Page 1 of The Penalty Box

Prologue

EVIE

SIX YEARS OLD

“Liam, wait!” I yell after my best friend. My legs pedal as fast as possible as my hands grip the wheel of my unsteady bike. My dad took off my training wheels a few weeks ago and although I can ride the bike without them, when I’m hurrying like I’m doing now, I still easily lose balance and fall.

“Li—” I start again, only this time I don’t finish. Something must have gotten in my way, a bigger stone or a bump of some kind because the next thing I know I’m flying through the air and then crashing on the ground. I can feel my skin rip, and the burning sensation spreads in my palms and knees as the pain jolts my body.

I yelp softly, tears gathering in my eyes as the pain grows stronger. My head hangs down, tails of my braids swinging on each side, as I nibble on my lip to stop a painful sob from coming out.

“Hey, it’s okay.” A hand touches my back, slowly caressing me.

Sniffling, I lift my tear-stained gaze to look into the deep brown eyes of my best friend. There is a furrow between his brows and a serious expression on his face. An expression that is in complete contrast with one stubborn brown curl that falls over his forehead.

“Where does it hurt?” His gaze looks over me, searching for injuries.

“Y-You ca-came…” I say, a soft hiccup making me stutter.

“Of course I came.” His soft fingers push a runaway strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re my best friend.” Liam takes my hands in his, and when he hears my low hiss, he looks down at my scraped palms. “Sorry.” He blows softly over my burning palms. “Does it hurt a lot?”

“Not so much anymore…” I whisper, throwing my hands around his neck in a tight hug. “Thank you for coming back for me.”

“I’ll always come back for you, Evie,” Liam promises, returning my hug. “Always.”

Chapter One

EVIE

“Go out with me,” Noah says, his smooth voice breaking me out of my thoughts. I try to hold it in, but my lips curl into a smile nonetheless. The class has just finished and I’m putting the books in my backpack before turning around to look at him.

Hazel eyes shine brightly, amusement evident in their depths. A wide grin plays on his lips. You’d think this is the first time he’s asked me that question—it’s not. I stopped counting the number of times he’s asked me out since school year started and the number of times I said no. At this point, it has become a sort of game between the two of us. How long will he keep asking? How long until I finally accept his offer?

Well, technically,willI accept his offer?

The jury is still out.

I don’t do this to play hard to get. Noah is nice, a good friend, but he isn’t the boy I want to ask me out. I like him, just not like himlikehim.

“Noah,” I say, pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear and smiling softly so that I ease the blow. No matter what, the last thing I want to do is hurt his feelings. “My answer hasn’t changed.”

He shakes his head, moppy brown hair swinging with the movement. His smile loses some of its intensity but doesn’t completely fall down.

“One of these days you’ll say yes.” Noah holds my gaze. The assurance in those words is so strong I almost believe him. Almost, but not quite. If I were him, rejected too many times to count by the person I like, I would’ve surely given up by now.

Then why are you still stuck onhim?the little voice taunts me, but I decide to ignore it.

And just like my thoughts have summoned him in real life, his familiar voice calls out to me, “Evie!”

I turn around almost instantly, my body aligning to his even before I have him in my eyesight. “Liam.”

His name comes out as a breathless sigh, and I’m thankful for the distance between us so he can’t hear it.

My best friend in the whole world quirks a brow at me before he’s jumped by one of his fellow teammates. The guy, Mike, ruffles his short brown hair, probably teasing him about the fact that he’s picking me up for lunch, something they’ve been on his back about since the school year started, but Liam brushes him away without a backward glance. Judging by the way they act, you’d think those guys are back in preschool, not sophomores in high school.

“You coming or what?” Liam asks, but then his eyes land on something,someone, behind my shoulder. They narrow, if only slightly, as he tips his chin in greeting. “Russell.”

“Ward.”

---