Chapter One
GRETCHEN
“Miss Red? I don’t suppose you could tear yourself away from your phone to take part in class, could you?”
I lifted my eyes to meet those of my teacher, Mrs. Saxton, who glared at me from the front of the classroom.
“Uh, I’m sorry...it was my mom...” My cheeks flushed as I lied, cramming the phone in my bag.
“Of course it was,” she made a face, shaking her head as she carried on speaking to the rest of the class. “So, I will need you all to write an essay on whether romantic movies are damaging to real-life relationships. You may find you can speak to your parents and family for insight.”
A few cackles came from the class as my phone vibrated against my leg. I decided not to bother upsetting my teacher further by retrieving it, but the bell rang anyway.
I grabbed my phone, the envelope icon showing I had a text message from Luke, my boyfriend.
LUKE:
Babes gotta put tonight on ice. Big dinner at home- no phone zone- family shit. Love you.
I sighed, shoving my phone back into my bag.
“Girl, that’s a sigh, what’s wrong?”
My best friend Rosie peered at me with concern.
I picked my bag up and followed Rosie out of the classroom door and into the carnage that was the school corridor. Bodies filled every available space, and I groaned. I glanced at Rosie, who was waiting for an explanation.
“Luke has just cancelled our date. He has ‘family shit’ apparently.”
Rosie lifted a perfectly arched brow.
“Oh. Why don’t you come with me and Sienna to The Lounge? she grinned, knowing I had no other plans.
“Yeah, why not?” I agreed, feeling a little brighter.
Just then a loud crash came from the end of the corridor, distracting us from our conversation.
“Look where you are going, dickhead!”
I craned my neck round to see what all the commotion was about and saw Finn- a friend of Luke’s- squaring up to a boy I had not seen before in school.
“Who’s that, Rose?” I whispered, studying the boy.
“Ah, the new guy…” Rosie said. “I heard Clara and Krystal talking about him earlier. He’s Clara’s cousin. Cute hmm? Good for us single girls!” she cackled, sticking her tongue out at me.
I scrutinized him, trying not to stare. His dirty blond hair covered his face, yet the black t-shirt that clung to his broad body showed he was more than capable of handling himself with Finn.
“Fuck you. You’re the dickhead, dickhead,” the new guy muttered.
Finn stepped forward; his fists clenched. Finn wouldn’t think twice about socking this guy in the jaw, and something told me that would be one hell of a fight. I sighed with relief as Mr Whetton strode down the hallway towards the boys.
“Ah, Cal. I see you’ve met Finn, quite the star around here, aren’t you?”
Even his name was heavenly. Cal.
Finn scowled at Cal.
“Whatever, man. Welcome to the school, Cal.”
