Chapter 4
Bustier laughed like I was the funniest thing she'd seen in forever. Through her continued laughter, she said, "No freaking way! No wonder you were so funny about it." She turned to the other girl and said, "You know who she is, don't you?"
The other girl frowned. "A stalker?"
"Yeah, totally," Bustier said. "But she's also Melanie Blaire."
Melody. Not Melanie.But that was hardly the point.
The other girl scrunched up her face and said, "Melanie who?"
"Youknow," Bustier said. "She's that rich bitch he hooked up with over the summer."
The other girl turned and gave me a dubious look. "I dunno," she said. "She doesn'tlookrich. I mean, look at her coat. It's like, older than me."
Stupid or not, heat flooded my face. The coatwasold. It had been my mom's. I wasn't a huge follower of fashion, but I did know that the coat was several seasons out of style. This was no surprise, given the fact that my mom, along with my dad, had died over five years earlier in a private plane crash.
On instinct, I wrapped the coat tighter around my torso and tried to act like I didn't give a flying flip that it was old and didn't fit so great.
I couldn’t afford to care. It was the only long coat I had, and I couldn't justify a new one. Whenever I had any money, which was nearly never, I sunk it straight into the house – because let's face it, keeping the furnace running was a lot more important than wearing the latest fashions.
Still, the remark stung, not because I wanted to impress some random hoochie, but because Joel was just standing there, letting them make fun of me.
Didn't he care? Not even a little?
I searched his face, looking for some sign of the guy I used to know. Almost from the first, he'd been the only person in forever to actually stick up for me, to take my side when I was terribly outnumbered.
I almost wanted to cry. I was outnumberednow. Two against one. My stomach sank. Or was it three against one? From the look in Joel's eyes, I knew one thing for sure. It definitely wasn't two against two.
Bustier gave me a dismissive look. "Seriously, take a hint, okay? He's done with you." She gave a mean little laugh. "I mean, you've got loads of money. Go buy yourself a pool boy or something."
My mouth tightened. "I don'thavea pool."
She smirked. "You don't need a pool to have a pool boy." She laughed. "Dumb-ass."
Finally, Joel spoke up. "Look, if you've got something to say, just say it."
My gaze snapped in his direction.Oh, God.That sharp tone had been for me. Not her. My mouth opened, but all that came out was a jumbled mess of nonsense. "I, um, well, you see…"
Bustier laughed. "You know what? I think she's high."
I wasn't high. I was low. Really,reallylow. And just when I thought I couldn’t feel any lower, Joel's voice cut across the short distance. "Is that it? You done?"
"No," I said, feeling the first sting of tears. "I'm not done. I haven't even started."
Joel lifted his wrist and glanced at his watch. "Yeah? Well, you've got one minute."
Was he serious? He looked serious. I gazed up at him, wondering how on Earth I could pack everything I needed to say in one measly minute.
The other girl gave me a sarcastic smile. "Tick tock."
There were so many things I wanted to say.
I love you.
It wasn't my fault.
Don’t give up on us. Please?
