Dancing With A Stranger (Londyn Carter Book 1)

by A. L. Martin

  “Thanks. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it once I put it up like this, and I didn’t have time to fix it any other way. So, what did you do yesterday after we left?”

  “Well, Hunter stopped by the house yesterday to see how I was doing.” I peeked over at her.

  “What the hell was he doing over there?” Lucas yelled from behind us.

  I spun around to face Lucas, so I could see the look on his face. “Why the hell do you care? You’ve got that slut from the club!” I screamed back. I could see people stop what they were doing to turn and look at us over his shoulder.

  “I told you I was sorry and that I made a mistake, Londyn,” he said a little softer, stepping closer to me and closing the gap between us.

  “Well, I’m glad you believe that. I think Saturday night finally opened my eyes as to how you have treated me the whole time we were together. So, we are over, Lucas. She can have you as far as I’m concerned. Bye.” I turned my back on him and proceeded to walk down the hall and around the corner to my locker. I heard Sam’s ankle boots tapping the floor behind me.

  “Londyn, wait up!”

  I stopped a few feet away from my locker, turning to find Sam walking as fast as she could without actually running down the hall.

  “Did you really mean what you just said to Lucas back there? Are you two really over?” She stood there with her mouth open.

  “Yes. I’m done with his shit, Sam. He’s never really treated me like he loved or even cared about me most of the time. I was too damn dumb to see it until the other night at the club.”

  “Wow…Are you okay? I mean, really okay?” Sam stepped closer to me, where we were almost nose to cheek, peeking at me.

  “Sam, I’m fine. Thanks for asking though.” I smiled. I closed my locker door and turned around to start walking to my first class of the day.

  “Londyn, does this have anything to do with Hunter? I’m not judging, because he is most definitely good looking and seems to be nicer than Lucas could ever dream of being.

  “I don’t know, Sam. Maybe. I do like him. I can’t believe he came over to check on me yesterday. Mom likes him. But, there is my Dad.” I sighed.

  “Londyn, you can’t worry about your Dad. I know he won’t ever like anyone except for Lucas. I think it’s because Lucas is like him.”

  We walked past a few classrooms, then Sam headed into her Health class and I proceeded down the hall to Math class. I walked through the door and noticed my teacher wasn’t sitting at her desk, replaced by a lady with dark brown hair pulled back in a tight, neat bun, and glasses. I took my seat next to Jayde, who was busy texting on her phone. Jayde’s long dark hair was hanging down around her face, but I could see she had her earbuds in. She didn’t see or hear me sit down. I knew eventually she would see me right before the bell rang for class to start.

  “Hey, Londyn. Did you really just breakup with Lucas in the hallway?” she asked, glancing back and forth between me and her phone as she kept texting.

  “Yes. That didn’t take long for it to be all over the school.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t dump him for that guy from the night club, Skyler’s friend.

  He’s so beneath you, Londyn. I don’t know what you see in him. You two have nothing in common.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Jayde, why do you have something against him? What’s he or Skyler done to you? You judge people too much by their social status before you even get to know them.”

  “Well, I know not to go socializing with people that I have nothing in common with. They don’t fit in our world.”

  All I could do was sit there and look at her wide-eyed, not able to say a word to what she sputtered out of her mouth. Sometimes, I wondered why I stayed friends with Jayde.

  We didn’t agree on anything anymore.

  ****

  Gavin was leaning up against the wall next to my locker, looking down at his phone as he scanned the hall every few seconds. He had better taste than I did in clothes. He was always dressed to kill, He often questioned my fashion sense, and sometimes he had every right to. “Hey, I heard you caused quite a scene this morning, and I must say I am rather disappointed that I missed it.”

  “Seriously…Can anyone talk about anything else today? So what that I broke up with Lucas?”

  “So what? You’re kidding me, right? Everyone had you two getting married after college, either living in the five-mile radius or some other big city. So, yeah. Everyone is going to be talking about this for a few weeks. You might as well learn to block it out now.” He wrapped his arm around me as I tried to open my locker, but ended up turning past the number about three times. I slammed my lock against my locker door.

  “Here, let me open it for you. Londyn, what did you think would happen when you decided to break up with him in the middle of the hall with everyone around? That they would just ignore it and go about their business? Did you forget what school we went too? Everyone thinks they need to be in each other’s business, and they will pass judgment on you too for what you did,” he said, popping my lock open.

  “I know you are right.” I let out a huge sigh, dropping my shoulders.

  “Let me guess, Jayde gave her shitty opinion?” He arched an eyebrow.

  “How did you guess?”

  “The look on your face, and you seem pretty upset, and I know it’s not over breaking up with Lucas.”

  “She asked if breaking up with Lucas had anything to do with Hunter, then she went on to tell me how he’s beneath me. I truly don’t understand why I am still friends with her. She is so stuck up. She never used to be this way a few years ago. She’s truly turning into a snob.”

  “Turning? She’s always been one. I’ve tried telling you this several times. Ready to go face the lunchroom?”

  “Not really. I can’t stop people from talking about me.” I wrapped my arm around Gavin’s as we walked down the hall. I knew Gavin wouldn’t tolerate people talking shit about him while he’s around. I just had to worry about when I was alone. Would I be able to ignore the rude comments from all of Lucas’s friends?

  I didn’t want to walk in the cafeteria before Gavin, so I held the door open for him. He took a couple steps inside and blocked the entire entrance, frozen, looking straight in front of him. I was stuck behind him and I couldn’t see what he was looking at. I tried to ease past him, and he spun around trying to push me backwards out the door.

  “Gavin! What are you doing?” I managed to escape his two hands which had quickly turned into about eight. I straightened out my shirt which got messed up in the process. I looked up from my fixing my shirt, and straight ahead of me, sitting at a round table off to the side of his friends, were Lucas and Jayde. I turned my head to look back at Gavin, who had a sorrowful look on his face, as if he were saying he tried to get me out before I saw. Before I could stop myself, I was within inches of them, staring them down.

  “What the hell is going on?” I screamed louder than I meant too.

  “Why do you care?” Lucas snapped.

  “I don’t care about you anymore. Jayde, you are supposed to be my friend! How could you do this to me?”

  “Lucas is right. Why do you care? I mean you just broke up with him, so he’s single. I never thought you were good enough for Lucas. The other night proved it, when you left the club with Hunter,” she said with a slight closed-lipped smile.

  “Jayde, this is why I’ve never liked your bitch-ass! I’ve tried to warn Londyn about you, but she always stuck up for you, and this is how you repay her? You truly are a certified BITCH!” Gavin yelled, tugging at my arm. He kept tugging for me to turn around, but I took several steps backward, not taking my eyes off them. I was almost out the door before I turned around.

  “How could she do that to me? She was supposed to be my friend!”

  “Well for starters, Jayde is all about Jayde. She doesn’t care about anyone else. I’m sorry it took her doing something cruel to open your eyes. You’ve got me, and hopefully
you still have Sam.” He moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around me.

  “Thanks, Gavin, for trying to warn me about her, even if I didn’t heed the warning.” I sighed.

  “What are best friends for?”

  “You are a great friend. Want to come over after school tonight to study and have dinner with us?”

  “You know I will be there. I have to run home first, then I will be over. Do you think Hunter will come by?”

  “I don’t know.”

  ****

  The rest of the day was spent dodging down side halls and hiding behind crowds of kids to keep from running into Lucas or Jayde. I didn’t want to see either of them, but I also knew I couldn’t keep playing hide-n-seek with them every day either. After the last bell of the day, I grabbed my things and rushed out the door while Mr. Nelson was still explaining what we would be doing in Biology for tomorrow. If I was a gambling girl, I would bet my entire college fund on the fact he was going to talk to me before class on Tuesday about barging out of the room. I whizzed past kids in the hall, bumping into most of them, apologizing as I kept my pace down the busy halls. I was inches away from the side door when I heard Jayde say something off in the distance. I had two choices. I could keep going out the door and ignore her, or turn around and make matters worse. And as you can imagine, I chose wrong. I lowered my right hand away from the handle, closing my eyes as I exhaled slowly.

  “Why are you in a big hurry, Londyn?”

  I opened my eyes, turning around to face her. “What the hell do you want, Jayde? We have nothing to talk about. As far as I’m concerned, you can have Lucas and our friendship is over. So, hurry up and say whatever it is so I can go home.”

  “Why the hurry? Hunter going to be there?”

  “Not that it is any of your business, but Gavin is meeting me at my house. So, if you are done asking me why I’m in a hurry, I need to go meet one of my best friends.” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Do you honestly think Sam is going to stay friends with you? She thinks you are ridiculous too!”

  “Jayde! What the hell! How dare you try and cause problems between me and Londyn? You know, I am beginning to think Gavin has been right about you all along!” Sam screamed, walking up behind Jayde.

  I could see Sam storming up behind Jayde, her fist balled up down by her side. “You’re the ridiculous one! You didn’t even wait a whole day before pouncing on Lucas. What kind of friend does that? NONE!” Sam stood there yelling, inches away from Jayde’s face.

  “Come on, Sam. She’s not worth it anymore,” I said, pulling on Sam’s arm. I kept a hold of her arm until we were outside and halfway to my car. “Thanks, Sam.” I smiled.

  “Anytime. I can’t believe she did that to you. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. Gavin tried warning us about her.”

  “Want to come over for dinner? Gavin is going to be at the house within the next hour. I can take you home later if you need a ride.”

  “I can’t. You know why.” She rolled her eyes. “I really wish he would give me some room to breathe. I hope he realizes that I’m going away to college in a few months.”

  “I think that’s why he is wanting to have so much “family time,” because of the fact you are leaving for college soon.”

  “I know, but I want to spend time with my friends too. Maybe I can sweet talk him into letting me come over now for a couple of hours since he’s still at work,” she said, grabbing her phone out of her purse. We stood by the car while she exchanged texts with her dad in hopes he would let her come over for a little bit. I even told her to tell her dad that Gavin and I would take her home later. After about five more minutes of texting back and forth, she finally looked up from her phone and smiled.

  ****

  Gavin knocked on the door, then opened it, hollering to see where we were at. I yelled that we were in the kitchen.

  “Sorry I’m late. Hey, Sam.” He sat down at the table next to Sam.

  “I guess I missed the show at the end of school.” He smiled, winking at Sam. He leaned over a little closer to her. “So, how was it to stand up to Jayde?”

  A big smile spread across her face. “It felt great! I don’t know what happened, but when I heard her going after Londyn, I had to say something.”

  “Thanks, Sam.”

  “You’re welcome. Do you have anything to snack on? I’m starving. Do you have anything salty?”

  I walked over to the pantry door, and stood in the doorway and conveyed what kind of salty snacks she had to choose from. She had her choice of pretzels, chips, popcorn or tortilla chips and salsa. Before I could name off anything else I saw, she had decided on pretzels.

  I was glad because they sounded so good right then. While Gavin and Sam sat at the table, laughing and eating pretzels. I went to the stairs, yelling for Jules to see if she wanted anything to eat. I yelled a couple more times for her before finally giving up and going back to the kitchen with Gavin and Sam. We sat there, talking and snacking until Mom got home almost an hour later from work.

  “Hi, everyone. Sorry I’m late. We got crazy busy right when it was time for me to leave, and I couldn’t leave them short-handed. Gavin, Sam, are you going to be here for dinner?”

  “I have to be home in an hour, but thank you,” Sam said, popping a pretzel in her mouth.

  “How about you, Gavin?”

  “You can count on me to be here for dinner.” He smiled.

  The next hour flew by, and it was time for me and Gavin to take Sam home. Sam got up and sauntered over to the sink to put her glass in it. I felt bad for her because I knew she wanted to stay and have dinner with us, but I also knew her dad would let her stay and miss “family time”. I went into the living room to tell Mom we were leaving to take Sam home, and I stumbled into the wall when the doorbell rang. Mom looked over at me, not hiding her laughter. She managed to get herself under control long enough to ask me a question. “Did the wall jump out and bite you?” She busted out in laughter again.

  I rolled my eyes at her, walking over to the door. “You are so funny.”

  “Thanks for noticing,” She squeaked out through bouts of laughter.

  “Ha Ha,” I mocked her, as I opened the door. I turned my head back around to find Hunter standing in front of me.

  “Is this a bad time?” he said, looking hot in his jeans and long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

  “No. My Mom was just making fun of me. She can do that anytime, especially when there is a wall involved.”

  “What?” he said, a confused look on his face.

  “Are you going to invite him in, Londyn?” Mom said, walking up behind me. “Come on in, Hunter.” She smiled.

  “Sorry, Hunter. Gavin and I were getting ready to take Sam home. You’re welcome to come with us.” I smiled.

  “Londyn, I need to get home before my dad has a damn bitch fest,” Sam said, barging in the living room, texting on her phone. She froze the minute she saw Hunter standing next to me.

  “Oh…”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry, Sam. Let me get my purse and keys.”

  Gavin, looking on his phone, bumped into Sam. “Why in the hell are you blocking the way, Sam?” he said, glancing up from his phone. “Oh.”

  “Looks like I’ve stopped by at the wrong time. I can come back later,” Hunter said, turning to walk back out the door.

  “Hunter!” I yelled, startling everyone. They stood there looking wide-eyed at me and one another before Hunter turned back around to face me.

  “Yes…” He smiled.

  “Don’t leave. Come with us.” I stepped closer to him. Being close to him made it virtually impossible to concentrate, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to feel his lips on mine.

  He leaned down a little closer to me, smiling. “Okay.”

  I wanted to lean just a few inches closer to him, but then I remembered we had an audience standing around us. “We should get going before Sam’s dad files a missing person report on her
.”

  “Funny,” Sam said, wrinkling up her nose. “Then again, she’s not wrong.”

  We hurried out to my car. Gavin and Sam both quickly jumped in the backseat, smiling from ear to ear as Hunter got in the passenger seat. They definitely weren’t hiding their happiness about the idea of Hunter and I being together.

  Chapter 9

  We were back home within 45 minutes of taking Sam home, and by some miracle, I got her home in time for “family time.” I didn’t want her to have to listen to her dad lecture about the importance of the family spending time together before she left for college. We were welcomed by the wonderful smell of Creamy Parmesan Garlic Mushroom Chicken, one of my favorites that Mom would make sure to cook at least once or twice a month. I would have to say it was one of Gavin’s favorites too by the way he stood there inhaling with his eyes closed.

  “What is that smell?” Hunter asked, looking at the both of us. Before I had a chance to answer him, Gavin’s eyes flew open, snapping at him like Hunter had insulted him with his question.

  “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It smells really good. I was just wondering what she was cooking,” Hunter said apologetically.

  “Mom is making one of my favorite chicken dinners. She makes it for me at least twice a month. She will make roasted potatoes with it and some kind of vegetable, usually fresh green beans or squash and zucchini. I’m sure she planned on you staying for dinner too.” I smiled.

  Right as we were about to head toward the kitchen, Mom peeked her head out and told us dinner was almost done. I told the guys they could go to the living room if they wanted while I helped Mom finish dinner. They both turned and headed to the living room, and I couldn’t help but back slowly toward the kitchen, watching Hunter.

  “I made sure to make extra for Hunter.” Mom smiled, bending down to check the potatoes in the oven.