Burning Down the House (8 page)

I smiled sweetly at
Rob, who had reluctantly come around to join us and was now glaring at Trent. I couldn’t resist. “Yeah, Rob. What’s up with that?” He shot me a dirty look before wordlessly stalking off in the direction of the school building. Doug and Trent didn’t seem to notice. Maybe they were used to his moodiness.

“It’s nice to
finally see you wearing something besides black,” I commented flippantly. To my surprise, they were both sporting football jerseys. I’d never have called that one in a million years. “Don’t tell me you two are playing football!”

“
Best wide receiver on the team,” Trent divulged with a cocky grin. “Ol’ Dougie here’s an offensive lineman.”

I shook my head in mock disbelief.
“What happened to your principles? I thought organized sports were supposed to be for shallow mainstream conformists?”

“Mainstream maybe, but the
women love it!” Trent threw an arm across my shoulders and gave me a friendly squeeze while steering me toward the brick building.

“So
, what - you couldn’t talk Rob into trying out?”

“
Running back.”

My jaw nearly hit the pavement. “You’re kidding! You mean he’s playing too?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“He doesn’t tell me much of anything.”

“That’s Rob for ya.” With his free hand Trent waved to some girl who was shouting his name. “’Sup, beeotch!” he yelled.

“We have practice after school today - you should
stick around and watch us,” Doug suggested.

“Today?”
Rob and I rode here together - was he expecting me to wait around until he was done with practice? If that’s what he thought, he better think again. I had a key to the Tahoe too - I’d just drive home and leave his inconsiderate ass behind. “I don’t know. Depends on whether or not I get homework.”

The girl who’d been calling for
Trent reached us, and she gave me a questioning look that wasn’t especially welcoming. There was something familiar about her.

“Thought you were gonna call me back last night,” she complained
, pouting with ruby red lips. Paired with her ivory complexion and jet black hair, she might have resembled Snow White if it wasn’t for the bitchy vibe she was giving off.

“Oh yeah…sorry about that
, I fell asleep. Hey Staci, you remember my girl Sara?”

Snow White’s sulky expression
brightened into a smile that seemed a little too forced. “Sara? Oh, yes. Didn’t you move away to Arkansas or something?”

“
Illinois.” I recognized her now. Staci Sheridan, the girl Dana and I once dubbed most likely to end up on a stripper pole. It looked like she was perilously close to fulfilling her destiny.

“And you came back? God…no accounting for taste.” She laughed dryly.

“She couldn’t stay away - not after she realized all the best people were here,” Trent joked. To me, he said, “Except for Staci. She’s continued with her legacy of making all our lives miserable.”

“Oh
, shut up.” She slapped at him with a perfectly manicured hand. “Who’s your first class, Sara?”

“Um…AP English Lit with
Donovan.”

“Oh. Well, we have
Weston first period so maybe we’ll see you later.” She grabbed hold of Trent’s arm possessively and gave him a firm tug. I almost wanted to laugh at her adolescent behavior. For crying out loud, I barely knew Trent Myers.

“Okay…see you around.”
We’d reached the building and I was already scanning the crowded hallway for Dana’s blonde head.

“Oh, I’ll definitely make it a point to see
you
later,” Trent assured me before striding off with Staci clinging to him.

“I have
U.S. Government, so…” Doug shrugged with a lopsided grin. “What time you go to lunch?”

I checked my schedule again. “Eleven-forty.”

“Hey, me too…catch ya then, a’ight?”

“
Okay. Good seeing you, Doug.” I finally spotted Dana navigating her way through the clusters of noisy loiterers and waved her over.

“
Is the year over yet?” she lamented.

“
You read my mind.”

“
So I saw you talking to Doug…looks a lot different, don’tcha think?”

“That’s an understatement! What’s his mom been feeding him - sugar-coated steroids?”

“I know, right!”

“I saw
Trent Myers, too.”

Her eyes sparked with interest in a way that made me wonder if maybe she had a thing for the flirtatious jock. “Yeah? What’d you think?”

“Well, he’s certainly not shy anymore. What’s with him and Staci?”

“
That slutbag?” Dana huffed and rolled her pale blue eyes. “She was all over Trent last year but I don’t think he really likes her. I don’t see how anyone could like her. She’s totally conceited and it’s only gonna get worse ’cause she’s co-captain of the varsity squad this year. Plus she’s a notorious boyfriend stealer. One of these days she’s gonna wind up with those pompoms shoved right up her ass.”

“So where’s the missing member of the Gruesome Foursome?”
That was the name we had for Rob and his goth followers. In addition to Doug and Trent, there was Jordan Cox, a petite little redhead who used to spend all her time drawing up petitions for various causes and trying unsuccessfully to get people to sign them.

With a smirk,
Dana pointed and I followed the direction of her finger to a group of girls who were congregated by Mr. Weston’s door. Jordan was easy to spot with her signature auburn hair, but instead of the thick unruly mop that once overwhelmed her petite features, it was now layered in a shorter and sleeker cut. Her makeup was meticulously applied and a lacy jade top helped to showcase her emerald green eyes.

“Wow,” I said.

“Yep. The Gruesome Foursome turned into the campus hotties. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“
It’s like we entered another dimension. What’s she like now?”

“
Still nice. Freakishly smart too - she’ll be valedictorian, mark my words. Come on, we better get going.” We started walking down the hallway toward Mrs. Donovan’s room. “So did you ride here with Norman Bates?”

“Yes. He didn’t speak to me the whole way. Is that weird or what?”

“Not for him.”

“
I can’t believe this is what I have to deal with from now on.”

“I don’t envy you, that’s for sure.”

“Of all the people in the world to wind up stuck with, why did it have to be
that
psycho?”

Talk about timing.
It was that exact moment that I happened to glance to the left and find myself looking directly into the hostile hazel eyes of the “psycho” leaning against his locker.

Crap.

4

My first day was going fairly well, all things considered. The teachers seemed tolerable enough, and a lot of the students remembered me and were happy to see me back. Jordan Cox was in my fourth period calculus class and, recognizing me, came over to say hello. I still couldn’t believe the quirky little misfit had blossomed into such a knockout. The transformation was amazing. And from the brief conversation we had, I could tell she was just as intelligent as she was pretty.

During lunch,
Dana introduced me to a few students that had arrived at Hillcrest after my ninth-grade transfer. We did so much socializing I barely had time to eat my quesadilla. I noticed that Rob was sitting at a table with Trent and Doug and a couple of other guys who were on the football team as well. Athletes travel in packs, I guess. One thing to be grateful for was that even though we shared the same lunch period, so far we didn’t have one single class together.

I was just filing out of my last class of the day when I got a text from him. Which was weird, considering I’d never given him my number. Dad must have given it to him. It said:
Football practice today. Don’t wait for me.

How
u getting home then?
Not that I cared or anything.

I’ll get a ride.

Okay then…it appeared I was free of him for the time being. I glanced up from my phone to see Dana approaching me.

“Going straight home?” she wanted to know.

“I guess. Why?”

“Let’s go out to the
football field for a while.”

“What for?” As if I didn’t know.

“Just to watch.”

“You don’t even like football
!”

“So? I like
hot studs in tight pants.”

I
furrowed my brow. “I don’t know…”

“Do you have a lot of homework?”

“Actually all I had was some calculus and I did it in study hall.”

“So what else are you gonna do then?” She grabbed me by the arm and practically dragged me outside.
“How’d your afternoon go?”

“Pretty good.”

“I figured you’d blend right back in with no problem.”

“I like it
here. Feels like home.” My phone buzzed at that moment, my mother’s name appearing on the caller ID. “Hi, Mom.”

“
Buon giorno!
How was your first day back at Hillcrest?”

“Really good, actually.
How’s Italy?”

“Oh, honey…it’s just beautiful. I wish you could see it.
We drove the Amalfi Coast today - it was absolutely breathtaking.”

“I
am
so
jealous. Will you email me some pictures?”

“I will, as soon as I get a chance. How’s your father?”

“He’s fine.” I glanced over at Dana to see what she was mouthing. “Dana says hi.”

“Hello to
Dana. So everything’s going okay so far?”

“Everything’s
great.”

“Good, good…well, I just wanted to touch base with you and see how school went. I won’t keep you.”

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“Uffizi Gallery
first, then the Duomo.”

I groaned.
“I’ll think about that while I have my nose in a physics book.”

Mom laughed gaily. She sounded completely relaxed and lighthearted for a change.
Italy must be working its magic on her. Or maybe it was because she was a newlywed in love. Either way, I was happy to hear her sounding so bubbly.

“Tell
Stanley hello for me.”

“Will do. You
be sure and call me if you need anything.”

“
Okay. Have fun. Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too
, hon. Take care.”

“Man…I wish I was in
Italy right now,” Dana enviously declared. “We should take a trip there together sometime. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

“It would,” I admitted. We’d reached the stadium
by then and we seated ourselves on the hard concrete bleachers to wait. The field was still empty - the guys must be in the locker rooms changing.

“I love Italian accents
.”

“Me, too
,” I agreed.

“French is good too.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So
. Um…what did you think of Trent?”

I couldn’t
prevent a smile at her not-so-subtle change in topic. “Why?”

“I just wondered. Do you think he’s
hot?”

“He’s pretty
hot.” I gave her a nudge. “You like him, don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind going out with him
if he wasn’t such a player.”

“Are you sure he isn’t going out with
Staci? She sure was acting like she owned him. It was ridiculous.”

“She wishes she owned him!
If you want my opinion, I think he just uses her. You should hear how he talks about her behind her back.”

“Does he know you like him?”

“No! And I never said I liked him…I just said he was hot.”

Right
. And speaking of hot guys… “I think Rob heard me call him a psycho this morning.”

“Uh-oh.
Are you sure?”

“Yeah, pretty sure.”

“Huh.” She grimaced. “Like I said - lock your door!”

The guys were running out onto the field now, and I scanned their faces carefully until I located
the one I was looking for. The number on his jersey was forty-two. Coach Simpson had them all getting into formation to warm up, and to my horror I saw Trent catch sight of us and wave. Half the friggin’ team looked up at us then, including number forty-two.

“I feel stupid
…let’s go,” I pleaded with Dana, tugging on her arm.

“
What for - we just got here!”

“This just looks obvious. They’re all gonna think we’re checking them out.”

“We are!”

“
You
are! I’m not!”

“Five minutes. Please? Then we can go
, I promise.”

They were all
starting to do pushups and were no longer paying us any attention, so I caved. “All right. Five minutes. Then I’m leaving, with or without you. I mean it.”

We wound up sitting there for
nearly an hour. I have no idea why. Something about watching those rough athletic bodies plowing into one another was fascinating. Dana kept going on and on about how fine Trent was and what an incredible ass he had.

I didn’t really have an opinion about that. It wasn’t
his
ass I was watching.

Rob
didn’t get home until nearly ten that night. I know because I was watching the clock, curious to see if he had any intention of respecting my dad’s rules or whether he’d just blow them off. I’d already had my bath and was curled up on the couch in my pajamas, alternating between reading the first chapter of
The Poisonwood Bible
and watching a rerun of Big Bang Theory. I have a bad habit of trying to study in between commercial breaks. It used to drive my mom crazy even though I insisted I was multitasking. She didn’t see it that way.

He strolled past me with his backpack
and gym bag and mumbled, “Hey.”

Oh, so you’re acknowledging my existence now?
I bit my tongue and instead echoed, “Hey.” So far the conversation was going just swell. Before I could think of anything else to add to that brilliant repartee, he retreated into his room. I figured I’d seen the last of him for the night but twenty minutes later he reemerged, freshly showered, to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. To my surprise he came in the living room and flopped down on the recliner, one leg thrown over the side and both eyes glued to the TV.

“I made some taco salad if you’re hungry,” I
told him.

“I ate at
Trent’s house,” he informed me, guzzling water from the bottle.

“Okay…just thought I’d let you know.
In case you were hungry.”

He
gave me a quick glance before returning his gaze to the television. “I don’t need you to play mother hen for me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

How did he always manage to t
ake everything I said the wrong way? “I was just making a simple statement - there’s no need to get all defensive about it!”

“I wasn’t being defensive. I was just making a simple statement
, same as you.” His voice was nonchalant, which somehow only riled me further.

“Do you always have to be so rude?”

He sighed. “Please…thank you…what is it you want me to say?”

“You could start by telling m
e why you hate me!” I didn’t even intend to say that out loud, but the words tumbled out before I realized what I was doing.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Then why are you so nasty to me?”

“How am I nasty to you? I’m just sitting here minding my own business! You’re the one who’s being annoying as hell!”

“
Annoying?
All I did was offer you dinner, you ungrateful asswipe!”

“If I wanted dinner, I’d
make it myself! I’m not incompetent!”

“No, you’re just a total douche!”

“Really? Are you sure you don’t mean psycho?”

Oh,
fuck me sideways. So he
had
heard me. No wonder he was acting this way. Closing the book in my lap, I tossed it to land beside me on the couch. For a minute I just sat there, staring at the screen and wondering whether I should try to apologize. “I didn’t mean that,” I finally said slowly. “I was just…in a pissy mood, I guess.”

His eyes met mine. “Well, I guess you could say I’m in a pissy mood too
, then.”

“Yeah, but you’re
always
in a pissy mood,” I complained. The remark wasn’t meant to be funny, but I noticed him suddenly biting on one corner of his mouth as if he didn’t want me to see that I’d made him smile.

“
Touché.” He finished off his water, then recapped the bottle. “Look…it’s nothing personal, Sara. I’m just not the social type, you know? You shouldn’t think that just because we’re staying in the same house you have to entertain me or cook for me or play hostess. I honestly prefer to be left alone, no offense or anything. You get what I’m saying?”

“
Yeah, I think so.”

“You have your life and I have mine.
Oil and water don’t mix and if you try, all you do is make a mess. I know you aren’t exactly overjoyed about me being here. It isn’t the ideal situation for me either, but it is what it is. So I’ll do my best to stay out of your business if you’ll extend the same courtesy. Do that and we’ll get along fine. Okay?”

I blinked at him. “All this over taco salad?”

He kind of laughed then, and for the first time I saw an actual smile. If I thought he was gorgeous before…oh man, that was
nothing
compared to this. Fried ice cream, that’s what he was. Hot on the outside and frozen on the inside.