In the build up to the release of my third novel with Random House, Out of Tune, I've written a short prequel to it which I'll be uploading on Wattpad over the next few days, and this is the first instalment!
Out of Tune is out on July 3rd in paperback and ebook (paperback in the UK and Commonwealth, but you can ship it elsewhere, and the ebook should be available worldwide).
Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter One
Bang!
Allie flinches as I slam her locker shut - after making sure I'm not gonna shut her fingers in the door, of course - and she turns to me with her brown eyes wide. 'Why do you look like a crazy person right now?'
Okay, so maybe my grin is a little manic, but I can't help it!
I draw in a deep breath and try to tone down the crazy-person look. 'Josh asked me on a date.'
Allie just stares at me, mouth hanging open, until she recovers enough to say, 'You're kidding, right? Like, a date-date, not just a study-date?'
I nod, still beaming. My voice comes out more like a squeal, and I know I sound just like those girls who stand gossiping and shrieking in the hallways. Hell, I am one of those girls right now, and I don't care! 'Yep, a date-date! We're going bowling. Can you believe this? Josh Parker asked me out on a date. Me! Ashley Bennett!'
My best friend starts to laugh, and grabs my shoulder to stop me bouncing about. The bell rings, telling us that lunch is over and we should be on our way to class by now.
As Allie opens her locker back up to get out her Chemistry textbook I realize I forgot to pick mine up. But I've got more important things on my mind. Telling Allie my news was way bigger than getting my book.
Once she's wrestled it into her backpack between a ring-binder and her Advanced Spanish notes, we weave through the throngs of students to make our way to the science labs.
'So tell me exactly what happened. I want details, Ashley.'
'You know how we were in the library to work on that presentation for English class?'
She nods.
I'd sent her a text at the start of lunch to tell her that we were going to be spending lunch in the library. I hadn't cared, since it meant I got to spend time with Josh. I'd had a huge crush on him for a while now and had yet to pass up the opportunity to spend time with him. 'Well, we were packing up our things and he just said, totally out of the blue, "What are you doing Friday night?" And I was like, "Nothing, why?" And then he said that maybe we could go to the bowling alley, if I was interested.'
'Which you obviously are.'
'Of course. Anyway. I just sort of stared at him for a really long time because I was convinced I'd heard him wrong. Then I realized I was staring and not saying anything like a total loser-'
'Oh my God.'
'I know. And then I said, "Sure". Oooh, and he gave me this really big grin and said he'd catch me later.'
'So just bowling? Are you meeting him there, at the alley? What time?'
My grin finally falters. 'Um, he didn't say.'
'You have English tomorrow, though, right? You can ask him then, if he doesn't say anything before then.'
I nod, and pull open the door, letting Allie in ahead of me. 'Yeah. Yeah, you're right.' But now she's mentioned it, I wished I'd been able to get a hold of myself back in the library and had asked him then.
We got a new English teacher in March, because Mrs Robinson went off to have her baby, and our new teacher gave us a seating chart.
At first, I thought it totally sucked - I was happy in my seat next to Kelly.
But it was actually so worth it because I got placed next to Josh Parker.
We take our usual seats in Chemistry, at a lab bench near the front of the room, but as Mr Davies starts droning on about the titration experiment we'll be doing today, and which are the relevant pages in the textbook, I rest my chin on my hands and let my mind wander, smiling to myself as I think some more about Josh.
He has that whole golden-boy image going for him: blond hair that shimmers in the right light and looks perfect every day, and bright green eyes, he was built like a quarter-back - and that smile . . . I swear to God, his teeth practically sparkle like a mouthwash commercial when he smiles.
Plus, he has just the right mix of confidence and charm that all popular kids have. He's on the junior varsity football team, too, of course.
He'd never seemed to notice me before, even though I'd spotted him on day one. Then a few months later he bumped into me in the cafeteria, and apologized, smiling, before dodging round me.
But aside from that, I'm pretty sure he'd never noticed me. I'm not exactly a loser, but I'm not someone that everybody knows and notices. Me and Allie kind of just hover around the middle of the high school food chain. We don't get picked on, but we're borderline invisible.
Allie's pretty, though. That's the real difference between us.
We're the same height and similar build, but she's got pretty brown eyes and a cute button nose, and her brown hair is always perfectly straight and shiny (partly because she uses pricey shampoo and spends twenty minutes fixing her hair, but still). She's got thinner legs than me. And despite the gap between her two front teeth she's always complaining about, she's pretty confident in her body.
I'm not like that. I hate my curly hair that looks red under certain lights. I hate my freckles that cover my entire face and arms. I hate that I'm not comfortable with the way I look, like Allie is.
I was a nobody. Why would he notice me?
And then on that fateful day in English class, he dropped into the seat next to me, sending a waft of Hollister my way. He smiled at me, flashing those oh-so-white teeth. 'I'm Josh.'
'I know.'
'And you're Ashley, right?'
I'd nodded, a little dumbstruck. He was talking to me like we were already good friends! And his smile - man, it took my breath away.
After that first proper intro, it was hard not to chat like we were good friends. He kept cracking jokes to make me laugh, or asking me things like he was genuinely interested in what I had to say.
It was bizarre, how well we got on. He commented on how I always seemed to have a different reading book in my bag every time he saw me, and then admitted he didn't like reading. He was always talking about all these people he knew, whereas Allie and I only had a group of about half a dozen friends that we sat with at lunch and stuff. We did have a similar sense of humor, though.
About two weeks ago, he walked me to my next class after English. It wasn't a big deal, we just carried on talking all the way to French, where he left me with a lopsided grin and a half wave that was so adorable it made my heart melt.
It doesn't sound like a big deal by itself, but I was freaking out. Josh wanted to spend time with me - even just a couple more minutes outside of class.
Then, last week, he turned up at my swim meet.
I'd mentioned it off-handedly; I joined the team at the same time Allie joined the debate society and the school paper, at the start of the school year, in an attempt to boost our popularity. Josh didn't tell me he was coming to my meet - I just spotted him in the bleachers with Austin and Sam, a couple of his friends. When he saw me looking, he waved. I was so shocked I couldn't wave back and just stared at him dumbly.
Sure, I'd been trying to get him to be interested in me, but as much as he joked around with me and teased me playfully, I thought he only saw me as a friend - worse, just his desk buddy in one class.
I'd spent ages with Allie pouring over magazines and trawling the internet to try and figure out how I could get Josh to ask me out. We'd even asked her big sister, who'd just rolled her eyes at us and told us to leave her alone to finish her college application essay.
Neither of us had ever had a proper boyfriend before, so this was totally new territory - and it was terrifying.
But something must've worked, because now I had a date with him!
Now I just had to figure out what to wear . . .
Oh, crap.
A sharp elbow digging into my ribs draws me back to reality. I blink, looking first at Allie, who gives me urgent glances, then at Mr Davies.
The teacher raises his eyebrows at me. 'Something more important on your mind, Ashley?'
'Sorry,' I mumble.
'I asked what the expected results of this experiment should be. Perhaps you can tell us, if you aren't too busy daydreaming?'
'Uh . . .' I cough, stalling for time, and I can feel my cheeks turning hot. I look at the labeled diagram he's drawn on the board, and skim over the textbook. 'Um . . . a white cloudy liquid?'
He smiles, nodding. 'Exactly. Good - you were listening. Now, in your pairs, one of you come and collect the samples from the front desk, and the other start setting up. Make sure that . . .'
The rest of his instructions are already being lost by the scrape of stools on linoleum, and the rising chatter as people start to get up to begin their experiments.
My best friend looks at me. 'Nice save.'
'Thanks. I'll get the samples.'
'Then I'll start setting up.'
When we regroup at our lab bench and get organized, Allie says, 'You were thinking about him, weren't you?'
'Duh. I have a dilemma, though.'
'What now? If it's about your breath smelling if he tries to kiss you, there was that article in Seventeen we read that said-'
'I don't know what to wear.'
Allie cuts off and bites her lower lip, brow furrowing under her bangs. 'Ah. Now that is a dilemma.'
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Ta-dah!
What do you guys think? With Out of Tune being the first novel I'll publish that's not been previously on Wattpad I'm kinda nervous about it, so would love to hear what you guys think of these characters!
Check out my Tumblr (in the external link) and follow me on Twitter @Reekles for more updates.
The next chapter will be up on Tuesday around this same time, and please comment and let me know what you think of this so far!
xo