Don't Look Back(19)

He stared at me, eyes wide and dilated. His expression was unreadable.

Shaking my head, I faced the front of the class. Why had I even bothered? It wasn’t as if a simple apology was going to repair years of me being mean. And coming to my rescue this morning at the coffee shop didn’t constitute Carson waving a white flag of friendship. “Guess not.”

“Sam—”

“Just forget it,” I grumbled. Flipping the notebook open, I attempted to read the biology notes that I couldn’t seem to remember taking when I saw Candy in the front of the classroom.

She stared back at me, her gaze darting between Carson and me. When she caught my eyes, her brows rose. I shrugged and went back to reading the notes that I obviously hadn’t put much effort into. I didn’t look once in Carson’s direction during the entire class, but his presence was overwhelming anyway. Every part of my body was aware of his movements. When he scribbled down notes, or when he rubbed his hand over his chest or flexed his right wrist. My nerves were stretched thin by the time the bell rang. I bolted from the classroom like a scared, caged animal.

Lunch wasn’t much different.

I had to go through the line alone, and nothing looked edible. Settling on pizza, I grabbed a bottle of water and searched the tables. Veronica was in the back, waving her hand like an air traffic controller. Getting used to the stares, I headed in their direction.

“I heard she doesn’t remember a thing,” whispered a girl. “Like she had to be told what her name was. How insane is that?”

“Well, she certainly forgot who she was friends with,” replied another girl, much louder. “I saw her talking to Louis in the hallway today. Hell froze over.”

Passing another table, I heard a guy say, “I’m not sure which one I wanted to come back. Both have the tightest...”

I hurried up, not wanting to hear the rest of that. I passed my brother, who was sitting next to a pretty blonde. They didn’t seem to notice me, as their mouths were attached to each other.

Sitting down beside Veronica, I forced my muscles to relax. The girls were talking about what happened on a TV show they watched last night, and I was able to eat half of my pizza in silence. A few minutes later, a guy with short dark hair and a supermuscular build joined us. He sat beside Candy.

“Trey.” He shoved his hand out, grinning. He had a slight accent—British? “Nice to meet you.”

Veronica knocked his hand away. “Don’t be stupid.”

“What?” He winked at me. “Del said she doesn’t remember any of this. Figured I’d introduce myself.”

“Samantha.” I held my hand out, going along with it. He laughed, shook my hand, and settled back, throwing an arm over the back of Candy’s chair. “Damn, you really don’t remember a thing?”

Damn, I was really getting tired of people asking if I remembered anything. “Not a thing.”

His eyes narrowed. “So you have no clue about what happened to Cassie?”

Silence descended on the table like a thick, itchy blanket. A fist-sized ball of unease formed under my ribs as I met Trey’s stare. “No. Do you?”

“No.” Trey laughed. “I hadn’t seen her that whole weekend. We broke up.”

Veronica cleared her throat. “Guys, can we talk about something else? This creeps me out.”

He ignored her. “Have you asked Del if he saw her that weekend?”

The ball grew larger, heavier. Had I asked Del? I didn’t think so, not in so many words. “He didn’t mention seeing her.”

Trey’s look of innocence didn’t fool me. “You might what to ask again. Just saying.”

“What does that mean?” I demanded.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Veronica said, pushing a piece of lettuce around on her plate. “Trey’s missing a few brain cells. Anyway, Lauren and I were planning on going to Philly this weekend to get new dresses for Del’s party he’s throwing after prom.”

Lauren was the brunette with blond streaks, the quietest one of the bunch. She smiled at me.

“Del’s having a party?” I asked.

She shook her head at me and then laughed. “Oh, yes, I’m stupid. He throws one every year. Everyone goes. And some people who shouldn’t be there go, but there’s no way to control the population.”

“Yeah, like if she shows up, we’re going to have to hide the food,” Candy said, her lip curled. “And lock the fridge.”

The words were so loud I didn’t have to guess at whom she was talking about. The girl was sitting down at a table in front of us. Her curly hair was pulled up, and the back of her neck was beet red.

“Oink. Oink,” said Veronica, brows puckered together.

I stared at them. “That girl isn’t even big,” I said in a hushed voice. She wasn’t as skinny as Veronica and Candy, but hell, people in third world countries were heavier than they were.

Candy glanced over her shoulder and snorted. “What is she? A size ten?”

My mouth dropped open. “Yeah, wow, call Jenny Craig. You guys are joking, right?”

Trey leaned back further, amusement dripping from his pores. The table of girls stared at me as if I’d stripped naked and done a little jig. I gripped my bottle, wanting to throw it at one of their heads.