Inbetween - Book 1 of the Guardian series

Chapter 7 - Sunshine and the cold places between

Amelia waited outside, trying to calm down, trying to not chase after him. She was dead and she suspected she could have easily even if he was in a car. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to kiss him in a way he felt, she wanted to ... she didn't know. 

Some part of her wished he'd do it. That he'd chase her down, that he'd come kiss her, that he'd come comfort her back.

Had Dylan ever done it?

He had, before they got engaged, he'd always been around. Comforting her, loving her, there as much as she'd needed as she recovered from the depression. Maybe that was why she was always trying to make him happy. To repay him for what he'd done. 

"He's so cute. Oh my god. You should hear him talk." The girl squealed, Clarissa flopping back, as she tried to inch her skirt higher up her waist. "He should come to the party on the weekend. Could you imagine it? I wonder if he'll give me a kiss for my birthday."

"I'm sure a Southern gentleman would do it for a lady." Her friend Tisha giggled, the two of them looking so pleased, and added, "Did you see his eyes? His hair? Oh my god."

"He's on the football team already. My boyfriend, you know, who's on the team too, he said that this hottie got in when he was getting showed around. Just walked up to the coach and said he could play and he'd try out there."  Fran whispered, a loud dramatic whisper. "They were all going to laugh at him but he took off his shirt and said he didn't need padding because Australians did it without padding."

"Wait, is he American or Australian?"

"He's American. He just spent a lot of time in Australia."

"Explains that tan." 

Another round of giggles, and then they were passing a phone around, Fran's snapshot of the guy getting more squeals, giggles, and then plans on how to get him to the party.

I rested against the desk, staring blankly at the book, chewing on a pen. My glasses were on as I tried to copy down the homework before class started, tried to keep my head and eyes off them. It hurt sometimes to hear them talk about parties because I knew that I was never invited. I knew that they hadn't known it was my birthday today too. I knew that it didn't matter in the slightest what this strange guy looked like.

They caught me, caught me as I slid another glimpse in their direction, though I tried to hide it..

"Fuck off, fatty. Don't even think about it. Clarissa gets dibs." Tisha snapped at me. The smile, the warmth, the fake friendliness, it was all gone. "We don't need skanks like you around. I heard you've already sucked off the whole football team in their locker room."

"Except my boyfriend who'd never do that." Fran added. Shot me a glare. "Don't even think about it."

That was a new one. My face flushed, shifting, staring back down at the book as my face got red. Fat and a skank. That wasn't going to go away any time soon. 

"He's coming. Shit. Shit. Tish, Fran, check my hair. Quick. Is this too low?" Another wrench of the skirt till I expected to see some panties flash soon, as her two sidekicks smoothed her incredible blonde hair down, and patted the skirt. 

I diverted my eyes again, using my brown hair as a shield from any further invites for insults, staring at the homework. Something about American history. What the hell? I barely knew Australian history and...

The girls hushed.

I still didn't look up. American history. Civil wars and shit. I didn't know.