Read Online Out with the In Crowd by Stephanie Morrill - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephanie Morrill
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them.
How could I trust Connor on this? Guys could be really stupid when it came to beautiful girls. And Connor didn’t know Jodi like I did. He didn’t know how she obsessed over, thirsted for, revenge. He didn’t know I used to help her plan her assaults. Fine by me. Connor knew about a lot of my junk, witnessed some of it firsthand, but I told him things strictly on a need-to-know basis. Surely even he had limits on how much of my past he could overlook.
Abbie paused the blow-dryer when I returned to our bathroom. “Was Connor mad?”
“No, he was fine.”
She sighed. “He’s so nice.”
Yes, he was. Maybe too nice.
During American History, I focused every mite of my attention on Mr. Huntley’s lecture about the cotton gin. I never even glanced at Connor, though in my peripheral I often caught him watching me.
“Are you mad at me?” he murmured halfway into class. “I’m focused,” I said.
I didn’t mean to be snotty, or an “ice princess,” like he’d said. I just lacked the energy for dealing with him. I had a mom who wanted me to move with her to Hawaii, a dad who thought she’d still come home, and a sister deciding whether or not to keep my niece. That left very little time to obsess about who my boyfriend might be crushing on.
“So are we gonna talk or what?” Connor asked as I packed away my history textbook.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
He sighed. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m not doing anything.” I looked at Eli and John, who blatantly eavesdropped. They turned away at my glare.
Connor, of course, didn’t allow them to inhibit him. “What happened to the girl who used to yell at me every two minutes? Who told me everything she felt? Everything she thought I should feel?”
I hitched my bag over my shoulder. “She sounds kind of obnoxious.”
“I liked her.” He brushed my chin with his fingertip, a strangely intimate gesture for him, especially at school. “Please. Let’s just talk about this so we can move on.”
I headed for the door, away from Eli and John. Connor fell into step with me. I weighed my options as we walked— if I didn’t talk to him about this, it would fester and we’d break up. The results of talking about it couldn’t be any worse than that, could they?
“Jodi just makes me nervous.” I squeezed my binder against my chest, hoping to conceal my trembling hands. “I mean, I hope she’s being sincere with all this church stuff, but I can’t shake my fear that somehow this is all . . .”
“All what?”
“All some plan to get back at me.”
Connor’s forehead wrinkled. “Get back at you for what?”
“For dating you.”
“But why would she care about me? She’s dating Eli.”
“But why would she “It’s complicated.”
“Sounds like it.” He laced his fingers through mine. “You know what I think?”
I cringed. “What?”
“Now, why would you make that face? Why do you assume what I’m going to say is bad?”
“Instinct.”
He slowed to a stop as we reached our parting hallways. “All I was going to say is that I think you’re being a little paranoid because of what happened with Jodi and Eli, but that’s a totally different situation. Okay, why the sour face?”
“Do me a favor. Don’t use the word paranoid .”
He cocked his head. “Why not?”
“Just . . .” Nope. Not ready to talk to him about Eli. “Just don’t.”
“Whatever you want.” He brought my hand to his mouth and brushed it with a light kiss. “See you in PreCal.”
When I entered English, I found Jodi and Alexis huddled together same as last week, only this time, Jodi grinned and waved. “You can sit with us if you want.”
She appeared sincere. Alexis narrowed her eyes. Understandable. When I left the group, everybody bumped up one step, Jodi to my former spot as queen and Alexis into Jodi’s role. So of course Alexis didn’t want Jodi and me getting chummy again. It might mean a downgrade.
“It’s okay.” I
How could I trust Connor on this? Guys could be really stupid when it came to beautiful girls. And Connor didn’t know Jodi like I did. He didn’t know how she obsessed over, thirsted for, revenge. He didn’t know I used to help her plan her assaults. Fine by me. Connor knew about a lot of my junk, witnessed some of it firsthand, but I told him things strictly on a need-to-know basis. Surely even he had limits on how much of my past he could overlook.
Abbie paused the blow-dryer when I returned to our bathroom. “Was Connor mad?”
“No, he was fine.”
She sighed. “He’s so nice.”
Yes, he was. Maybe too nice.
During American History, I focused every mite of my attention on Mr. Huntley’s lecture about the cotton gin. I never even glanced at Connor, though in my peripheral I often caught him watching me.
“Are you mad at me?” he murmured halfway into class. “I’m focused,” I said.
I didn’t mean to be snotty, or an “ice princess,” like he’d said. I just lacked the energy for dealing with him. I had a mom who wanted me to move with her to Hawaii, a dad who thought she’d still come home, and a sister deciding whether or not to keep my niece. That left very little time to obsess about who my boyfriend might be crushing on.
“So are we gonna talk or what?” Connor asked as I packed away my history textbook.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
He sighed. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m not doing anything.” I looked at Eli and John, who blatantly eavesdropped. They turned away at my glare.
Connor, of course, didn’t allow them to inhibit him. “What happened to the girl who used to yell at me every two minutes? Who told me everything she felt? Everything she thought I should feel?”
I hitched my bag over my shoulder. “She sounds kind of obnoxious.”
“I liked her.” He brushed my chin with his fingertip, a strangely intimate gesture for him, especially at school. “Please. Let’s just talk about this so we can move on.”
I headed for the door, away from Eli and John. Connor fell into step with me. I weighed my options as we walked— if I didn’t talk to him about this, it would fester and we’d break up. The results of talking about it couldn’t be any worse than that, could they?
“Jodi just makes me nervous.” I squeezed my binder against my chest, hoping to conceal my trembling hands. “I mean, I hope she’s being sincere with all this church stuff, but I can’t shake my fear that somehow this is all . . .”
“All what?”
“All some plan to get back at me.”
Connor’s forehead wrinkled. “Get back at you for what?”
“For dating you.”
“But why would she care about me? She’s dating Eli.”
“But why would she “It’s complicated.”
“Sounds like it.” He laced his fingers through mine. “You know what I think?”
I cringed. “What?”
“Now, why would you make that face? Why do you assume what I’m going to say is bad?”
“Instinct.”
He slowed to a stop as we reached our parting hallways. “All I was going to say is that I think you’re being a little paranoid because of what happened with Jodi and Eli, but that’s a totally different situation. Okay, why the sour face?”
“Do me a favor. Don’t use the word paranoid .”
He cocked his head. “Why not?”
“Just . . .” Nope. Not ready to talk to him about Eli. “Just don’t.”
“Whatever you want.” He brought my hand to his mouth and brushed it with a light kiss. “See you in PreCal.”
When I entered English, I found Jodi and Alexis huddled together same as last week, only this time, Jodi grinned and waved. “You can sit with us if you want.”
She appeared sincere. Alexis narrowed her eyes. Understandable. When I left the group, everybody bumped up one step, Jodi to my former spot as queen and Alexis into Jodi’s role. So of course Alexis didn’t want Jodi and me getting chummy again. It might mean a downgrade.
“It’s okay.” I
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