Page 66 of Zero Chance

When half a dozen replies from various sources flooded in, I turned the phone off and flung it aggressively onto the table in front of me.I spiked my hands through my hair and cursed under my breath.

In front of me, the last book floated away before another returned.This one was calledNever Be Sick Again.

Great.Even my autistic mother who’d been unalive for the past eleven years could tell something was wrong with me.I needed to get my shit together.

“I’m fine,” I assured her.“Don’t worry.I’m not sick.”

A cold rush of air wafted over my head.I reached up and touched the area.“Thanks for caring, though.”

I shouldn’t have come here.There was no reason to alarm my mother, who could do absolutely nothing to help me.I didn’t even know what my damn problemwas.

I was out of whack because of this mystery girl, that was all.If I could just figure out who she was and why she wanted to hide from me, I wouldn’t feel so stir crazy right now.I wouldn’t have flown off the handle and railed at Parker.And I definitely wouldn’t have left the house without eating some damn breakfast first.

God, I was starving.

When my stomach growled, I pushed back my chair and stood.After collecting my phone and shoving it into my pocket, I told the air, “I’m going to take off now.I’ll be back later, okay?”

A chilly breeze shot up the side of my arm, the only farewell I was going to receive.“Okay.”I nodded and waved at nothing.“Bye.”

Turning, I started away from the study nook and found my way to the stairs before hiking up to the main level.Once on the first floor, I started toward the exit, only to notice Waverly working at the front desk.

She hadn’t been there when I’d come in.I would’ve noticed.I never paid attention to whowasworking the checkout counter, unless it was Waverly.For some reason, I was always aware of her when she was there.

Seeing her now settled my nerves.There was just something steady and constant about her presence.The reliable outline of her hair and her dark clothing reassured me that not everything was as crazy and wrong as it felt right now.

Needing to irritate her because that always put me in a better mood, I changed directions and started that way.

15

WAVERLY

Mr.Bergamen dropped Gates off a little after eleven the next morning.

“We already fed him breakfast so he’s good to go,” he reported, handing over Gates’s backpack as my brother streaked past us into the house without a word of greeting and immediately pounded up the stairs.

“Thank you,” I told Mr.Bergamen since I’m sure my brother had forgotten to do so.“I really appreciate it.I hope he had fun with Jackson.”

“Oh, those two always have a good time when they get together,” he answered with a ready smile, already backing away toward the porch steps to leave.“You take care now, you hear.”He waved before drifting a speculative gaze over me that felt as if it had some male awareness in it.

Startled and a little unnerved about getting checked out by my brother’s best friend’s dad, I hugged Gates’s backpack to me and smiled weakly.“Okay.Bye.”

I quickly shut the door between us and made sure to lock it.

But what the hell?

Men did not look at me like that.They rarely even noticed me at all.Much less seemed to admire what they saw when they did.

It made me wonder if he could tell what I’d done last night.Maybe my exploits with Keene were somehow seeping through my skin and giving it a funky pallor.

Feeling exposed, I rubbed the goosebumps on my arms as I hauled Gates’s book bag through the house to the nook by the back door where we hung jackets and stashed all our school stuff.Making sure to circle the island as I passed through the kitchen, I found no dead bodies and carried on.

But seriously, what if peoplecouldsimply look at me and tell I’d hooked up with someone?Like I had a certain letter stamped on my forehead or something.

Gasping, I slapped my hand over the side of my neck and paused to glance in the mirror Mom had hanging in the great room.Because what if Keene had given me a hickey or beard burn that hadn’t gone away yet?

Squinting, I searched for a rash or abraded skin, only to jump in surprise when I saw my reflection.

Yeah, I definitely was not used to having bangs yet.

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