All I've Never Wanted(26)

I almost choked on my own spit at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea. “Yeah, right,” I snorted. “First of all, need I remind you Roman and I don’t actually get along? He’s the reason why I’ve spent all my allowance money on dry cleaning! Plus, and you can quote me on this, the day Roman Fiori becomes my boyfriend—whether real or fake—is the day hell freezes over.”

* * *

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

I shot a pointed look at the petite brunette who had been glaring at me for the past half hour, and she turned away with a huff.

Weird. Actually, this whole week had been weird.

I came to school Monday expecting more abuse, but instead I’d gotten…nothing. Oh, sure, there’d been stares and whispers, but there had been no pranks, no nasty messages scrawled on my locker, nothing thrown on me.

It actually creeped me out a lot more than any snake or thrown food could.

When the bell finally rang, I was torn between relief and dread. On the one hand, it was always good to get out of Valesca as fast as I could; on the other, my grandmother was going to be waiting at home, and I still hadn’t figured out a way to ward off her matchmaking advances.

I grabbed my bag and pushed past the other students, ignoring their silent stares. Well, if they’d all had brain transplants or something last weekend, that wasn’t my problem.

“Hey, Maya!”

I turned, my jaw dropping when I saw who it was.

“So, where are you heading?” Parker asked casually, like we’d been friends forever or something.

“Uh…home.” I eyed him suspiciously, gripping the strap of my backpack tighter and increasing my pace. Sadly, since I was a whole head shorter than him, he managed to match my pace perfectly.

“Want a ride?”

I rolled my eyes. Why were all the Scions trying to give me rides lately?

“No thanks.”

“Are you sure? Because it looks like it’s about to rain,” Parker cautioned, opening the door for me and tilting his chin in the direction of the sky, which did look alarmingly gray and stormy.

I bit my lip. Usually, I don’t mind walking in the rain, but with my grandmother here, I didn’t need another lecture on how I never took care of myself, how I was going to get sick, blah blah blah.

“Come on, you know you want to,” Parker cajoled with a charming smile.

Well, I guess he’d never outright been mean to me. Actually, he’d been pretty nice about the whole beer thing…

“Fine. Thanks,” I conceded grudgingly. I couldn’t believe I was willingly getting into a car with Parker Remington, the biggest player since Casanova.

Maybe I’d fallen and smacked my head on the pavement but just didn’t remember it. Because, you know, I had smacked my head on the pavement.

“This is turning out to be a bit of a pattern, isn’t it?” Parker asked, sounding amused as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“What is?” I shrugged out of my hot, itchy blazer. For something so expensive, it sure wasn’t very comfortable.


“Getting rides home every Friday. Carlo told me what happened.”

“Trust me, it wasn’t like I had a choice,” I huffed. Ok, I had more of a choice with Carlo than Roman, but still.

I hesitated, then before I could lose my nerve, asked, “What’s going on with everyone?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is everyone being…nicer? If that’s the right word.”

“You mean, why aren’t they shoving snakes in your locker?”

I shuddered slightly at the memory. I hated reptiles. “Yeah.”

“I have no idea.”

I shot Parker a disbelieving look. “You’re Parker Remington. You should know everything!”

“I should,” he agreed. “But I don’t. That’s more Roman’s forte, and maybe Zack’s. He kind of a gossiper.”

I couldn’t help but snicker. I may not know him, but Zack did seem like that type.

“Well, then, why are you being so nice to me?” I asked.

We stopped at a red light and he turned to give me a heart-melting smile. I actually felt my knees weaken. Although I may not like the Scions—and that was putting it lightly—it didn’t mean I was dead. Parker was charming and good-looking enough to elicit a physical reaction from any living, breathing girl.

“Why do you think?” he asked, holding my gaze for several intense seconds.

A warm blush crept up on my cheeks. He was good, I’ll give him that.

I turned away. “Because you want to get in my pants?” I asked cheekily, trying to recover.

Parker let out a loud laugh. “Well, I’ve never heard a girl say that quite so bluntly before.” The light turned green, and he stepped on the gas. “Besides, I’m a guy. I want to get into every girl’s pants. Or skirt.” He raised his eyebrows at my bare legs.

I tugged down the hem of my skirt. “At least you’re honest.”

He shrugged. “I’m always honest. I don’t see why people lie. It’s never a good idea in the long run.”

"I agree." I eyed him thoughtfully. “You know, you aren’t as horrible as I thought.” That was another worrying pattern that had emerged lately.