"Sage, my boy, how are you?"
Fighting a wince as Uncle Ricardo slaps my back, I grin. "I'm–"
"He's not fine." Sterling cuts me off.
"Don't buy his lies." Silver agrees as the twins sniff out the pizza coming from the kitchen.
"I'm fine." I state, glaring at them.
"Lies." They say together as Manny and Drew come in with a box of wings.
"Tell me you got more than one order because I'm starving." Gabe calls, rubbing his stomach as Avery beats him to the food.
"Hopefully some are teriyaki." My cousin grins.
"Don't you have a shoot next weekend?" Gabe snips.
"Don't eat the garlic, I'd hate for your breath to ruin your hook up tonight." Avery jabs him in the gut.
"How did you– Brenna!" He shouts and I turn to find a blonde walking into the room.
My heart stops, the color is almost identical to... All too fast I see her face and hear her laugh like she's here and not in New York. I don't notice I've dropped my phone until Emmy slaps my shoulder.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Y-Yeah, I'm f– good." I gulp, invisible glass shards slice through me.
"Oh, who's this?" Emmy looks at my phone to find a text. "Moving on already?"
Never, it's not that easy for some people.
Manny walks over and punches her brother in the gut, "Who's Chloe?"
The pain turns into rage as I grab my phone. "My bitch ass lab partner that I'm about to tell to screw off in the rudest way possible."
Chloe
The next lab is Wednesday, I'll have the report done Friday just so you know not to mess anything up.
Snorting, I lock my phone. We'll see about that.
"Who is she?" Emmy asks, somewhat apologetic.
"Is she hot?" Gabe calls and Avery hits him in the throat.
"She's no–"
"She's his lab partner." Sterling offers.
"And she's pretty." Silver says. We all stare at him and he shrugs. "I'm gay not blind."
Fair enough but she's not pretty. "Who's Brenna?"
The blonde from earlier squeaks, blushing behind her glasses. "Me, um, I, uh... I go to school with Scarlett."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you." I shake her hand and she all but dives for the comfort of the couch. It appears my sister has adopted another interesting person.
"Does this Chloe have a last name?" Uncle Ricardo asks, enjoying this more than anyone else.
"Hale, Chloe Hale."
The smile falls off his face, but he turns to the TV, making sure the volumes working for the Alabama game.
"Do you know her?" I push.
"Only through encounters at the mini mart and park." He says, dropping the matter.
So she lives on the west side of town. That would explain a few things, especially the attitude and who she hangs around.
Sighing, I focus on the TV and let the chaos around me tune out my thoughts.
*****
ВИ ЧИТАЄТЕ
Life in Hiding
Підліткова літератураBook 3 in the "Life in-" series Sage Forest Rhodes thought his entire life was planned out. That was before the love of his life flew home from college, slept with him, and then dumped him on his front doorstep at 2 a.m. Now he's alone, somethin...
