Lukas Bailey isn’t exactly in a social group. Well, tags along with the Socials but really, he loves rock music and spikes and chains and metal things. But, of course, he can’t ever admit this to his “friends.” He has to keep his real self a secret. Alas, when the New Girl moves to town, she draws him out of his shell. She steals his heart and he allows it willingly but what will happen when the whole world is pulled out from underneath him?
Autumn Kelly is new to town. An outcast. A loner. But when she meets Lukas Bailey, she thinks she finally has a friend. She can relate to him and she can confide in him, something she’s never been able to do. But in her darkest time, will Lukas be there for her or is he afraid of the dark?
one
“Hey, Lukas!” I spun around and saw that Mason, my closest friend, was waving me towards them. “Them” being my “social group.” And my “social group” being Megan, Rachel, Sofia, Juliana, Alyssa, Mason (of course), John, Drake, and Ron. I walked over to them and Juliana immediately hooked onto my arm perkily.
“Hi, Lukas, babe.” She giggled softly and twirled her blond hair that was twisted into big curls that hung from her narrow, flawless face, tanned by the summer sun we were all just getting over.
“Hi, Jules.” I nodded down at her. She had a lot of nicknames . . . Jules, Julie, Leonna, sometimes Juliet.
“So how’s your first day back? Mine’s pretty good,” She leaned her head on my arm as we closed the space between us and the rest of the group.
“Oh. Well, it’s fine so far.”
“Just fine?” She looked up at me worriedly while we all kind of bunched together in the corner of the hallway of the school.
“Just fine.” I leaned down to peck her lips, just to keep her from feeling bad, you know? We were dating. When I pulled away, I could still taste her overdose of strawberry lipgloss. The guys made the oooohh sound that most kids did it fifth grade. Mason slung his arm over my shoulders and steered me away from Julie, forcing her to release her grip on my arm.
“Man, did you hear about the new girl?”
“There’s a new girl?”
“Obviously not . . .” He lowered his voice, smirking and rolling his eyes, talking to himself more than me. “Anyway, the new girl. She’s pretty hot. Or at least, under all the leather and chains she wears.”
This caught my attention. Leather? Chains? That was my style, even if I couldn’t tell Mason that. Actually, I couldn’t tell anyone that. They all thought I was into snapbacks and baggy jeans and jerseys.
I stared at Mason. Most people thought we were related somehow. Whether we were cousins, brothers, or even twins some people guessed. I could sort of see it. Our hair was a different style, of course, but other than that . . . His hair was dark brown. My hair was dark brown - a tiny bit darker brown though. My hair was nearly black but not. His eyes were brown, mine were brown. But, my eyes were a caramel brown - his were dark chocolate brown. He was fit, I was fit. He was the slightest bit fitter, though. His abs were more defined than mine were, but I didn’t mind looking slightly normal as opposed to him. The only difference was that his skin was tanned from the summer like almost everyone else’s. My skin was pale from staying in Washington state with my grandparents most of the summer.
“Leather, huh?” I chuckled.
“Shut up. You wouldn’t be interested anyway. She’s gonna fit right in with the Goths. Or the Emos. Or the Stoners.” He laughed as we neared my homeroom. “That’s all up to her.”
