Page 18 of Find Me
“I meant for hanging out with me.”
He nodded and turned to leave. “See you at school,” he shot over his shoulder as he headed back to his house. He was walking down my drive when his brothers Keelan and Knox stepped out of their house, dressed for the gym. They spotted Creed and surprise took over their faces. Then their gazes shifted to me.
Keelan’s mouth slowly stretched into a smile. “Well, good morning, Shiloh.”
“Morning,” I said back.
Knox turned a hard look on Creed. “Did you spend the night over there?”
My cheeks burned, realizing how it must have looked for Creed to be leaving my house this early in the morning.
“No.” Creed tossed a sandwich to each of them. “Shiloh made us breakfast. It’s good. Eat it,” he told them and went into their house.
Keelan held up his sandwich. “Thanks, Shiloh!”
“Welcome!” I waved and escaped inside.
* * *
“Hey,” a voice said as I pulled my textbook for my first class out of my locker. I looked over my shoulder, finding Colt and Creed standing behind me.
I greeted them with a smile. “Hi.” I shut my locker and turned to face them.
Their eyes dropped and roamed over my outfit. I had chosen to wear a red sundress that went to my knees and had spaghetti straps. To cover my exposed shoulders, arms, and more importantly, my scars, I’d paired the dress with a long-sleeved, dark-blue-and-white polka dot, shrug cardigan. I’d taken the risk of wearing my black ankle boots with ankle socks, leaving the tops of my scars visible. I had my anklet tracker tucked under my sock. I’d made the mistake of forgetting it at home yesterday and had gotten a huge lecture from Logan last night when he had called me. Apparently, he checked the GPS while I was at school.
I caught Creed staring at the two gold star barrettes in my hair. The corner of his mouth twitched, and I had a feeling he understood the theme behind my outfit choice today.
“Is it just DC or are you into Marvel also?” he asked.
Colt’s brow furrowed as he looked from his brother to me.
I shrugged and did my best not to smile. “Maybe.”
Colt looked me over again and I saw as he had that light bulb moment. He turned to glare at Creed. “She looks cute. Why are you making fun of her?”
“I’m not,” Creed said with a bored tone. “I’ve just discovered that Shiloh has a slight obsession with superheroes.”
“Well, not just the superheroes. I like some of the villains too. No offense to the good guys, but a lot of their stories are the same song and dance. The villains, though…they’re different. More relatable, maybe? I don’t know. They’re definitely entertaining. The Joker is my favorite, followed by—” I slammed my lips closed and cringed when I realized that I’d let my inner geek surface.
Creed and Colt had been listening intently, their smiles stretching. “Who do you think played the best Joker?” Colt asked and I could have hugged him.
“Heath Ledger,” I replied.
Creed’s smile dropped. “Joaquin Phoenix played the best Joker.”
“I have to agree with Creed. Joaquin was amazing,” Colt said.
I shook my head and started walking toward our first class. “He played second best.”
Even though the twins and I bickered over the subject all the way to class, I couldn’t stop smiling.
8
The school week soared by.During my run after school Friday, Logan called. He asked me how my week had gone. I was happy to report that I was keeping busy and droned on about the flowers I planned on planting this weekend in the front yard along the driveway. Logan asked if I’d made any friends. I briefly told him about the twins and Ethan. The four of us at school had been inseparable all week. What I didn’t tell Logan was I’d had both Creed and Colt over this morning for breakfast. I didn’t want Logan to know I had woken Creed up twice this week with my screaming. If Logan knew I was having consistent nightmares again, he’d worry and that was the last thing he needed right now. Besides, it had been really nice to have breakfast with Colt and Creed. Instead of stomping over and banging on my door to complain like last time, Creed had woken up Colt before coming over. I had opened the door to concern instead of irritation. With sleep-tousled hair, Colt had asked if I was alright. The heavy turmoil that usually weighed on me for a while every time after I had a nightmare had receded quicker with that question. Like I had done last time with Creed, I’d offered them breakfast as an apology. They’d both sat at my kitchen island while I’d cooked. I’d purposely made extra food again and wrapped the leftovers in tortillas, making breakfast burritos for Knox and Keelan.
“You couldn’t find any girls to be friends with?” Logan asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I haven’t met anyone I’ve clicked with yet. Maybe next week.” So far, the girls I interacted with the most were Cassy and her clique of mean friends. They were constantly trying to hang around the twins and their friends. The girls’ presence irritated Colt. Creed regarded them with indifference. One would think that anyone with a sliver of self-respect would move on, but the twins’ lack of interest in Cassy and her friends seemed to have the opposite effect.
