“You’re more than welcome to join me. We can have a study-in every weekend.” Ruby tried not to laugh at the look of horror on Tiffany’s face, but she couldn’t stop herself. Soon, her whole body had started to convulse, and she slammed her hand over her mouth to stop the sound of her trademark embarrassing snorts from travelling around the class.
“Stop it,” Tiffany said, giving Ruby a pretend slap around the head. “I thought you were serious.”
The snorts gradually subsided, and Ruby risked removing her hand from her mouth. “I am. Well, not about the study-in, but I am about studying hard.”
Tiffany’s pout turned into a look of genuine disappointment. “Who am I going to go out with? Ben’s having a party on Saturday, and I thought we’d be going together.” She rested her arm on her forehead and sighed in true melodramatic fashion. Ruby rolled her eyes in amusement.
Tiffany had been crushing on Ben, a senior, since she first caught sight of him, the day he moved to their school. The trouble was, he didn’t seem to know that she existed. Ruby could certainly empathize with her on that one. She’d been there, done that, and had the photos of her dateless self at school dances to prove it. Although considering that she’d now resolved to study, the lack of a love life was probably a good thing. And something she intended to stick to, whatever temptation came her way. If she was lucky enough to have any temptation, of course.
“I’m not going to be a total nerd. I’ll be okay to go out on the weekend with you. Apart from when I’m working at Echoes.” Ruby hoped this would satisfy Tiffany. They’d been friends for a long time and had never once fallen out. Well, not counting the time when in sixth grade they both liked the same boy. But seeing as he’d liked someone else entirely, they’d forgotten him and had gone back to being best friends in no time.
“You’re so lucky to be working there,” Tiffany said.
Ruby nodded in agreement. She couldn’t believe when she’d landed the waitstaff job only last week. She planned to take as many shifts as possible and save the money she earned for when she went to college.
“I know. And it beats cleaning at the hotel. If I never have to clean another toilet, it will be too soon, that’s for sure.” And that was an understatement. She’d spent the last two years working in the hotel’s housekeeping department and had hated every moment. But she’d had to stay, or she’d have had no money at all.
“Apart from your own, of course,” Tiffany said, pinching her nose between her thumb and finger and acting like there was an awful smell.
Ruby laughed. “And let’s not forget the tips are better at Echoes,” she added.
“So, does that mean you’ll definitely be coming with me to Ben’s party?” Tiffany’s deep blue eyes were wide with anticipation.
“Yes. Promise,” Ruby replied, making a tiny cross over her heart.
She hoped that they didn’t suddenly change her Saturday shift to a later one. At the moment, her boss had her scheduled from eight until four. She refused to worry about that now because it wasn’t like she could do anything about it.
“That’s okay then, as long as—holy crap,” Tiffany said, dropping the pencil she’d been holding with a clatter, her mouth open so wide, it looked like she was attempting a goldfish impression.
“What?” Ruby swiveled around to catch sight of whatever it was that had blindsided Tiffany so completely.
And within seconds, she saw for herself. Her heart pounded against her rib cage, and she struggled to breathe.
It was Drew Scott.
Who Ruby used to have the hugest crush on. Ever.
Drew. Scott.
She tried not to stare, but her eyes were drawn to him. His face was much thinner than before but still just as striking, with his angular jaw and dimpled chin. And his dark hair was longer than it used to be, so it curled below his ears and onto the back of his dark blue hoodie.
Catching sight of the thick red scars on his neck, Ruby swallowed hard. The pain he must have gone through didn’t bear thinking about. She looked around the room and saw that everyone else was staring at him. Her heart reached out to him.
Until she remembered exactly what he had done, and then she didn’t know what to think.
It was nearly a year ago that she’d come home from work to find her brother sobbing his heart out on the couch, with her mom trying desperately to console him. His girlfriend, Reese, had been killed in a fire at her house. Her parents had gone away for the weekend, leaving her alone. Except it turned out that she hadn’t been alone. Drew, Blake’s best friend, had been with her. As in been with her.
Which was why Drew was now her brother’s ex-best friend.
“Look,” the guy in the desk behind Ruby whispered. “Drew Scott. Check out the scars on his neck.”
“Talk about karma in its extreme,” a girl replied.
Ruby fought the urge to turn around and glare at them. She already felt torn between her loyalty toward Blake and sympathy for Drew’s obvious suffering—both physical and emotional. Many of their classmates weren’t even bothering to hide their revulsion, openly throwing curious or even hateful glances his way and gossiping in low voices. It made her sick to the stomach that people could be so openly cruel.
It all reminded her of the day her dad came home from the hospital after his accident. She’d only been five, but the memory had stuck with her—one of her earliest ones. The shock of seeing him had been so bad that she had screamed and screamed until he’d actually left the room. Her mom had told her it had taken a long time before Ruby could even look at him. Even though she’d been too young to understand her actions, she still felt guilty about how much she must have hurt him.
“Are you okay?” The feel of Tiffany’s hand resting on her arm forced Ruby’s attention from Drew and the memories of her childhood.
“Yeah. Sure,” Ruby replied, feeling suddenly light-headed. Probably because she hadn’t taken a breath since catching sight of him. “I just didn’t expect to see Drew here.”
“What’s he doing in our class?” Tiffany asked. Others in the room were likely wondering the same thing, since Drew had been a year ahead of them.
“I guess he has to repeat his junior year since he missed most of it,” Ruby suggested. “I wonder why he didn’t just take classes at home? I know that’s what I’d do.”
“I don’t know. Then again, you know what his family is like.”
Ruby nodded in agreement. Drew’s friendship with her brother meant she’d heard bits and pieces about his crap home life through the years, which she’d only ever vaguely mentioned to Tiffany in the past.
“More to the point, what the hell is Blake gonna do when he finds out Drew’s back?” Ruby bit down on her bottom lip as she pondered that thought.
Drew stiffened as he walked into the doorway of his English class. The murmur of the numerous conversations taking place almost felt like physical blows, and he instinctively skidded to a stop, the urge to turn and run almost getting the better of him. It wouldn’t be long before those conversations centered on him, once people grew aware of his presence. But he got it together and forced himself to move forward once more.
He walked unnoticed past a group of guys talking football. Some girls applying lip gloss. Another set poring over a magazine. A few overachievers who already had their books out. It seemed like nothing had changed since he was last in class.
Except it had.
Everything had changed.
And then a sudden silence fell over the room as everyone seemed to notice him at once. Then the inevitable whispers started up. Glancing around the room, Drew felt shocked by how damn bad it felt to have all eyes on him, even though he’d prepared himself for it. The intensity of their collective gaze almost knocked him over.
Yeah, that’s right. Stare at the gross, disfigured burned guy. Stare at the thickened, red, raw skin on his arms and neck. Give him pitying looks until he turns away. And then you can screw up your face like you’re about to vomit. He’s had nearly a year of it, so you won’t break him.