A fresh start is exactly what London McLaren needs in order to forget the demons of her past. A new last name, a new town and a new school.
She's about to start her final year of high school, ready to obey her parent's orders to keep her head down a...
I look up to see what he's talking about and my stomach plummets.
I knew this moment was coming but it could not seriously be happening right this very second.
I grip the bench beneath me, panicking. As they approach, I duck my head inconspicuously, pretending to tie up my shoelaces. My hair falls in front of my face like a shield and I welcome it.
I watch Harry in my periphery through the strands of my hair. He's looking straight back at me, his face stoic.
Even though we sort of had a fight yesterday, everything seemingly went back to the way it was. He hadn't brought it up and I wasn't about to either.
He bumps his shoulder against mine and my hands drop from my shoe.
"You okay?" he queries.
"Yes," I gulp.
"Lons. You look like you've seen a ghost," Cooper comments.
"I'm fine," I reassure them, pretending to be busy on my phone as I rest it in my lap.
I know the exact moment Aubrey and her friends are looming over our table. Their shadows block out the sun and I shiver.
"Hey there," one girl says. I notice that her wondering eye is definitely directed at Asher.
Sydney snorts, ruffling Asher's hair. He pulls Sydney into a headlock and she begins to fight him.
The girl squints her eyes in jealousy, no doubt. She was reading it completely wrong, though. Sydney and Asher were only best friends, nothing more. They literally had daily insults for each other. It was their tradition. Today they both told each other how much they'd vomit if they were forced to date.
"What's up?" Cooper asks them.
"Party. This weekend. My house."
I'd know that voice anywhere. Aubrey and her small sentences. She always spoke like that, even when she was spitting at me.
"Fucking die. Bitch."
"You won't get away. Not with this."
"Sounds good," Asher grins.
I watch out of my periphery as my hair hangs in my face. Aubrey's eyes land on me for a moment and I tense. Luckily it's just a passing glance as she looks off into the distance.
Aubrey hands Asher a flyer, which he takes accordingly.
"The address is written at the bottom. See you there."
The girls begin to walk off but Aubrey lingers. It instantly makes me nervous.
"Ah, can we still help you?" Sydney snides.
Kennedy bumps her shoulder against Syd, glaring. They stare at each other, having a telepathic conversation before Aubrey speaks.
"Do I know you?"
It doesn't take a genius to know she's speaking to me. But I don't falter. I don't look up.
I shake my head, scared that my voice may give away who I am. After all, she had a vendetta against me. I was sure she would remember my voice from anywhere.
In fact, I'm surprised it's taken her this long to know who I am. Even if I was hiding behind a curtain of hair.
My brother did kill her brother, after all. I didn't think I'd be someone she suddenly forgot about.
Her eyes peel away from me and she begins to walk off, back towards her friends.
"What the heck was that about?" Cooper questions.
"Who knows," I mutter.
"She really seemed to think she knew—"
"Well she doesn't," I snap.
The table falls silent and the guilt slowly begins to eat away at me.
This wasn't their fault. It was mine.
"Sorry, Syd. I'm just— I'm tired."
"It's okay," she shrugs. She instantly begins to talk about the party, changing topics.
That's what I love about her. She didn't dwell on things. She moved forward quickly.
"Something's up with you," Harry whispers close to me.
I brush my hair behind my ear, shaking my head. "I'm fine."
"I've heard you say that before, Hall. I don't buy it."
"Harry—"
"Want to get ready at my house?" Kennedy interjects.
Cooper begins to talk to Harry and our conversation falters completely.
"Hmm?"
"For the party this weekend."
"Oh. I— uh... can't go."
"What? Of course, you're coming!"
"No, Ken, I really can't—"
Before I continue, she holds up a hand. Her eyes glint mischievously and I know right here and now that there is no way she was going to let me get out of this.
"I'll see you at seven," she concludes, just as the bell signalling the end of lunch rings.
