Broken Hill High (Broken Hill High #1)(19)

“I wish,” I grunt. “His mom sent him to check on me after you left last night and he deemed I was incapable of looking after myself. He practically kidnapped me and took me back to his place. I’ve had to deal with his glares and Jesse’s comments all night.”

She throws her arms around me. “Shit, Torz,” she says with a pout. “That would have been horrible.”

“Believe me, it was,” I say. “That’s why I’m going to need you to give me a ride back to my place after school. There’s no way in hell I’m staying there all weekend.”

“No problem,” she says before a wicked grin crosses her lips. “Now, tell me you’ve got dirt on them? There’s got to be dirt.”

With that, I launch into my rundown of how my night went, but I find myself skipping over major parts of the story, say like, when I threw up my dinner and how I’d caught him with another girl. I also skip right over the part about what happened up against the wall this morning.

As we talk in the cafeteria, I can’t help but notice stares digging into me from three separate tables. My first instinct is to look across to Nate’s table, only for the first time in years, it’s not his stare that’s coming my way.

It’s his girlfriend, Ashley.

She must have heard about the whole car ride thing unless Nate has told her the whole story, which I very much doubt. I mean, I wonder what her perspective would be on Nate dirtying the sheets with that random girl last night?

I look across to the next stare to find Elle and roll my eyes. It’s been a week since she confronted me in this very room about Josh, and so far, her bark has been a lot worse than her bite. She hasn’t had the balls to do anything about it which could either be a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, she could be too busy with cheer practice to make any moves, or she’s planning something big.

Just great.

Next up, it’s the eyes of Josh, only this isn’t quite so much as a stare, it’s more of a leer. You know, the ‘I’m going to get you naked’ leer which is honestly not the best look for him. I mean, the more and more I spend time with him, I realize he isn’t all that great. He has the looks and the title of being the quarterback, but he also has the personality of a brick wall. I’d rather watch paint dry than spend any more time with him.

I’ll have to drop this thing. Sure, it was fun to start with, but it’s getting boring quickly.

The bell for the end of lunch rings and before I know it, it’s the end of the day and I’m dashing down to Brooke’s car in hopes of not being seen by Nate. I find it only three cars down from his and duck down beside it until Brooke comes strolling out without a care in the world. “What the hell are you doing?” she grunts as she takes me in.

“Shut up and unlock your damn car,” I tell her.

She grins and hits the button before I peel the door open and slide myself in. Once I’m in the safety of her car, I finally give myself a chance to look around. I see Josh walking down to his Jeep with some random cheerleader under his arm. There’s Jesse and his best friend Tyson, who are probably figuring out where they are partying tonight as, after all, it’s Friday night. Then last, there’s Nate, walking down to the parking lot with Ashley under his arm. I follow his movements as he gets to his car and she slips in the passenger side. I let out a breath. It doesn’t look as though he had any plans on driving me home from school after all. Maybe I’ve gotten away with it for tonight.





Chapter 7


I lay back on my couch as the music sails right through my home. It’s so good to be here.

I know I was only away from my place for a night, but since last night, I’ve realized I’ve been taking advantage of my home. I should be taking pride in the time I get to spend here as I never know when it will be ripped out from under me by brooding teenage boys.

Courtney struts around my kitchen, making herself a sandwich while Brooke lays on the opposite couch, flicking through the channels on the TV.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I hear Bec’s voice call from the front door.

“We’re in the den,” I yell back.

Not a moment later, she waltzes in and drops her things on the hallway table before falling into the seat beside me. “I heard a rumor about you today,” she tells me.

“I know,” I groan. I mean, how many times am I going to be asked about this? “And yes, it’s true.”

“Really?” she shrieks with wide eyes. “You’re actually dating Josh now? It’s official?”

“Huh?” I grunt as I sit up straighter. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not dating Josh.”

Brooke bursts into laughter at my misfortune while Bec gets a look of complete disappointment over her face. “Oh,” she says. “He’s apparently telling everyone that you guys are official now.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I groan as I pull my phone out from my jeans pocket. “I’ve hardly spoken to the guy since school went back.”

I start typing out a text.

Tora – WTF?!!!!! We’re dating now?

He responds almost instantly and has my blood boiling.

Josh – You’re welcome.

Tora – Did it occur to you that maybe I don’t want to date you? You’re going to have to try a little harder than that.