When Cami moves in with the 2 most popular guys in school in a new foster home placement, she realizes that her tragic past just might make it so that she will stay lonely forever.
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Cami has...
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A few students were splashing a girl in a puddle nearby.
Someone was FaceTiming with their grandma while being made fun of by their friends at the picnic table next to us.
I swatted at a fly that flew too close to my head.
The faint scent of weed hit my nostrils and then everything besides Grey disappeared.
He was at my side, strong and protective, his inviting cologne dripping with hints of woodsy balsam a heady mixture nearly crumbling me on the spot.
Grey herded us over to the outdoor picnic tables, one arm coming around my waist and guiding me there. Shit. That wasn't supposed to feel warm and comforting, was it?
No. Not after that confrontation that almost left me as mute as Grey. I wasn't supposed to feel safe and warm right after that, but somehow...he made me feel it, like he pushed back every wall and boundary I'd placed to keep that very thing from happening.
The faint echo of my words 'we need to talk' hung on the dew drops still steaming in the foggy air around us.
"No shit. You haven't texted me all week, you've barely been at school. I was starting to think you were friend-ghosting me."
It was a testament to Mori's personality that she didn't even question Grey's appearance once.
"I'm sorry. I had some...personal things going on."
Mo cocked one black eyebrow as her brown skin shimmered dark gold in the rising morning sun.
I'm waiting, her posture screamed.
"I...I don't really know how to say any of this," I started, slinking down onto the bench seat of the picnic table we'd decided on, the old wood of the table biting into my palms as a stray splinter caught in the tights I was forced to wear per the dress code at Hartingrove.
If I never had to wear another plaid skirt again, it would be too soon.
"When did you start hanging out with Carter and his friends?" I started, not knowing how exactly to steer this conversation but assumed that asking this was the doorway to unraveling what was going on.
"Uh...the day after Colton asked you out on the bus in front of everyone. Maybe I should be asking you when you started hanging out with them?"
It all fell down on me like a lead weight pressing down on my chest, but I didn't show it. I didn't breathe in and suck down the flames wanting to light me up from the outside in.
"Carter came up to me and invited me along to whatever they were doing that Saturday, and I said yes because he said you and Colton would be there, too. So I was pretty surprised when you fell off the face of the earth afterwards. I still went and hung out with them though in their basement. It was pretty fun."
