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Chapter 2
Abigail’s POV
The smell of homemade waffles wafted upstairs. My eyes fluttered open. I sat up and glanced at the digital clock on my night table. It was seven o’clock. I had exactly half an hour to get ready for school. I slid out of bed and walked to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I went into my walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of denim shorts and a pink halter top. I got dressed and went downstairs.
When I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to see Kevin sitting at the table eating breakfast. Then I remembered what had happened yesterday. Our cook, Mandy, tossed a waffle on a plate and handed it to me. I took it and sat down at the kitchen table, as far away from Kevin as possible. I began eating, avoiding his gaze.
After breakfast, I ran back upstairs to check my appearance. I wasn’t wearing a lot of makeup, just lip gloss and eye shadow. I brushed my hair again and studied my reflection in the mirror. Satisfied with what I saw, I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs. Kevin was leaning against the front door.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m going to school with you,” he informed me.
“What?!” I exclaimed. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might switch to my school.
“I’m going to school with you,” Kevin repeated, looking at me like I was an idiot. He stepped away from the door.
“I heard you the first time,” I snapped.
“Right,” he said, smirking. “Anyway, since your parents weren’t sure how long it would be until my dad was found, they decided I should switch to your school.”
“Can’t you stay somewhere else?” I asked, annoyed. “Like, with your mom or something?”
He looked away. “She’s dead.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, a bit embarrassed.
He shrugged. “I don’t remember her.”
“Oh.” Not sure what else to say, I glanced at my cell phone. It was seven twenty-five. “We should probably leave for school now,” I said. I opened the front door and went outside. As usual, the limo was parked in the driveway. I got inside. Kevin slid into the seat beside me.
We didn’t talk on the way to school. Kevin was looking at his new schedule. I almost offered to help him find his classes, but then I remembered that I was mad at him for kissing me yesterday. What would Ryan do if he knew about that? Would he be angry? Sad? Either way, I didn’t plan on telling him what had happened.
When we arrived at the high school, I got out of the limo and went into the school building. Ryan was waiting for me at my locker. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I replied, kissing him. I instantly felt guilty for what had happened the other day. It’s not my fault, I reasoned. Kevin kissed me, not the other way around.
I opened my locker and got the books I needed. Meanwhile, Ryan was saying something about a football game that was on last night. I nodded, trying to look like I was paying attention. I hated sports.
I shut my locker. “Okay, see you second period.”
“Bye,” Ryan said. He walked away, disappearing into the crowd of students. Sighing, I turned around and went into my first period class, which was Social Studies. I saw Kevin sitting in the back row of desks, fives seats down from where I usually sat.
As I passed him, I grabbed his schedule off the desk. “Hey!” he protested, reaching for it. I stepped out of his reach, my eyes scanning the paper. My mouth fell open in surprise. We had the exact same schedule. Could my life be any crueler? I tossed him the schedule. It landed a foot away from his seat.
“Nice throw,” Kevin mouthed.
I stuck my tongue out at him and sat down in my seat, just as Kelly pranced into the classroom. She was the most popular girl at school. Naturally, she was a slut, too. She spotted Kevin and sat down next to him. I rolled my eyes as she said something to him and he laughed.
The bell rang and our Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Murray, walked into the classroom. “Everyone quiet down and take out last night’s homework,” she instructed.
I reached for my binder and took out the mini-essay we had to do last night. Mrs. Murray launched into a boring speech about a war that happened in Europe. Just then, my cell phone beeped. Everyone looked at me. Mrs. Murray stopped talking. “Miss Brenner, cell phones are not allowed during class.”
“Um…actually, that was my calculator,” I lied, holding it up. I couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten to turn the volume down on my cell phone.
Mrs. Murray raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. A few people snickered. I ignored them, my cheeks turning red. Mrs. Murray resumed talking.
I glanced at Kevin and saw him looking at me. I quickly looked away and took my cell phone out of my pocket, curious to see who had texted me. It was Ryan.
Hey, do u want 2 c a movie 2night? We can rent 1 & watch it @ my house.
Sure, I texted back.
Is 8 o’clock good?
Yeah, can’t w8
I put my phone back in my pocket. Luckily Mrs. Murray hadn’t caught me texting. I leaned back in my chair and ignored Kevin for the rest of the period.
At lunchtime, I sat down at my usual table with Lauren, Ryan, and a few of our friends. “So, what movie do you want to see?” Ryan asked me.
I shrugged, picking at a slice of pizza that was on my tray. I had just spotted Kevin. He was sitting at Kelly’s table, with all the popular kids. Not that I cared.
“How about a horror movie?” Ryan said.
“Sure. You can pick it out,” I told him. I forced my eyes away from Kelly’s table and smiled.
“So, you’re definitely not going to Kelly’s party?” my friend, Kristie, asked.
“I already told you,” I said, exasperated, “my parents are coming back from London on Saturday.”
Kristie nodded. “Yeah…but don’t your parents, like, have a tendency to ditch you?”
“No!” I said. “I mean, sometimes there’s an emergency and they have to go somewhere, but they never ditch me on purpose.”
“Right,” Kristie said. “Well, if you change your mind about the party, Lauren and I will be there. You know, if you want to come.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, taking a bite of my pizza. When I looked over at Kelly’s table, Kevin was watching me.
