Page 27 of My Return to the Walter Boys
If I didn’t already know that Kim was a genuine person, I’d think she was laying the guilt on a little thick—after all, she’d spent the entire day giggling and whispering with my ex—but based on the explanation our friends gave me, she’d approached the situation with Alex in a live-in-the-moment kind of way. It was something I was still aspiring to do more of, so I couldn’t fault her for that.
She took a pained breath and tried again. “Everyone’s already told me that you’re not upset about us dating, and I appreciate that, but I feel like such an awful person. I never should have—”
I held up a hand. “Kim, I’m going to stop you right there. Like you said, I already spoke with Alex and Riley, Heather, and Skyler. They explained the whole situation to me, and to be honest, I feel bad too; if I’d known about your feelings for Alex, I never would have encouraged him,” I told her. “I want the two of you to be happy, so as long as you’re good with me, I’d love if we could move past this awkwardness.”
Kim’s head whipped up. “You really mean that?”
“Of course. I’m pretty sure Alex was yours long before I met him, but he was just too dumb to realize it.” The smile I offered her was both rueful and teasing. “Besides, only one of us can put up with hisGoGobsession, and it certainly isn’t me.”
There was a lingering nervousness in her responding laugh, but she sagged at my reassurance. “You’re the best, Jackie.”
“Wanna hug it out?” I asked, taking a step toward her as I held out my arms. “You kind of seem like you could use a hug.”
“God, yes.” Kim gave me a tight squeeze as if trying to convey everything left unsaid—thank you, I’m so sorry.
“Ugh, you’re still damp from swimming.” I wrinkled my nose and pulled away as she laughed for real this time. Facing my dresser, I rifled through the drawers in search of a change of clothes. “So are you taking AP English Lit this year? Nobody else signed up for it and I’d liked to have at least one friend in the class.”
Five
School started on Monday, and much to my surprise, the first day of junior year went off without a hitch. In addition to having a class with each of my friends and two with Alex, people no longer cared about me being the new girl. Even better, Kim stepped in when Riley and Heather attempted to grill me about how things were going with Cole; one well-placed, icy glare was all it took for the two of them to back off.
By Friday, I’d settled into a comfortable routine and decided it was finally time to pick an extracurricular. While attending Hawks, I’d been involved in multiple school organizations, from debate club to yearbook committee. Last year, however, my guidance counselor prohibited me from joining any clubs at the request of Uncle Richard so that I could adjust to my move and focus on healing. The first student council meeting of the semester was scheduled for after school, and I figured it would be a good place to start. When I arrivedat the auditorium, Skylar was waiting outside the door for me.
“Well, look who it is,” I said, crossing my arms. At lunch, I had asked my friends if anyone was interested in joining with me, but every single one of them laughed. “I’m surprised to see you after receiving such a thorough rejection. What was it you said? Something about not wanting to spend more time at school than necessary while being forced to work for free with a bunch of try hards?”
Skylar didn’t even try to look bashful. He flashed me a wide grin. “I might have said something like that, but I’m allowed to change my mind. It would be cruel of me to let you go alone, especially when you looked so dejected and pathetic.”
“Riiight…” I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“After living with the Walters, I suspect you’ve developed an excellent bullshit detector,” he said, which got a laugh out of me.
“That’s true. I need it for self-preservation purpose. But for real, though. Why the change of heart?”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Because I heard Chase talking about coming to today’s meeting.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Chase Kennedy. He’s the editor for the school paper. Sometimes when the news cycle is slow, he publishes an article from my blog to fill the space.”
I gasped in mock offense. “So you’ll show up for some random guy when he mentions hemightbe in attendance but not for your goodfriend? Geez, I see how it is.”
“For your information, Chase is the devastatingly handsome senior who I’ve secretly been obsessed with for three years,” he said. “Sorry, babe, but you don’t come close in comparison.”
“Of course. How silly of me.”
Skylar grinned and looped his arm through mine. “Glad we sorted that out. Come on. We’re going to be late.”
The meeting must have been about to start, because when we entered the auditorium, everyone was already seated and turned to look at us.
“What isshedoing here?” snarked a familiar voice, which I followed to its source. Long auburn hair. Brown doe eyes. A heart-shaped face I recognized immediately. Erin was seated in front of the stage surrounded by a posse of friends who all tittered at her question. I knew I was meant to hold my chin high and pretend I didn’t hear her, but before coming back for the school year, I’d made a resolution against taking shit from anyone. Not from the Walter boys or Mary and certainly not from one of Cole’s old hookups.
I stared Erin down. “I’m sorry, am I in the wrong room? I thought this was student council, astudentorganization run bystudents, and I just so happen to be one of those.”
Erin turned pink and averted her gaze when a surprisingly large number of people laughed. I took this for the win it was and followed Skylar over to an empty row at the back of the room.
The next hour passed in a blur of boring housekeeping informationand start of term notices, the only noteworthy moment being when Erin raised her hand as one of the hopefuls running for president. When the meeting came to a close, I went to add my name to the sign-up sheet for the homecoming committee while Skylar wandered over to a guy who looked like a Disney prince come to life—perfectly coiffed ebony hair, cornflower-blue eyes, and an aggressively patrician nose. When I turned around, I nearly ran smack into Erin.
“Just so we’re clear,” she said in a threatening tone, “if you think you can waltz in here and sabotage my campaign for president, you’ve got another thing coming.”
