Ignited (Ignited Series, #1) Chapters 1-8

Chapter 3

I was becoming me again—washing my hair regularly, wearing makeup, and all that. Thanks to Alec. He has been in my life for only three weeks now, but already, the boy had a way of getting through to me like no one else could. Not even Callie. Who would have thought? The super-hot-new-boy and me? The idea was as preposterous to me as it was to everyone else. I wasn't the kind of girl that guys like Alec typically went for. Sure, boys thought I was cute in an I-don't-care kind of way, not in an I-get-regular-mani-pedis-and-got-fake-boobs-for-Christmas kind of way, like Brigit and Heather and their bobble-head cheerleader groupies.

And Brigit got turned down hard by Alec, or so I had heard. From the daggers she was shooting in my vicinity, I assumed the rumor was true.

I faced another direction and took a swig of beer.

It was also because of Alec that I found myself here, at a beach party. By beach, I meant a narrow strip of sand along one edge of Big Pine Lake just outside of Boone and by party, I meant a bonfire, a throng of teenagers, and alcohol. It wasn't a big lake, but it was a large crowd.

Most of them were familiar to me in one way or another, either from seeing them every day in the halls at school or having partied with them in the past. Most looked surprised to see me. Some smiled, like they were glad I was back. Others shot me the usual awkward stare, but I had gotten better at not caring about those.

"There's Alec." Callie nudged my shoulder, and I followed her gaze to the water's edge, where he sat in the sand, forearms rested on his knees, beer bottle dangled from one hand, a cigarette in the other. Though not the most attractive habit, he more than made up for it with personality and raw good looks. In a green button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tattered jeans, his favorite Sketchers, and a grin that might even manage to drop a nun's panties, he was easily the most alluring guy here. Hovered around him and a few boys I didn't recognize—friends of his, I assumed from the way they carried on—was a girl that seemed to agree. She wasn't even subtle as she raked her eyes all over him.

He was oblivious. Well, knowing Alec, he wasn't oblivious, but he also didn't return the interest. I smiled into my beer bottle.

The whole school thought we were an item. I had to admit, there were times I wondered myself. Like when he sat beside me every day at lunch and made me laugh the entire thirty minutes, the times I passed him in the hall between classes and he met my gaze with a flirty wink, and the other times he waited for me, leaned against my locker like some Calvin Klein model. People stared. They whispered and speculated. I was used to being the center attraction for the gossip circus, and Alec, well, he didn't really seem to care.

Then there was the way he looked at me sometimes. That way that really made my heart race and my palms sweat. He didn't have to say anything, just look. Or touch. Like a few nights ago, when he brushed aside the hair covering the scar on my forehead and nearly put me into heart failure. "You don't have to hide it. Not from me," he had said, and I thought he might kiss me then. But he didn't, and ever since I have wondered what it would be like to kiss Alec, and have wished for it to happen.

So, even if everyone else thought we were together, and there were times I thought we were headed down that path, the truth was I didn't know what we were or where we stood. I mean, he was a friend, albeit a really cute, ornery one that I wanted to kiss.

But when he dragged me off to the mall to do "girly stuff" when Callie had the flu, drove me to Josh's to watch the NFL playoffs on the big screen, convinced me to skip school to teach me how to snowboard, and graciously accepted the detention we both received the following day with a suave, "It was worth every minute", I really wanted to kiss him.