Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” I quickly told him as I shut his door, buckling myself in afterward.
He flashed me a model-worthy smile and reversed out of the driveway, heading toward the school, his windshield wipers working double time in the rain.
He glanced over at me. “I like the jacket,” he commented.
My cheeks burned as I glanced down at my zip-up hoodie. It was black with a massive skull on the back. I hadn’t realized he’d noticed. Honestly, I was still surprised he knew my name, much less went out of his way to find out my phone number.
“Thanks,” I managed to force out.
He grinned. “You’re cute as fuck, you know that?” he asked me. My cheeks were on fire, and the heat was quickly spreading to my neck and chest. “I don’t understand why everyone hates you so much, Elizabeth.”
I just shrugged in answer because honestly, I didn’t know why either. Almost four years later, and the sudden animosity I’d received starting freshman year still blew my mind. I could never find a reason for it.
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “When is your lunch period?” he asked me out of the blue.
I frowned over at him in confusion as to why he was asking. “First,” I answered.
He glanced over at me again before focusing back on the road. “Cool. We’ve got the same lunch.” He slowly eased on the brakes as we came to a red light. “Where do you normally eat?”
He sure was asking a lot of questions. Seriously, what was he playing at?
“I normally avoid the cafeteria,” I confessed. “So, I don’t normally eat lunch.”
He ran his eyes over me for a moment. My blood pounded in my veins. I felt like he could see right under my clothes to my naked body, and it really got me all hot and bothered. My body tingled in response, warmth rushing through my veins.
“That’s going to change,” he gruffly spoke. I swallowed thickly. “You’ll be eating with me from now on. You’re too skinny.”
I blanched. Just who the fuck did he think he was?
“Too skinny?” I demanded, surprising myself with my outburst. “Just who the fuck—”
He cut me off by laughing. I gaped at him. Was he fucking serious? Of course, he only picked me up to humiliate me. I should have known better, and I was stupid for ever thinking someone in this school might actually be different.
“Chill, baby girl.” Oh, God. My heart. The fight instantly died out of me, leaving me a puddle of goo in his passenger seat. “I like my girls with some meat on their bones. I’m not into the whole skinny shit.” He shrugged, running his eyes over me again before the light turned green. He focused his attention back on the road. “You’re the only exception to that.”
I wanted to fan myself. It was hot. Too hot. Jesus, was there air conditioning he could turn on?
He pulled through the school gates before I could force my brain to properly work. I frowned in confusion when he pulled up to the drop-off area. “Don’t want you getting wet, Elizabeth.” A smirk played at his lips, and his eyes darkened a bit. “You know, unless I’m the one getting you wet.” My breath hitched in my throat. He did not just say that. “I’ll see you in first period, yeah?”
Jerkily nodding my head, completely rendered speechless, I swung open his truck door and jumped down, reaching in to grab my bag from the floorboard. He flashed me a smile that had every nerve ending in my body curling and heating before I shut the door, watching as he pulled off and headed toward the student parking lot.
I was so screwed.
3
Elizabeth
Everyone was talking.
Ever since I had walked through the school doors, all everyone had been talking about was how Drake Johnson had been caught hanging out with me. How I’d been caught getting out of his truck. That someone saw him smile at me.
I’d been getting dirty looks and threats all morning, and I was just hoping and praying for lunch to come so I could hide out in a bathroom somewhere.
I’d avoided Drake in first period like the plague, instead keeping my head down, not even looking in his direction. And for a change, I was the first person out of the classroom, not giving him a chance to catch up to me if he had been trying to. I didn’t know if he had been, but I wasn’t giving him the chance either way.
When the bell signaling first lunch finally rang, I quickly walked to my locker, almost getting tripped up more times than I could count. Anxiety tightened my chest, and I struggled to breathe through it. Passing out in the school hallway would do nothing but make the bullying worse.
A pained noise ripped from my throat when I reached my locker. Tears burned in my eyes at the words scrawled across the door.