Page 16 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

Saying hi to a few people, I walk toward her. “No Liam today?”

“Nope, he had this one last year.” She pulls out the chair next to her for me to sit. “Besides, even if he did, us girls gotta stick together.”

“You say that now.” I stick my tongue out at her playfully. “I’m sure you sing a completely different tune when you’re with the lover boy.”

“I do no such thing!” She pushes her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

I slide into the chair and pull out the books I’ll need while Evie tells me everything that happened on her vacation, since we didn’t get much chance to do so with everything that’s been going on.

The last bell rings shortly after, making Mrs. Ryan’s scowl deepen as she watches students hurry inside. She’s known as one of those hard-ass teachers that expects nothing but perfection.

“Settle down,” she barks, her voice deep and raspy, a smoker’s voice. She’s older, probably in her mid-fifties, and her dark hair is chopped in a bob. Clever, bright blue eyes take in the full classroom, making sure to meet every student straight on.

“I don’t tolerate tardiness and noisiness. You’re here to learn, not mess around. If you can’t do that for the next forty-five minutes, you better leave right now.”

The quiet that settles over the classroom is almost deafening. Evie and I exchange a look, but say nothing.

“Now that that’s settled…”

Just then the door to the classroom opens and we all turn toward it as one.

“Who isthat?” I ask in a whisper.

I’ve never seen this girl before. Greyford is a relatively small town and everybody knows everybody. Besides, she—whoever she might be—is the kind of girl you don’t forget that easily.

She’s around five foot six, and really thin. Her bright pink hair is covered with a beanie and she’s dressed all in black—from her leather jacket all the way to the tips of her military boots. Dark purple lipstick covers her lips, which are tipped in a mocking half-smile.

Leaving a hall pass on the teacher’s desk, she goes to the first available spot and sits down.

We all follow her with our gazes, trying not to be too obvious and failing miserably.

I look at Evie and she just shrugs, her eyes looking even bigger behind her frames than usual. “I have no idea.”

* * *

“So, listen to this.” Evie loops her arm through mine as soon as we meet in the hallway later that day.

“Evie, are you about to tell me some gossip?” I cover my mouth, feigning a gasp.

She, in return, slaps me playfully on my shoulder. “Shush! This is really interesting— besides, it’s not gossip if it really happened.”

“Depends who did the telling. But fine, I’ll play. Spill. What did you find out that made you turn to the dark side?”

Evie doesn’t gossip, so this should be good.

After chemistry we each had to go in our different directions; she had math while I had my world history class. Now it’s finally lunch break, which is good because I’m starving.

“The new girl? The one with the pink hair?” Like we get new people often enough for there to be any clarification necessary. The last time somebody new moved to Greyford was over a year ago. “Apparently, she was caughtstealingat the gas station, but Mr. Lopez and Mr. Callahan caught her. They called the police since they didn’t know who she was. Turns out, it’s good that they did because she’s a teenage runaway.”

My mouth falls open. “What?”

Evie nods solemnly. “Yup, that was my reaction too. There are stories, but nobody knows the real reason she ran away.”

An uncomfortable shiver shakes my body. “She must have had it pretty bad to do that.”

“I guess so.”

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