Read Online False Regret: Pikorua - Book 1 by Angela Reid - Free Book Online

said, standing up and taking my
tray to the garbage bin. I left the cafeteria and went outside, the direction
I’d seen Cade walk. He was sitting on the curb out front, watching traffic pass.
    “Hey,”
I said as I sat down next to him. He made me nervous, but I wanted to comfort
him.  “I am sorry about Will. He can be very insensitive. I am also sorry about
your mom.”
    “Thanks,”
he said, still observing the cars zoom by us.
    “With
the exception of Will, what do you think of our school so far?” I tried to make
small talk to take his mind elsewhere.
    He
laughed and looked at me, making me feel like my insides were burning. “I don’t
exactly fit in here, Ellia. I expected as much, but I guess I hoped it might be
different. I appreciate you and your girlfriends being nice and sharing your
lunch table with me, but I don’t want to cause trouble for you and your
boyfriend. Tomorrow I can sit somewhere else.”
    “No,
you don’t have to do that. You can keep sitting with us. I will make Will leave
the table if he continues to be an ass. Our school is pretty much formulaic for
a small town. We all have boxes we’re supposed to fit in, and you scare people
because we have no predetermined container in which to shove you. Nobody here
looks like you, and the ones that come remotely close, usually drop out or move
away before they make it to senior year. You are intelligent, yet you look … I
mean, your nice looking …. But ….” I twisted my hands together, getting flustered,
not finding the right words. I didn’t want to insult him. He chuckled but kept
quiet and let me squirm. “You just look … dangerous, I guess. You’re a curious
anomaly, Cade. No one has figured out where to put you. If nothing else, high
school is a place of social categories.” I laughed and so did he.
    “I
didn’t exactly fit in where I came from either. Most guys who plan to dedicate
their life to music aren’t so freaking anal about school. I love music, but I
love knowledge, too. I am a total nerd trapped in a dangerous body, I guess.” 
He chuckled as I thought more about his body, causing me to blush again. “I
don’t care, though.  People can think what they want. There is a big world out
there beyond high school. I can wait this out.” He stood up, so I did too. “You
should go back in and sit with Will. I get the impression you’ll be in trouble
for being out here with me.”
    “He’ll
get over it,” I said, as we walked back towards entrance.
    “So
are you two serious?” he asked, just before opening the door for me.
     I
hesitated, not finding any words to say. Will and I had been together all
throughout high school but serious was a whole other question. I answered as
truthfully as I could. “Well, he is,” I said, and a smile spread across Cade’s
face. I wasn’t sure what his expression meant, but I smiled right back, knowing
I’d managed to relay I might be interested.
    Mentally,
I chided myself for being completely insensitive to Will. Cheating and lying was
not my style . Will had put a lot of time into me, and it was mean to
hurt him like that. I shook the thoughts off as I entered the overcrowded
commons.  I collided with Will, who was on his way out to fetch me. He had been
watching us through the glass. Cade walked away, leaving me to deal with my
jealous boyfriend.
    “What
are you doing, Ellia? Do you have a thing for this guy or what?” He practically
spit the words at me.  A few people stopped to eavesdrop as his volume drew
attention.
    “Stop
it, Will. I am just trying to be his friend since he doesn’t know anyone but
Jimmy. And you said Jimmy treats him like crap too. You grew up here, and you’ve
never had to move to a new school. It is hard. Cade has it even harder because
he is a senior and had to leave all his friends back in Detroit. So what if he
has tattoos and piercings? Everyone needs to stop judging him, most of all,
you.”
    “What
does that mean?” he asked.