Page 36 of My Heart to Keep
Noah didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, he gave me a pleading look, much like Elise had given him.
I could use another friend. “I can’t anyway. I’ve got a ton of chores on the farm.”
“Farm? Do you have horses? I love horses,” he said, not giving up.
Jessica tapped Elise. “Let’s go. We need to finish what we started, or else Tessa will be chewing our butts off.”
“Noah.” Elise gushed his name, batting her long, thick, mascara-laden lashes up at him. “The admin office is this way.” She stuck out a blue-painted nail, pointing down the hall behind her.
Celia bounced up out of nowhere. Her red lips were set in a tight line, and her eyes were narrowed behind her brown-rimmed glasses. I guessed she didn’t want to wear her contacts. “There you are.”
Noah gave me one last cheeky grin and reluctantly left with Elise tethered to his arm and Jessica leading them.
“Was that Noah?” Celia asked.
“He goes to our school now. What’s with the snarly look?”
“I guess we have several hunky new boys this year,” she said, watching Noah fade around a corner.
I snapped my fingers. “Focus. You’re confusing me. You seemed upset, and now you’re swooning.”
“You’re not going to believe this. Sloane Price is in school, and she has a brother too. A hot, yummy brother.”
Here we go.Now that Celia wasn’t dating Liam anymore, she was on the market and on the prowl. I remembered her exact words:“I don’t want to be tied down. I want to date who I want. So does Liam. I also want to explore more of me.”
Since Maiken had left for the academy, I couldn’t shake Celia’s words, and only because I was praying Maiken wouldn’t meet a girl at Greenridge and feel the same way as Celia and my brother.
“Wait. I thought Sloane moved.”
“Not the point,” Celia fired back. “Hunky brother. Tall, big biceps, to-die-for smile, shaggy blond hair that curls on the edges around his ears, and eyes the color of dark emeralds.”
“So Sloane isn’t moving?” She’d probably convinced her mom to stay in Ashford so she could get revenge for me punching her. “Let’s not forget what she did to you.”
“I did jump on her back,” Celia said, sounding frustrated with me. “Speaking of your party, did you know Sloane’s brother was at your party?”
Considering I hadn’t exactly been coherent, I wouldn’t have noticed. I opened my mouth to ask her again if Sloane was moving or not when a scream tore through the halls, piercing my eardrums.
Some of the kids lingering in the halls cringed and froze while others searched for the girl who had lungs worthy of a horror movie. Just as the girl’s scream died, a loud boom rattled the lockers.
Before Celia and I could move, someone shouted, “It’s a gunshot.”
Suddenly, mayhem broke out. Kids ran for cover and into classrooms. Some even stopped to look, trying to see if anyone truly had a gun.
Celia grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”
I let her tug me, even though I was certain the boom wasn’t from a gun. “It’s a firecracker.” I raised my voice over the collective squeals that grew louder as we melded into the herd of students.
Another boom echoed, followed by a series of crackles.
Tessa barreled toward us, her arms flailing like a flag in the wind. “Get out of the way. There are pigs chasing us.”
I stopped in my tracks, causing Celia to almost fall into me. “Pigs? What?” I caught Tessa as she was about to run by. “Where?”
More screams followed.
“Oh my God! Get that disgusting thing off me,” a girl squealed.
“It’s one of your pigs,” Tessa barked, showing perfect white teeth. “Why would you bring pigs to school?” Her tone was so high it could shatter glass.
