Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 90778 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90778 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
The road blurs under the rain as my mind drifts elsewhere, pulled back to a memory of another rainy day.
It was the first week of high school.
I hadn’t been in town long and Blaze High Academy had its own way of treating new arrivals from the trailer park. I’d already caught enough sullen stares to know I was unwelcome. Nobody talked to me or wanted to sit next to the trailer park trash, but that bothered me none. I was the quiet, angry kid with grease-stained hands and a chip on my shoulder the size of this entire goddamned town. I didn’t need friends, didn’t want them. All I wanted was to get through the day without anyone trying to test me.
That morning, I walked into class late. Heads turned, whispers followed, but I paid no mind.
Charles was already there, front and center, turning around to look mockingly at me like the smug asshole he was. His father pulled strings around town, no doubt. The family was like royalty and he was Prince Prick. The seat next to him was empty, but his bag was perched on the chair like a territorial claim. The desk in the corner was empty. I dropped my bag onto it and pulled the chair out. The scrape of the wood was loud in the awkward silence.
Then Raven sauntered in. Of course, I’d noticed her. Who wouldn’t? She was smoking hot, the best-looking girl in town.
Charles pulled his bag away and grinned at her, but she walked right past him and headed straight for me. I heard the murmurs of disbelief. Charles’s grin of welcome faltered, his face twisting with rejection as she passed his desk.
“What are you doing?” His voice was sharp and furious.
“Sitting where I want,” she tossed back carelessly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world to reject the seat Boy Wonder had saved for her.
Charles’s jaw was clenched so tight I thought it might snap. His gaze burned into her back, but she was beautifully oblivious to him. She pulled out the chair next to me and slid into it. Her bag hit the floor with a soft thud, and she pulled out her notebook and gave me a wink.
I wanted to laugh. No one had ever chosen to sit next to the boy from the wrong side of town until today, but the coolest girl in town obviously didn’t give a shit about what anybody else thought. She acted like it didn’t matter where I was from, or I wasn’t dressed in designer gear, or what people might whisper about me behind my back. The teacher began her roll call in a monotone voice, and Raven sat next to me like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, and I fell in love.
But I didn’t know it was then. I just assumed it was a mixture of curiosity, raging hormones and lust. I tried not to stare too hard at her hands, her hair, her strip of exposed skin between her pants and her white socks, the soft curve of her cheek, her mouth. By the time the last bell rang, the sky had opened up. Rain came down in heavy sheets, soaking the pavement outside the school. Most kids waited under the awning, pulling out umbrellas or calling their parents for rides.
I didn’t have that luxury. My dad’s truck was a piece of shit I didn’t want to be caught getting into, and anyway, I wasn’t about to call him for anything. I pulled my hood up and started walking, the rain quickly soaking through my jacket.
“Hey!” Her voice stopped me. I turned, and there she was, running toward me with her bag held over her head like it might do something to keep her dry.
“What?” I asked, my voice unintentionally sharp.
“Wait up. I’ll walk with you.”
My heart made a crazy leap inside my chest, but I wasn’t about to show it. “You’re gonna get soaked,” I said, turning away from her.
“Already am.” She fell into step beside me, her bag still held awkwardly above her head. “We live in the same park, don’t we?”
I didn’t answer. I was too shocked. Really? This beauty lived in the same park as me and Charles was holding a seat for her. I looked at her. And noticed that her clothes were cheap. Yet, there was something so special about her that she transcended her poverty and shone like a little star.
She stopped trying to shield herself with her bag and we walked in silence for a while, the rain pouring down on us, soaking us to the bone. By the time we reached the bus stop, we were both dripping. Two empty seats waited under the shelter. I sat next to her, leaning back and letting the sound of the rain fill the quiet.