I sat at my normal table at lunch with all of my normal people minus one. Darcy still hadn’t shown her face and no one had said a word about her. They probably thought I wouldn’t notice, but how could you not notice your best friend was missing? So they were allowing me a blissful ignorance as to her whereabouts.
I don’t know if I should be thankful or not.
Nicky was trying too hard to impress everyone as sad as it was. I wasn’t sure why she would. The girl was beyond millions and nice. Maybe she was trying to compensate for her nose and irritating voice.
“So Eden, are you trying out for the cheer squad again?” Angelina asked.
Angelina was a timeless kind of pretty with her big brown eyes and elegant dark curls. Her smile was always kind and brought out her apple cheeks that shocked many. I thought she bore a striking resemblance to Audrey Hepburn but couldn’t ever bring myself to tell her. Too many people did; it was probably giving her a complex.
“I haven’t really thought too much about it,” I said before I took a bite of my pizza.
Angelina rolled her eyes with that know-all smile. There was a guarantee that I’d go out for the team and make it because that’s just how it worked. It wasn’t because I had the status or anything; they accepted me onto the team because I was dedicated and good at what I did. The only reason I wasn’t so sure about it right now was because of Sam and Dad’s hours on Fridays.
“Oh c’mon, Eden!” Lea all but scolded.
“Yeah, what the hell? I need my number one to cheer for me,” Bennett said before groaning. I shook my head at Reece with the slightest smile as if that would help.
“Well if it’s for you, I’ll put some consideration into it,” I shamelessly flirted back. Bennett brought his hands up and made a little heart while making kissy faces at me and fluttering his eye lashes. We both laughed while leaving Reece seething.
I was quiet as I ate and listened to everyone joking about. Some people talked about what they had done over the summer. Thomas and Bennett talked about how great Penny looked on the lifeguard stand for a minute causing her to blush the brightest shade of red. We all laughed a little over that.
“How was England?” Penny asked.
I looked up quickly, letting my fork come down hard in my peaches. Reece looked at me expectantly. This would be the first time I’d ever talked about England with anyone. Somehow I felt like they knew that and were forcing the answers out of me.
“Uh, great…fine. Everything was just great,” I replied a little too quickly.
Living there with the George family had been nice; it really had aside from the few problems with Daniel. It was the time I had spent away from the Georges that had been a problem. During my stay, I’d…run into some issues that they thankfully hadn’t relayed onto Dad or anyone else involved in the program. They’d dealt with it as if they were my biological parents.
“Just great? I remember you weren’t ever able to be quiet about it,” Nicky said and plopped a grape into her mouth.
“Yeah…you were excited to be staying in…where was it again?” Lea commented.
“Manchester…a nice place.” I looked at the clock on the wall and began gathering my things up. “I’ve got to run to the library to look at some books. I’ll see you guys later.”
It was the only excuse I could think of. Thank god it wasn’t a poor excuse. I was a known reader among my friends and some others. The only problem was that I now had to check out a book that I wouldn’t read right away and end up with a late fee unless the two-week rule was back in place.
