New Girl in Town

Chapter 4

"Are you, um, good?" the girl asks.

She's the kind of pretty that's undeniable. With some girls, it's a toss-up. Don't think I'm being a jerk here. I definitely fall into the "some girls" category. More cute than anything, you know? It's just how it is. I'm a realist.

But this girl—she's beautiful. Head-turning, I-lost-my-train-of-thoughtmid-sentence beautiful.

She's looking right at me, and I have to snap out of it and answer, but I'm frozen. The asshat driver is standing there, laughing like the fact that my bike's on the ground is the funniest thing in the world.

"Hello?" The girl waves a hand in front of my face impatiently.

I scowl at her. "Yeah. I'm good."

She casts a glance over her shoulder at the tall boy, flapping her hand at him in a kind of quieting motion, but when she turns back, she's kind of smiling at his antics.

I huff and grab my bike, stalking off to chain it up. Back to reality, because this day has been shitty so far. I mean, I guess the asshole could've actually run me over instead of almost.

I'm killing it with the low bars today.

"You came out of nowhere!" the boy calls as I storm off toward the arcade, and I hate that my cheeks burn, and I fight off the urge to flip him off. Instead, I chain my bike against one of the steel poles and duck inside, trying to ignore my stomach. When that doesn't work, I tell myself it's jumping because of my near-death experience.

Adrenaline makes you feel all sorts of things. I just need to cool off.

Which is going to be hard, because the "AC" the arcade bragged about outside on the sign is a rickety fan that doesn't even oscillate. Great; just great. I'd be cooler at home.

It's still a breeze, though. I'll take anything at this point before the ride back.

The rest of the arcade is dimly lit but glowing from the games—three bulky rows of machines. There are Foosball tables and air hockey behind them, and a tiny food area to my right with chipped Formica tables crammed inside. I plant myself right in front of the fan and close my eyes, trying to find some kind of calm.

"Rosé, that guy at the club was about to stroke out," crows a voice to my right. "He couldn't keep up! And Jisoo! Bam! Down she goes." He laughs loudly.

I try to ignore it.

"You've gotta stop pulling this shit, Kai," The other girl, Rosé he said, scolds.

"What if Jisoo got hurt?"

That's her voice. How do I know it already, after just a few words spoken?

"Didn't see you stopping for Jisoo, Jennie," Kai sneers.

The fan's barely doing anything in the cooling department, so I flap the hem of my shirt back and forth, trying to encourage the airflow. God, it's hot.

"Hey."

The moron who can't drive has talked enough now that I recognize his voice, too. So I don't turn around.

"Hey, come on, hottie."

I'd say he's like a dog with a bone, but a dog actually obeys orders. Boys like that? They don't.

"Leave her alone," says Rosé.

"I'm just being friendly! Come on, come over here."

I look over my shoulder, but I skim over him as Rosé claps her hand over Kai's mouth and he ducks away. My focus goes to her: Jennie, he called her. She's sitting between the two of them at one of the Formica tables, and when she looks up, I move forward. Kai lets out a pleased sound, like it's him I'm coming for, but there's a quirk to her mouth that makes me think she knows the truth.

"Did you want something?" I ask Kai.

But before he can respond, the arcade doors slam open so dramatically, they make the rickety tables rattle. A girl with bangs and bloody scrapes on her knees comes hobbling over.

"What the fuck, you guys!?" she spits at the three sitting down before she slumps into the empty chair I'm standing next to. "I can't believe you left me all on my own with that pissed-off bouncer. If my knees get scarred, you're paying for my plastic surgery."

Kai laughs. "You should chill. Maybe get me a Coke?"

Pigtails swats at Kai. I almost admire her restraint, because I would've gone for a punch. "I went down for you, asshole! You get me a Coke. And a pretzel. I deserve carbs."

"I'm sorry, babe," Jennie tells her, slinging a soothing arm around her neck. "The boys made me run. I had no choice."

"You're never on my side," Pigtails grouches at her, and then her gaze rises to me, standing there like a total loser-lurker. The disdain in her eyes makes my cheeks heat up just as they were starting to cool down.

"Who's this?" she asks, cuddling closer to Jennie.

"The girl I almost killed," Kai says, eyes glinting. "Though, if you look at it another way, the girl whose life I saved by hitting my brakes at just the right moment. My mom would be so proud."

I don't even bother to answer. I should leave, but I can't seem to make my feet move.

"Jisoo, did you hear from Irene about the lake yet?" Jennie asks.

"Not yet." Her gaze flicks to me again. "So, you are...?"

"Lisa."

"What's your deal?" Jisoo asks. "Do you just not talk?"

"I talk," I say.

"You know they say the smartest people are the quiet ones, because they listen," Rosé pipes up.

"Oh, great," Kai sneers. "Another smart girl. Just what we need." He leans forward, his grin pure lech. "I bet you're a good listener, Lisa."

"Well, you certainly say a lot of dumb shit, so it's a pretty easy job," I tell him.

"Oh my God," Jisoo says as Jennie starts laughing with her. The other girl gape. But Jisoo's attention slides away from me. "Irene got back to me. We're on the north side of the lake today."

"Awesome," Kai says, getting to his feet, and it's like he's the King or something, because they're all getting up at his cue. I step back, away from her, as Jennie scoots her chair from the table and stands.

They walk past me like I'm not even there, but as they go out the door, she looks over her shoulder at me one last time, and I can't help it. I follow.

The heat is still oppressive when I walk outside. I bend down to unlock my bike, trying to ignore them grouped down the way as Kai gets the minivan.

"Hey! Lisa!"

I look over my shoulder. She's halfway inside the minivan already, Kai scowling in the driver's seat.

"We're meeting some friends at the lake," Jennie continues.

"Okay," I say.

She rolls her eyes and then snaps her fingers at me. It's rude and it's pushy.

My stomach drops like I'm on a roller coaster when the snap's followed by: "Well, are you coming with?"

It's like a split screen in my mind, the options: Marco's house-that-isn'thome or this girl.

Anything's better than Marco.

"I'm coming," I say.