Chapter One

A Little Over 2 Years Ago

Snide whispers. Pursed lips. Gazes traversed my body like I had thousands of bugs on me—what was the deal with these girls? I drew my notebook closer under my chin and hurried faster down the crowded high school hallway toward my next class. I sensed each scowl and detected every nasty word about me. When I reached Room 203, I exhaled with relief. Well, for like 2.3 seconds, when a couple of girls stopped talking in order to shoot darts of disgust my way. You know the kind? Glares with flared nostrils and lips that swelled into duck face, as if I just stepped into a heap of week-old garbage.

I faced away and crossed to my spot. What did I do? I thumbed through the memories in my brain. Nothing came forward to admit my crime. I peeked over at them again, but sorry I did. Ignore them. Maybe if I can’t see them, they can’t see me. I slid onto my lab stool and stared front.

“Oh my gosh, Cindy!” Gabby squealed.

The sound reverberated from the door all the way to my table.

She smacked the countertop hard, then slid around to sit on the stool. “You are like the most hated girl in the entire school!”

You don’t have to sound so happy about it. “Yeah, I kind of got that.” I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes at the annoying redhead. “Why?”

Her twin Charlotte spun around on the stool in the row in front of us and giggled. The two girls weren’t identical, but both were awkward in their own way. Gabby had grown tall and gangly; Charlotte stopped at short and stumpy. Both had frizzy red hair, freckles, braces, and occasional acne. Puberty had not been kind to either girl. Charlotte might be considered a tad more attractive than her sister, but not by much. Most people treated them like pariah, but I tried to be nice.

Pariah. I frowned. Kind of like how I feel in this moment. “What do you know?” I demanded again.

“Well…” Gabby licked her braces and leaned closer.

“It seems that…” Charlotte smiled and giggled again. Both girls exchanged looks, then tittered like birds in unison.

They could be so infuriating. I sucked in a deep breath to keep from screaming, reminding myself to be patient. I opened my mouth to say, “Get on with it,” when Andy Scott walked in. Or should I say, strutted in. The baseball star exuded confidence. Tall, with dark, shoulder-length hair that fell over one eye. Sometimes he would flip it back and all the girls would swoon. In truth, all the girls—myself included—wanted him to be their boyfriend. Last month, Mr. Boyd had assigned him as my lab partner. I would forever be grateful to Mr. Boyd, no matter how boring his lectures were.

“Hey,” Andy said to me, before eyeing Gabby who sat in his seat.

A red hue, brighter than her hair, blanketed her face. She emitted an embarrassed cackle and stumbled off his seat to her stool in front by Charlotte.

“Hey, yourself,” I said, despite being slightly distracted by the two sisters whispering in front of me.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

I pulled my stare from them and gazed into his beautiful hazel eyes. Well, the one I could see.

“You know how the homecoming dance is in a few weeks?”

I swallowed. My heart thumped in my throat. “Yeah?”

“Want to go with me?”

My stare stayed on the cute guy probably a moment too long, but when I glanced up, I saw all the girls in the class foaming at the mouth. Awe, now the loathing makes more sense. “Yeah, totally.” I hoped I said that nonchalantly, because internally I danced the Cabbage Patch around the room.

“Cool.” He winked, then reached for a beaker at the end of the counter.

I remembered little else. We made some formula in our workbook. I don’t remember. Mr. Boyd talked. Not sure what he said. Hopefully, nothing on the test, because the only chemistry I cared about had to do with Andy and his close proximity.

****

“Well, you’re sure smiling.” Mom placed a tray of fruit on the long dining room table, before tucking a strand of her shoulder-length blonde hair out of her face.

“You’re not going to believe it. I mean, I can’t, and it happened to me. It’s super exciting news.” I slid into the fancy antique chair and flapped a cloth napkin into my lap, still smiling.

Dad entered, kissed Mom’s cheek, then sat across the table.

Even though the table stretched the entire room, we all hunkered down at the end.

“I love exciting news. Do tell.”

“Andy Scott asked me to homecoming.”

My parents exchanged glances.

Dad lifted his dark groomed eyebrows as he met my gaze. “Andy Scott? What kind of boy is Andy Scott?”

“Only the best kind of boy, Dad. Every girl at school wants him, but he asked me.” I giggled again. “Me!”

Mom patted my hand. “Well, of course, he did. He obviously has great taste.”

“And all the girls hate me now.”

My parents frowned and eyed each other again.

They always did that. Some kind of secret language. Super annoying.

“I’m sure that’s not true.” Mom frowned.

I reached for another grape and shrugged. “I don’t care. It’s not like I get along with most of them anyway.”

Mom’s frown deepened. “I didn’t know you were having trouble making friends.”

“It’s okay. I don’t care.” That might have been a lie. Of course, I wanted friends. Who didn’t? But I never said the right thing at the right time. Sometimes I acted shy or made an awkward comment. But who cared? Andy Scott saw something in me, and that was worth 10,000 friends.

Dad glopped a spoonful of red potatoes onto his plate. “Do we need to talk about that?”

“No, seriously, I’m fine. I’ve got friends who matter. I’m cool. Really.”

He stared at me for a moment longer, then returned to serving himself more food.

The head cook and housekeeper, Rosa, peeked in the doorway. “I’m heading out tonight. Do you need anything else, Mr. Tremaine?”

“No, everything looks great. Thanks, Rosa.”

Her plump cheeks turned up in a grin, and she nodded. “Night.”

“Night,” we said in unison.

Mom grinned. “So, now we need to go shopping and buy you a dress worthy of Andy…”

“Scott.” I beamed. “Really?”

“Of course. You can’t go to a formal without the perfect dress. We can go tomorrow afternoon, if you’re free.”

I leapt out of my chair with a shriek and hugged her neck. “Thanks, Mom.”