Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(39)

And.

I’m.

So.

Nervous.

“Hi,” I say to him.

Yes, I am lame.

“Hey,” he says, smiling at me.

He’s so much more gorgeous in person... so much better looking than I even remember.

“You look really beautiful,” he says.

“Thanks,” I say, looking down at my feet. Because I’m too scared to look him in the eyes right now.

“You ready to go?” he asks.

I nod, looking up again.

Uh, his eyes are so blue.

Then Brooks does something completely unexpected. He walks to the passenger side door of his car and he opens the door for me.

I’ve never had a guy open the door for me. Never. Not once. Unless you count limo drivers, which I don’t, because they’re getting paid to open your door. But, I’m serious. I don’t even think Charlie, Dad or Rick has ever opened the door for me.

I get into the car and he shuts the door once I’m in. I rest my fingers over my racing heart for a second and take a breath.

This boy.

He opens his door and gets inside. He puts on his seatbelt, then looks at me and smiles before we take off.

“You really are nervous,” Brooks says, as we pull onto the main road.

I bite my lip, not knowing what to say.

“I think it’s cute that you’re nervous,” he says.

His words make me smile. “It’s not your fault. I mean, I would be nervous no matter what, but my roommate made me even more nervous this morning.”

“How?”

Ah, I didn’t want to tell him that.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

“She was talking about how I shouldn’t wear lip gloss because nobody likes kissing with lip gloss on, and I hadn’t even thought about kissing,” I say. “I mean, I’ve never kissed a guy before. So, now I’m nervous.”

He looks from the road to me. “You’ve never been kissed?”

“Nope.”

“Guys in California are idiots,” he says.

I shrug. “Even if they were interested, I’m pretty sure Charlie would’ve run them off.”

“Is it going to be hard to get your brother’s approval?” he asks.

“Yeah, but I think he will like you,” I say.

“I hope so.”

Me, too.

“Why didn’t he come to school with you?” Brooks asks.

“He’s in California still. With his dad,” I answer. “His dad would never send him to boarding school. Not that our school in California was a bad school. Really, it was one of the best private schools in the state. Besides, Charlie loves surfing too much. He’s in surf club. I was, too. We used to get out of school from ten in the morning until noon to surf. It was... amazing.”

“I want to go to that school,” he says.

“That’s why I’m going to college in California,” I say. If I can. “My parents went to Berkeley. It’s where they met. So, I’ll probably go there. It’s a little farther north than I want to be, but it’s just four years.”

“It’s definitely south of here.”

“How am I going to survive two years of boarding school here?” I ask. “I hate the cold. And the snow. I’ve only seen snow once in my life. Charlie convinced me that snowboarding would be fun. After two days, I left the trip early. It was so cold, and I fell so many times just walking around on the snow and ice.”

He laughs. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh at your falling, but that’s really funny.”

“You really would get along with Charlie. He laughed at me every single time I fell,” I say.

“Is Charlie your only sibling?” he asks.

Only for another 20 weeks.

Then I will have a little brother or sister.

But I can’t tell Brooks that.

“Yeah. I had an older sister who died when I was only six months old,” I say. “She was four. I think that’s why my parents got divorced. Her death put a huge strain on their marriage. They were really in love from what I’ve heard.”

“That’s really sad,” Brooks says.

“What about you?” I ask.

“Just one younger sister. She’s thirteen and will be coming to West Raven next year. I’m not looking forward to her coming. I already told her that she’s not allowed to have a boyfriend while she’s a freshman. I’d beat up any guy who tried.”

“Oh, you didn’t date when you were a freshman?” I ask.

“That’s different,” he says.

“How is it different?”

“’Cause I’m a boy and she’s my little sister,” he says.

I laugh at his logic.

“I’m hoping that between now and the time senior year begins I can convince you to transfer to West Raven.”

“You can do that?” I ask. “I mean, I didn’t figure West Raven would want kids doing that, especially not senior year.”

“Are you kidding? The deans at East and West hate each other. They love stealing each other’s students,” he says. “You’d definitely be accepted.”

“By this time next year you’ll be sick of me,” I say.