“There’s Beau,” I heard Gray say as he steered us in a new direction.
Glancing up, I saw our fellow ninth grader sporting a black leather jacket and leaning against the side of the gymnasium alone with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“Yo, Gamble,” Gracen called, and Beau glanced up, straightening away from the bricks to greet us.
I’d known him for as long as I’d known the twins. His parents were close friends of both the twins’ parents as well as mine, so we’d been raised as if he could be another cousin, even though he wasn’t. There were five of us, actually, who belonged to our parents’ group that had started high school together this year.
Beau skimmed a quick dismissive glance over the twins and me and frowned. “Didn’t Bentley ride with you guys?”
“Her dad’s going to drop her off,” Bella answered.
“But she’s still coming, right?” Beau persisted, looking hopeful.
A jealous hitch dipped in my stomach. But Beau was, like, stupid in love with the last person in our freshman group. He was always watching Bentley or looking for Bentley or asking about Bentley or teasing Bentley mercilessly whenever she was around, and it made me wonder if anyone would ever like me the way he obviously worshiped her.
I kind of didn’t think so.
“So I guess we’re still waiting to go in, then,” Beau grumbled, leaning back against the building, his gaze straying restlessly toward the parking lot in search of the star in all of his fantasies.
I sighed and settled against the wall as well, finding a protective little nook between Bella and Gray as Bella grilled Beau about where he’d heard the Malia Ross porn-making rumor.
Meanwhile, other people were steadily filing past us, entering the gym to get to the dance.
When I spotted Caine amidst a group of other guys passing by, I shuddered in nervous excitement and huddled closer to Gray.
Caine hadn’t come with a date either. I wondered if he was the type to ask girls to dance. I hoped so. I wanted to sway in his arms before the night was over.
“Cold?” Gracen asked, glancing down at me when I rubbed the sides of my arms with my hands.
“What?” I glanced up at him, blinking the Caine-dream from my eyes.
“Want me to run back to the car for your jacket?” he offered.
“Oh. Uh, no, thanks. I’m fine.”
I returned my gaze to the gym entrance, but Caine and his friends had already gone inside. A wistful sigh left my lungs. He was just so beautiful. I’d give anything for him to notice me.
If only I could—
A car with a loud engine pulled into the parking lot, stealing my attention from the now-empty front doors.
Turning, I watched a dark Chevy squeal its tires on asphalt doing a quick burnout before it raced to a place in the front row that wasn’t even a designated parking spot, and there, it finally jarred to a screaming halt.
As the motor stopped rumbling and the headlights went out, I rolled my eyes.
What a freaking show-off.
“And…Luke’s here,” Bella announced in a dry, unimpressed voice.
2 CHLOE
The driver’s side door of the Chevy sprang open, and a tall, dark-headed guy unfolded himself from inside.
Only one other kid from our parents’ group of friends currently attended high school with Beau, Bella, Bentley, Gray, and me.
And that was Luke Hamilton.
He was a twelfth grader, so we rarely saw him in the halls. Not that he was very supportive and mentor-ly when he did see us. He usually harassed us more than anyone.
I guess it just wasn’t cool to befriend freshmen when you were a badass senior, especially if they were like family to you.
“Dude, did he bring a date?” Beau asked suddenly, perking to attention when Luke rounded the front hood of the car and started for the passenger-side door to open it.
“Holy shit, he did,” Gracen murmured in awe. “I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.”
“I don’t think he does,” Bella spoke up.
“Then who…?” Gray gasped when Luke reached down and helped a girl emerge. He blinked once, then strained forward, squinting. “Is that…?”
“Malia Ross,” Beau finished for him when Gray couldn’t seem to talk anymore. “Son of a bitch.” He cracked off an amused laugh. “How the hell did he manage that?”
“It’s Luke,” Bella answered simply before she smacked her brother in the gut. “Hey, you think he’s going to have sex with her tonight?”
Beau snorted and answered for Bella’s brother. “Uh, hell yes, he is.”
“Damn…” was all Gracen could manage to murmur. I couldn’t tell if he was jealous or impressed. Probably a little of both.
The four of us watched in awe as Luke walked hand in hand with the high school porn star—er, maybe porn star—toward the entrance of the gym.
I didn’t think he was going to notice us at all, but just before entering, he glanced over and furrowed his brows in confusion before jerking to a stop.
“What’re you losers doing, hanging around out here? The dance is inside.”
“We’re waiting on Bentley,” I answered when the other three didn’t seem capable of speech in the presence of Malia.
“Bentley?” Luke echoed as if he had no clue who that was. Then he said, “Why didn’t Gamble bring her? He lives, like, five blocks from her house.”
Plus Beau had his own car, while Bentley did not.
“I—I didn’t…” Seemingly cornered, Beau glanced at the rest of us. “I thought she’d get a ride with you.”
When Gracen merely blinked at him as if that were a ridiculous assumption, Luke snorted. “God. What a bunch of dorks.” Then he slung his arm over Malia’s shoulders and disappeared inside with her. “Later, weirdos.”
“Was I supposed to bring her?” Beau asked, still concerned.
“I mean, you could’ve at least asked,” Bella told him, and he grew even more worried.
“But—”
“There,” I called, pointing when I spotted a familiar SUV pull up near the entrance. “Doesn’t matter now. She’s here.”
“Oh, thank God,” Beau said under his breath and immediately started toward her.
The rest of us naturally followed, Gracen elbowing me as we went. “Did you see Malia look at me? She totally looked, didn’t she? You think she knows who I am?”
“Well, she does now,” Bella answered, leaning past me to snicker at her twin. “You’re one of the loser dork ninth graders that Luke actually lowers himself to talk to.”
“Brat,” Gracen shot back, scowling at her before he leaned over to whisper to me, “She looked at me.”
I nodded conspiringly to make him feel better.
Meanwhile, Beau was beelining toward Bentley as she climbed from the SUV.
“Yeah, I have enough money to get in. Thanks. Love you too, Dad. Bye.” She shut the door, and her ride pulled away, leaving her alone with us.
“About time you showed,” Beau groused, slowing to a stop.
Bentley whirled, her long red hair gleaming in the streetlamp lights as she faced us. “Sorry,” she said, sounding breathless and apologetic. “I couldn’t find my shoes. They were hidden under a pair of my brother’s sneakers.”