,” I say in confusion. “He’s on the football team. Why?”
“I don’t like him.” Nathan says coldly, and I stop in my tracks from shock at his quick judgement, but he keeps walking toward the lunch table.
I regain movement after a moment of surprise and continue following after him, confused as to why the hell he decided that he didn’t like Brett. Even though he was a football player, Brett was a really sweet guy. Nathan takes a seat between Asher and Vincent, leaving the only open seat between Mike and Holden, and I sigh at the table before sitting down.
When I sit down across from Nathan and in between the two biggest idiots at the lunch table, Nathan frowns at me, like he realized what he had done by taking the last good seat.
“Hey Lauren,” Holden greets with his usual smirk.
Reluctantly, I mumble, “Hi Holden,” and try to listen to the table conversation in order to ignore the two idiots on either side of me.
“So, I was thinking,” Asher explains excitedly. “We should rent a cabin in the Poconos once it gets warm out for a long weekend. My family friends have a place right on the lake and I’ve been there a few times. It’d be sick.”
Immediately, Tess smiles widely and exclaims, “That’s a great idea, Asher.”
“Yeah, man,” Vincent brightens. “I’m in.”
Even Nathan, who still looked unpleased by my position in between Holden and Mike, looked suddenly interested in Asher’s suggestion. “I’d go.”
Mike, however, scoffs. “Sounds lame.”
I roll my eyes at his arrogant answer as he waves off the idea. Unsurprisingly, Holden isn’t into the idea either as he nods in agreement. “Yeah. Why would I want to be locked in a cabin in the middle of nowhere when I can go into the city and pick up some hot chicks, instead?”
“Exactly,” Mike smirks at him. “The girls at the tracks are easy, too.”
I scrunched my nose in distaste, as did Tess, but I was admittedly relieved that neither of them would want to go. That meant I didn’t have to worry about either of them attempting to make moves on me while we were there.
“Lauren,” I look at Asher as he glances at me questioningly. “What do you say?”
My previous distaste dissolves into a smile. “That sounds awesome.”
Asher and I continue to discuss when we should go- sometime at the end of May, we conceded- while everyone else falls into their own conversation. I overhear Nathan, Tess, and Vincent talking about some race while I’m talking to Asher and mildly wonder what they’re discussing.
Tess’ eyes suddenly widen as she exclaims, “Seriously? How the hell did you manage to even get that to spread?”
“C’mon, Tess,” Nathan nudges her shoulder with a secretive smirk. “You don’t have any faith in me.”
Tess just laughs lightly as she shakes her head. “Friday night is going to be epic.”
I frown in confusion and ask them, “What’s going on Friday night?”
Everyone glances at me and Asher smirks. “Friday night, my dear Lauren, is the night that Nathan will be kicking Alex Fischer’s ass on the tracks.”
My eyebrows shoot up as I glance at Nathan, who is glaring at Asher, and he turns to meet my gaze with his impassive expression after a moment. Like always, there’s a thick mask over his feelings, and I’m helpless as to knowing what was really going on inside that head of his.
Tess looks at me with a smile full of disbelief as she explains, “Nathan somehow got a rumor spreading that there was something wrong with his car and he would probably lose. Of course, it got back to Alex, and all of the football team is placing money on Alex so they can win easy cash. Apparently, even Nina dished out a couple hundred bucks.”
My gaze shifted back to Nathan in surprise when I realize that he was following through with the plan he proposed for me to get revenge on Nina for vandalizing my locker. His gaze steadily held mine, giving away nothing, as I just gaped at him.
“Wow,” I say quietly because, frankly, I was at a loss for words.
Nathan went out of his way to follow through with a plan, one that could’ve potentially not worked, just to get back at Nina. For me.
“So Lauren,” Holden’s slick voice drawls from beside me. “You comin’ to the tracks on Friday night then?”
I open my mouth to speak, albeit reluctantly, but Nathan’s voice comes out instead. “She’s going to some football party.”
I glance back at Nathan and frown at him, but Mike smirks down at me and leans closer. “We can show you a better time than those football douchebags, babe.”
“You should come,” Tess encourages with a smile. “It’ll be fun watching Nathan take all of their money.”
My gaze settles on her and I match her smile with my own. Before I answer, I glance back in front of me at Nathan, who was watching me with a hardened expression. I faltered, held captive by his gaze for a second, before I turned back to Tess again.
“We’ll see,” I mumble noncommittally.
I want to accept, to tell them that of course I’m going to come, considering this was a sort of revenge for me, but Nathan’s hard gaze kept me from doing so. A heavy arm is thrown over my shoulder, catching me off guard as I slumped underneath it momentarily. Looking up the length to the arm, I discovered it’s unfortunate owner was Holden, and he was smirking down at me.
He leans down so he was entirely too close to me and his sticky breath hits my cheeks as he promises lowly, “I’ll make sure that you have an unforgettable night if you come.”
Just flat out disgusted and annoyed by this constant behavior, I look right into his eyes and tell him, “Not a chance. I’m not interested.”
But of course, the rejection only makes his smirk widen. “There’s that feistiness.”
I let out a discouraged breath and moved his arm off of me with my free hand before I stand up. Half because I was desperate for any excuse to leave Holden’s side and half because I actually didn’t have a lunch, I glance at the table and mumble, “Getting food,” before walking away.
I turn around and walk to the lunch line, thankful for a moment without being hit on by the slimiest guy in school. As I stand in the back of the line, a tiny brunette freshman girl turns around and looks at me with wide eyes.
“You can go in front of me,” She squeaks nervously.
I glance at her unimpressed as I question boredly, “Why would I do that?”
Her wide eyes stare at me in disbelief as she asks slowly, “You’re Lauren Collins, right?”
“Yes…” My eyebrows furrow in confusion.
The tiny girl inches out of the way and insists again, “You can go in front of me. Why are you even waiting in line?”
My frown deepens at her and I’m about to ask why wouldn’t I when a huge whiff of obnoxiously tacky perfume hits my senses. Of course, the one and only Nina Alexander walks straight past me and into the kitchen. She disappears in there only to appear again with a salad in her hands and a smug smirk on her face. Unfortunately, she sees the bitchy look I’m giving her because of it, and stops in front of me.
“Having fun in line with the freshman, Lauren?” Nina sneers rudely.
My eyebrows raise at her lazily. “I would rather wait in this line than cut to the front just because I think I’m better than everyone else.” Then I lean forward and say quietly, “Which you’re not, by the way. Just to be clear.”
The little freshman girl in front of me stared at me with wide eyes as Nina’s confident smirk drops clean off of her face. She struggles to respond before she instead sets her fiery glare on someone who was actually scared of it- the freshman. Nina glowers at the poor girl standing in front of us mercilessly.
“What are you looking at?” Nina snaps.
The freshman’s eyes widened even more if possible as she stammered, “I-I don’t… I didn’t mean to… I-I-”
“Go pick on someone your own size Nina,” I roll my eyes. “Being rude to this poor girl is pathetic, even for you.”
Nina’s gaze snaps back to me before her eyes narrow and she attempts to take a threatening step forward. “I guess I can’t pick on you then, because you look about thirty pounds heavier than me.”
I laugh humorlessly. “Bravo. Where’d you get that one from, a middle schooler?”
“Actually, Nathan told me that one when he we were having sex.” Nina sneered proudly, as if she had finally struck a chord.
Unfortunately for her, I knew something she didn’t. And that was that Nathan could not stand to be near Nina Alexander for a few minutes let alone long enough to have sex. So I smiled sweetly, feeling more than smug when her smirk began to dissipate for a second time. Leaning in as if to tell a secret, I smile like a Cheshire cat at a thoroughly annoyed Nina.
“You realize you just implied that Nathan called you fat while you were having sex, right?” I laugh and this time it’s with humor.
The color drains from her face before its replaced with redness. She scowls at me and stomps away as she leaves me laughing in my spot. When I sober up, I notice people who had been standing in line were also listening, and they were watching me with wide eyes. Some of the underclassmen sported impressed looks, but most of our ‘audience’ seemed mortified.
My laughter sobers up and I look down the line at the shocked faces before glancing back at the freshman who had let me go in front of her. Her wide eyes and nervous glances had reduced to a large smile on her lips as she looked at me. “That was awesome!”
I shrug with a smile still on my lips. “That was nothing. I have to do that all the time.”
“I’ve never seen someone stand up to her like that!” The freshman continues to gush. “Her face was priceless. That was incredible, really!” I wave her off, and she grins wider. “I’m Casey, by the way.”
I shake her outstretched hand. “Lauren. It’s nice to meet you, Casey.”
Casey lets go of my hand and points towards the kitchen. “Listen, I know you said you were going to wait in line, but I think I speak for everyone that they wouldn’t mind letting you go ahead.”
I begin to shake my head and decline, but a boy a few people in front of me turns around and grins widely. “Anyone who puts Nina in her place is worthy of skipping the line.”
And my mouth opens to protest again, but the boy beside him nods feverishly. “Please, skip ahead. It’s worth it.”
A small smile overcomes my lips as the majority of people usher me forward in line, where I end up at the front by the cashier with a sheepish smile. I grab a pre made sandwich and bag of chips before turning to the cashier, an older woman in her sixties with reddish-purple hair.
She waves at me with a bored smile. “Go ahead.”
I frown. “Don’t I have to pay?”
“You want to pay?” She looks genuinely shocked as I nod. “Most of the kids that cut the line don’t pay.”
Taking a five dollar bill that I had stashed in my boot, I hand it to her with a smile. “Well, I’m not like most of those kids.”
And then I turn around and finish walking out of the kitchen with my food in hand. As I walk back to the table, Casey smiles at me and I smile back. While I weave through the tables to reach mine, I catch Nina’s eye as she sits at the table in the center of the lunchroom. She’s gripping the fork for her salad so tightly that I can see her whitening knuckles, and her eyes are in a fierce glare.
Even though I was embarrassed to admit it, I was a little bothered every time Nina brought Nathan up. It was no secret that they hooked up in previous years of high school before Nina settled on Alex. I also knew that Nathan’s reputation wasn’t exactly innocent, and he was known for hooking up with random girls once and never again. But I chose to ignore that, because I never really see him give any girls attention (or I just try really hard not to notice it).
But this is Nina and I can’t let her think she won or anything, so I smile and wave and take utter satisfaction in the unattractive scowl that consumes her face. I laugh to myself and look back to the table to see my seat in between Holden and Mike had been filled by Nathan, leaving an empty seat beside Tess. A smile grew on my lips and my heartbeat quickened in my chest at the small thoughtful gesture.
“Why are you smiling?” Vincent questions once I sit down.
My lips twitch to smile wider and my gaze instinctively falls on Nathan. He’s watching me with a curiosity shielded behind his grey-blue eyes.
With my gaze still on Nathan, I say through a smile, “No reason.”