Letters From Detention

Chapter 1

"Leah!"

I turned away from my freakishly neat locker and glanced over my shoulder to see my best friend Zoey Davis hurrying toward me. Smiling, I looked her over. Zoey was a classic beautiful blonde with thick hair that reached down her small back and bright blue eyes that were clustered with dark lashes. A little breathlessly, she rushed up to me, readjusting her little black Coach purse.

"Oh my God, I have so much to tell you!"

I snorted a little. "Since you saw me yesterday?"

"Shut up," she said and punched my arm. "But guess what?"

"You grew a third boob?" I said innocently and pulled my fat Dual-Enrollment English Literature textbook from my locker.

Zoey giggled. "You're a boob. Anyways, I got a boyfriend."

"Who?" I demanded, closing my locker. Zoey promptly grabbed my arm and began yanking me down the crowded hallway.

"Caleb Richards."

I whirled on her. "Ew, Z! You know he's one of the biggest players at school! Besides, after he gets in your perfect size-four designer pants, he'll drop you like last season's Gucci sunglasses."

Okay, so Zoey was a little shallow, but she was unwaveringly loyal. Plus, she always dug up the best gossip and was one of the best secret-keepers in the entire known universe. Zoey blinked once and her French-manicured hand went self-consciously up to the new Gucci wraparound shades that held back her honey-colored hair. Then, she shook her head.

"Shut up, Leah. He's hot. And Kane Smith is his best friend. But so what? What if I'm just dating Caleb for the sex? Becca told me that he's amazing in bed."

"Okay, let's get a grip on our sanifty for a minute. One, Kane is a jerk and an even bigger man-ho than Caleb. Two, if you are just dating him for the sex you'll probably get some raunchy STD. And three, Becca Winters is the nastiest lying slut I've ever met," I said, ticking each statement off on my fingers.

"Pretty harsh, Le-le," Zoey said, the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"You know me. Ever the optimist," I replied and couldn't help but grin.

She laughed and gave me a quick hug. "Oo, there's Caleb! See you after school, kid. Love ya!" Then, she sauntered off down the hall and sidled up next to her sleazy boyfriend, a muscle-y guy with close-cropped dark hair and a heart-breaking smile.

I walked into my English Lit classroom a few doors down, but looked over my shoulder to watch Caleb wrap his arms around Zoey and plant a lingering kiss on her lips. Stop it. Just because you've never had a boyfriend doesn't mean you can stalk Zoey. I shook my head and faced forward again, only to bang my nose against someone's hard chin. Hot pain shot through me. I dropped my standard white binder and heavy textbook on the ground before I clutched at my throbbing nose.

Trickles of warm blood ran from it, pooling against my hands. My eyes looked up from the floor and locked on the sinful plump mouth in front of them. My whirling mind went totally blank. Then, one strong hand gently found my chin and lifted it up so that I was gazing into warm chocolate brown eyes. Something clicked in my head and I realized that I had practically head-butted Kane Smith. Oh my God.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked in what had to be the most delicious voice I'd ever heard. I swallowed loudly. Say something, you fool!

"Uh, yeah. I mean, no. Um..." I blurted, fully aware that I sounded like a total moron. A smile flashed across his face, showcasing square white teeth.