Page 99 of My Fault
I shook my head and kissed her on the cheek.
“You’re nuts, but I love you,” I said, chuckling as I got out of the car.
She waved goodbye and left. As I walked toward the door, crossing the lawn and passing all the students still on the benches, someone appeared beside me, startling me.
“Oh my God, you look terrible!” Jenna said, shoving me. Seeing her in that uniform, glamorous as she normally was, cracked me up. Still, she was hot even in that god-awful green sweater and tie. Her legs were uncovered, her socks cute, her skirt very short. Mine wasn’t long, either, but it was modest compared to hers and the other girls’.
“Shut up!” I said.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends,” she said, dragging me off to one of the benches. There were two girls and three guys there, among them Sophie and Sam, whom I’d met at the party.
“What’s up, Noah?” Sam said. I remembered having to kiss him during that stupid game of Truth or Dare. He was blond and had attractive brown eyes, but at the same time, he had a mirthful air that made him look like a little boy to me. He stared me up and down. “You look good in that uniform.”
I rolled my eyes. No one but Jenna looked good in this horrible get-up, thought the boys were sexy in their button-down shirts and black slacks. Sophie, the girl who’d been eyeing Nick at the party, stared at me, and I wondered what was passing through her mind. Next to her, a brown-haired girl with bright eyes glared at me. I almost felt like I recognized her.
“Noah, this is Sam, who you already know,” Jenna said. I ignored her sarcastic tone. “This is Sophie, and this is Cassie, Anna’s sister. I mentioned her that time at dinner.” Now I realized why she looked familiar. She didn’t seem to like me any more than her older sister did. I tried to avoid her stare, turning to the other two guys. One was brown-haired with glasses and very handsome, and the other was the usual blond-haired quarterback type. “This is Jackson and Mark.”
“Hi,” I said, smiling.
“So you’re Nicholas Leister’s new stepsister?” Jackson, the guy with the glasses, asked.
“The one and only,” I said.
“You can’t imagine how I envy you,” Sophie said. She was evidently hung up on Nick, and I chastised myself for wanting to tell her he’d never be hers.
As Jenna and the guys finished their cigarettes, the bell rang.
“Torture time,” Mark said, stubbing out his and throwing his backpack smoothly over his shoulder. “See you inside, Noah,” he said with a smile.
As everyone else walked in, I went to the secretary’s office to find out my class schedule and get the papers I needed. That was in another building, and as I made my way over, I looked all around. I couldn’t help but feel someone was watching me, and I had a strange feeling in my chest as I went inside.
The day sped by without incident. Jenna was popular and introduced me to tons of people as the hours passed. I wound up having her in almost all my classes except math and Spanish. Mark, the hot guy, and Sophie were in those two. Cassie was in most of my classes, too, and I realized she couldn’t stand me over the course of the day. She tried to make me look stupid whenever she got the chance. She had a lot of friends; apparently her sister had been a legend in this school for millionaires, just like Nick. Everyone asked me about him, what he was doing, what it was like living with him, and so on. Some of them had been there for the race and had seen the fight I’d caused, and they felt that was reason enough to look down on me. Damn you, Nicholas Leister, was there anywhere you wouldn’t screw my life up? Everyone was also talking about the party that Friday to celebrate the start of school and welcome the new kids. I didn’t know what it would be like, really, but whenever it came up, everyone gave me weird looks.
When it was time to go home, my mother was outside waiting. She asked me about everyone and everything, but I was exhausted, and I didn’t say much on the way home. All I could do was rest, and I was happy I didn’t have to work that night at the bar. I lay down when I got home, but soon a familiar voice nearly made me jump out of bed.
“Wake up, sleepyhead!” it said. It had to be Jenna.
“What do you want?” I asked, opening my eyes from a deep sleep.
“Jackson and Mark have invited us over. Almost all the seniors will be there… You’ve got to come.” Her smile was radiant.
“Jenna, it’s a Monday. There’s school tomorrow,” I protested, knowing there was no point.
“So? The parties at the beginning of the year are always the best… Seriously, Noah, do you know how hard it’s going to be to make you popular?”
I shook my head, sitting up.
“You’re like a Martian sometimes,” she complained. “Come on, take a shower and I’ll choose your outfit.”
She pulled me out of bed. As I took my hot shower, I tried to ignore her as best I could.
“What are you doing in there?” she shouted from the other side of the door.
I came out wrapped in a towel with my hair dripping. Jenna could be a pain when she felt like it. As I dried my hair sitting at my dressing table, I opened a drawer to take out my makeup and saw those envelopes again. Those dumb letters were ruining everything for me; I couldn’t get them out of my head. I wanted to tell someone about them, but I worried that would only make things worse. I was mad at Nick, but I didn’t want him getting into another fight, especially over me, and I knew that was exactly what would happen if I told him about the letters. I slammed the drawer shut and told myself again it was just a sick joke. Ronnie wasn’t stupid enough to threaten me in a letter, and there were thousands of girls who hated me for the simple reason that I was Nick’s new stepsister.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I told myself I did need a distraction, that there was no point staying there and ruminating on a problem it was best to forget. I put on my makeup, and Jenna left to do the same at her place. I focused on what I saw in the mirror. I didn’t want to leave a second free for my worries. Oncemy makeup was on, I spent another half hour fooling with my hair and then tried on almost all the dresses Mom had bought me, most of them still on hangers with the price tags attached. I finally chose a swing skirt and a tight black top.
Just when I was about to call Jenna to ask what time she was picking me up, I heard screaming outside my door. Still barefoot, high heels in my hand, I looked out to see what was going on.
