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“Do you really think I would be here if I had a choice?”

Jeanette.

What is she doing here?

She isn’t who I expected to be at the door, but then again, it seems like Brook has a special kind of attitude saved exclusively for Sanders twins.

Sighing, I lift my head off the counter and go to the hallway before these two start a fight.

“Oh, poor miss rich girl. She didn’t have a choice.”

“Brook.” My voice is low and calm, but she can hear the warning in it. Turning around, she looks at me and rolls her eyes. The palms of her hands are outstretched in surrender.

“Did you invite her?”

“Max decided I’m not big enough to be home alone so he dropped me off before going to the party,” Jeanette answers for me. Her chin is lifted high in the air, hands crossed over her chest.

Beautiful.

Cold.

Unreachable.

These are the first words that come to my mind when I look at her now.

Jeanette is wearing skinny jeans and a tight fitting purple sweater with a leather jacket over it. Her sleek black hair is falling to her shoulders, and she is barely wearing any makeup except on her lips. Dark purple lips make her light eyes stand out even more and match her sweater perfectly. Lips that are set in a tight line. She expects us to show her the door, I realize. I can see it under the facade she put on.

Jeanette Sanders, tough and mighty girl on the outside, is waiting for us to close the door in her face. She doesn’t even want to give us a chance not to do it. She’d rather be alone all the time than risk being left aside or ask somebody for something.

She’s all the things I said before, but her brother is right. There is more to her than meets the eye.

Softness that can’t be seen.

Kindness that only a few can understand.

Breakable heart.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll give him a few more minutes to get to the party, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“How are you planning to get home?”

There is no car parked in my driveway, so I can only suppose that Max took her car to the party. What better way to make sure she stays where he wants her to?

Jeanette shrugs, her mask carefully put in place. “I’ll walk.”

“What?” I ask, surprised. Brook groans behind me. “You can’t walk,” I tell Jeanette, and then turn to look at my best friend. “She can’t walk home.”

“You are doing it again.”

“I don’t care. Jeanette, you can stay with us. It’s a girl’s night. You are a girl so you qualify.”

“You don’t have to be nice.” Jeanette rolls her eyes at me, her hands tightening around her midriff. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“You are not going home. End. Of. Story.”

I cross my arms over my chest, staring them both down. Let’s see if they’ll dare to defy me. I may be a goody-goody as Andrew likes to say, but when I decide on something there’s no changing my mind.

Jeanette can be a bitch sometimes, but she’s not that bad. Deep, deep down anyway. And Brook should start to open her heart to other people no matter how messed up her life is.

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