Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Cal is hurting right now.” Her words are soft, but they cut through me like a hot knife in butter.
My eyes water and I bite on my bottom lip to keep the emotion at bay.
“He’ll go back to the annoying asshole we all love and adore, though,” she assures me. “I still can’t believe he took this job to look after me. Taking the whole big brother vibe to the next level.”
“He came here for you?”
She purses her lips, eyes darting to the cheerleader table before meeting mine. “I left on bad terms at my old school. To get away from what I did.”
“Something happened?”
“That picture that bimbo bitch was threatening you with,” she says, her voice low so no one hears. “I had a lot. Someone sent them to the whole school. Since I’m underage, the police got involved. It’s a huge mess.”
Cal was right.
I do have something in common with this girl.
“Are you okay?” I ask, reaching forward to take her hand, needing to connect with her.
Vulnerability shines in her brown eyes. “I will be.” She swallows, not letting go of my hand. “I sent them to an older man. I loved him. I thought…well, I thought wrong.” Bitterness hangs in the air.
“Guys are such assholes,” I agree, giving her a soft smile. “My ex fucked me up bad.”
Paxton walks up to our table, a perverted grin on his face. “Oh, fuck, yes. Lesbians. Let me watch.” He makes a great show of pretending his fingers are a pussy that he’s licking.
I yank my hand from hers, whipping my head toward the jerk. Tierra and I gape at him in disgust until someone nails him in the head with a chicken sandwich, mayonnaise splattering over his cheek.
“What the fuck?” he roars.
Penny walks over, a bored expression on her face. “Oops. My bad. I thought you were the trash can.” She plops down beside me. “I got my schedule changed. Figured you’d miss me, sis.”
I’ve never been so happy to see my sister.
Paxton is glaring at her with murderous rage in his eyes. Penny ignores him as she picks up the other half of my sandwich.
“Can I have this?” she asks. “I fed mine to a dog.”
He storms off, slipping on the sandwich mess, making the cafeteria erupt in laughter when he falls on one knee.
As soon as he’s gone, Penny crumples up the empty wrapper and talks over the food she’s chewing. “He’s an even bigger douchebag this year.”
“You think,” I mutter.
“Who’s the traitor?” Penny asks, pointing a finger at Tierra.
“Terrence’s cousin. Tierra.”
Penny whips her head toward Tierra. “No shit?”
Tierra tenses under Penny’s scrutiny. “I’m not a traitor. I just moved here. I don’t exactly have Hood River clothes yet.”
“You look familiar. You ball?” Penny asks, nodding at her hoodie.
“T is my cousin and Cal practically is too. You think I grew up with those knuckleheads and didn’t learn to ball?” She stands up and turns around so we can see her number ten on her back.
Penny grins. “Our team will be super shitty this year since all the good people graduated. You gonna try out in December?”
Tierra sits back down, hope shining in her eyes. “I thought about it, but like you said, I’m a traitor coming from Rockford.”
“So?” Penny says, stealing my water bottle. She gulps some down before replacing the cap. “Coach Peterson will do anything to make her job easier. She’s pregnant and by the time our season starts, she’ll pop out that baby. If we want scholarships, we have to get noticed.”
I don’t interrupt to remind her Dad will pay for us to go wherever we want. Penny likes earning things on her own, so I don’t intervene.
“Yeah, I’ll try out,” Tierra says. “Don’t be pissed when I run circles around you, though.”
Penny barks out a loud laugh. “Funny. Nice try, Rockford.”
“Oh, honey,” Tierra replies, her black eyebrow arching up playfully, “I don’t have to try. I was born to play.”
“We’ll see.” Penny rises and ruffles my hair. “See you later, sis. I’m going to the park after school to practice. You coming with us, baller?”
Tierra nods. “Yeah, I’ll come play.”
“Find something orange,” Penny tells her. “Rockford red makes my eyes hurt.”
As soon as she leaves, the bell rings. I stand up and wait for Tierra to gather her stuff. We walk side by side out of the lunchroom toward the English wing of the building.
“Your sister seems nice,” Tierra says. “I was worried about coming to school here.”
Penny? Nice? Not exactly two words I’d use in the same sentence to describe my sister, but I’m glad Tierra feels comfortable around her.
“Not everyone is bad like Heidi and Paxton,” I assure her. I cringe, realizing I fall into that category, though, since I hit Terrence. “And me.”
Tierra stops and tugs at a short blond strand of my hair. “I’m not Cal.”