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“Who invited you?”

The question was slurred and folloith a heavy hand on ed to none other than the birthday girl herself, and she was drunk Really drunk and out for blood Ashley and I weren’t friends, but she had never said or done anything overtly nasty to ether … I kind of felt like I was going to throw up

“What?”

“Who invited you?” There was a sneer on her pretty lips, her big brown eyes glassy “Why are you here?”

I wanted to say Nash had askedout tonight, but I couldn’t get the words out … because just then he showed up

He entered the kitchen followed by the Archer twins and Jet Keller There was no ht the party with them wherever they went Nash had on his customarily sloppy look of torn jeans, skate shoes, and a band T-shirt He also had a baseball hat pulled low over his forehead that did nothing to hide the high flush in his face or the unclear and foggy haze covering his eyes It was obvious he was already wasted or even high and I felt the first threads of disappointaze ski It made me suck in a painful breath and I had to bite the inside of

It was like he didn’t even see me He didn’t smile, didn’t wink, and didn’t so much as incline his head in my direction It was like I didn’t even exist I went nu in the center ofhands into fists and tried to frantically plan an escape route that would save me any further embarrassment or heartache

Ashley apparently forgot all abouther party and bounded over to the new additions If rant dismissal, then it practically burst open when he scooped her up in his arrabbed her ass I wanted to choke on my embarrassment as I scraht put to self-preservation, only to escape I had a frantic, desperate need to put as much space between me and this party—but more so between me and Nash—as possible

Mercifully, the tears didn’t fall until I was safely at my car In that moment, sluers from the mascara I’d let Faith sether and it didn’t ht be nice when it was just him and I by our lockers, but put hiirl willing to put out, and I was invisible I’d been so stupid to think it was anything more

So I did as instinctive and resurrected the shield around nored him every time he tried to tell me hello I looked away from him when he smiled at me I avoidedto be there and tried to focus on the fact that graduation was right around the corner and I would be leaving this small s so deeply behind I knew logically Nash didn’t kno I felt, had no clue that I had thought he was different and special, but that didn’t norance or my embarrassment any less hot

In the ware enrollment all lined up for fall andofto heal—I stu after school … My heart lurched, but none of the to hurry tosince the party, when his deep voice assaulted my ears

“She’s a et laid, she needs to look in the mirror and maybe do some work”

One of the other guys cackled at the nasty state to vaporize into a cloud of horrified s about

I heard Nash snort as I tried to sneak by so they wouldn’t notice me or my tears I had never cried so much over any other person and it

“I ht need to put a bag over her head first or so”

That sent the rest of the guys rolling in laughter as the ground beneath ht inabout soht that he was different—that any pretty boy could be different—was annihilated with those hateful, harsh words Words that forever changed the way I looked at the opposite sex