High School Heartbreak (Forest Ridge High Book 2)

by Sherri Renee

  “It made me think of you,” Kristen said lifting the lid off her box. She pulled out the heart covered tights I’d bought her. “Tights!” She stood up and held them against her legs over her slacks. “I love them.” She leaned down for a hug.

  “Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. I thought those looked fun. I guess I probably should have bought you perfume instead,” I said.

  Kristen shook her head. “No way. I have plenty of perfume and you have plenty of tights. We’re helping each other expand our horizons,” she joked. She started picking up scraps of wrapping paper, and I helped her clean up.

  After throwing everything in the trash, she walked back to the tree and crossed her arms in front of her. “Your tree is gorgeous,” she said. “And you had no idea your mom was going to do all of this?” She looked at me from the corner of her eye.

  I shook my head. “Not even a clue.” I still had an anxious feeling that something wasn’t right, but Mom had acted fine all morning. I figured it was possible she was just getting burned out from working so much. I already planned to find a part-time job after Christmas to help cover my own expenses and wished I’d done it years ago

  “It’s really great,” Kristen said. “Our house is almost depressing this year.” She sat on the couch and looked up at me.

  “Why’s that?” I asked, surprised. I always pictured Kristen having the perfect home life. Her parents were married so she lived with both her mom and dad and all three of them always seemed to get along. That in itself seemed fairytale perfect to me. I sat on the loveseat across from her and gave her a worried look.

  “Oh, depressing probably isn’t the right word.” She bunched her lips to the side as she searched for a better way to describe it. “I don’t know. It’s just all that stuff with George just happened last week and the fear is still way too fresh in my parent’s minds.”

  That made sense. Her family was very close. I imagined almost losing their only daughter had hit them hard. I gave her a sympathetic look.

  Kristen tried to smile, but her lips turned down at the corners. “I get it. I really do.” She pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. “I just want to put all that behind me, and they keep treating me like I’m some kind of fragile ornament,” she flicked a glance at the ornament covered tree, “that could shatter at any moment.”

  I felt sorry for her. I was sure she did want to forget about the danger she’d been in, but I doubted her parents would forget about it anytime soon. “That’s the thing about parents,” I said, scrunching my lips to the side sympathetically. “I think they’re programmed to worry. They can’t help themselves.”

  “I guess. I’m just tired of it all.” Kristen plopped back against the couch and crossed her arms. “Matt and I have to relive that night every time we run into someone who wants to hear the whole story all over again. Everyone thinks our story is so exciting. I’ll be thankful when something else happens around here and we become old news.”

  “I’m sure. Well, maybe Danny and Jace’s fight will take some of the spotlight off you.” I rolled my eyes.

  “It actually did.” She wrinkled her nose. “Thanks to Kara, everyone was talking about that at the party last night instead of me for a change.”

  I snorted and crossed my arms. “I’m so glad you’re benefiting from my pain.”

  Kristen swished a dismissive hand through the air. “The focus will be off you before you know it. That’s just the nature of the beast. The freshest gossip wins.”

  “Hopefully, something major happened at the party last night that people can move on to.”

  Kristen folded her tights and carefully laid them back in the box, setting the lid on top. “What happened to you last night? I never saw you come back inside after you went out back.”

  “Ugh.” I laid my head back against the love seat and stared at the ceiling. “I had to get out of there.”

  Kristen darted a look at me. “Did Kara do something? She dug around all night trying to get the whole story behind you and Jace. Was she poking at you too?”

  I shook my head. “No, I wish that was it. I went outside to escape her and everyone else and ran into Jace.”

  “Oh!” Kristen gasped, leaning closer.

  Now I had her full attention.

  “So, what did he say? Did you guys work things out?”

  I gave a harsh laugh and rubbed my forehead. “Not exactly. When I say I ran into Jace I mean I literally ran into Jace. I heard someone on the path so I hid behind a tree while he and his new girlfriend walked by. When I tried to peek out and see what they were doing I stumbled and ran right into him. Definitely not one of my finest moments.”

  I decided I could leave out the part where I’d been preparing to confess my feeling to Jace. The moment was humiliating enough without adding to it.

  “What?!” Kristen’s eyes bulged out and she leaned forward even more.

  “I don’t know.” I cringed, wondering again not only why I’d hid, but why it had to be Jace that walked by. “He and Jules were out there alone and they sounded pretty friendly, and then the stupid tree I was hiding behind gave way under my hand, and I lost my balance.” I shrugged with a helpless expression. “Next thing I knew I was pushing Jace down the path. I almost fell at his feet.”

  Kristen’s eyes were huge but her chest started to vibrate. She quickly put her hand over her mouth.

  “It’s so not funny.” I shook my head, but watching her struggle to hide her laughter made me start to laugh. “It could have been anyone out there.” I moaned. “There must have been a hundred people at the party. But no, it has to be Jace, and I have to go and look like a stalker.”

  Kristen gave up on trying to control herself and let out a loud laugh. “Oh wow!” Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. “I can’t even imagine what he thought.”

  “Oh, I can imagine.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s probably good he and Jules are together because there’s no way he’d ever give someone like me a chance. I’m either bawling all over him, getting him beat up, or spying on him like a psycho girlfriend. Oh!” I exclaimed, remembering my humiliation didn’t end there. “Then I almost staked him with my key when I thought he was following me to my car.”

  “No way!” Kristen slapped her knee, apparently finding my last revelation the icing on the cake. She laughed so hard it took her a while to catch her breath.

  Her laughter actually did tons to lift my mood, but I grumbled anyway. “Thanks, my friend. I feel so reassured now.”

  “Michelle,” Kristen wiped her eyes again and tried to force her face into a serious expression that ended up looking pained. “Jace likes you. I know he does. He’s not interested in anyone else.”

  I shrugged. I wanted to believe her, but I couldn’t. My emotional roller coaster was veering off the tracks. I couldn't take any more ups and downs right now.

  “It’s not like I saw them kissing or anything.” I looked down at my tights, trying to focus on the happy little Christmas trees, but all I could see was Jace standing beside Jules. “They just sounded very friendly.”

  “No,” Kristen said firmly. “I don’t see it. And isn’t Jules dating that guy from Springfield?”

  “And what?” I looked up at her. “You don’t think people can break up and move on quickly. I’m pretty sure the two of us are a perfect example of just that.”

  Kristen wrinkled her nose at me but said, “I don’t think there’s anything between them.”

  “Whether there is or not, I don’t think he’s ever going to be interested in me now.”

  She gave me a pitying smile. “And you want him to be.”

  I sighed. “I know it sounds crazy since I thought my life was over when Danny moved less than a week ago, but I do. I really do. There’s just something about him. He’s so kind and easy to be around. I always find myself looking forward to the next time I’ll see him as soon as he leaves.” I stared at the twink
ling lights on the tree for a minute, trying to understand why I was so drawn to him.

  With a guilty feeling in my stomach, I added, “And what about Danny? We haven’t officially broken up yet. I should really talk to him before I move on to someone else, shouldn’t I?”

  Kristen looked down for a second, studying her short pink fingernails. “I wasn’t going to say anything because I heard it from Kara, and you know she sometimes says stuff just to get a rise out of people.” She peeked up at me.

  A feeling of dread crept through me replacing the guilt I felt. I couldn’t even imagine what Kara could have come up with that would have Kristen reluctant to repeat it.

  “Just let me have it,” I said with a weary sigh.

  “Well, you might not have to worry about breaking up with Danny.”

  I just raised a brow.

  Kristen let out a long breath then raced on. “According to Kara, Danny got back with his ex-girlfriend and was going to break the news when he saw you yesterday. Supposedly his girlfriend rode down with him and was hanging out at Kara’s house while Danny came to see you. To break up.”

  Kristen saw my look of shock and added, “But, like I said, there’s no telling if that’s true or if Kara was just trying to start some more drama.”

  Humph. I sat back, feeling overwhelmed. I remembered hearing that bubbly voice in the background when I’d talked to Danny, but I honestly hadn’t expected something to be going on between them, or had I? I guess I’d started to suspect something was up when I saw them at the game.

  “I’m sorry,” Kristen hurried to say, but I shook my head.

  “I don’t know why I’m surprised,” I said, and I really didn’t. I knew things were over between us. “I guess I just expected an official breakup before he moved on.”

  “You probably would have gotten it if Danny hadn’t seen you with Jace.”

  “I guess.” I frowned. “So why was Danny so upset when he saw me with Jace if he had a girl waiting for him at Kara’s?”

  Kristen didn’t even have to think about it before she said one word. “Pride.” She shrugged with a knowing smile. “Even if Danny had moved on he probably wasn’t prepared to see you do the same thing.”

  I tried to analyze how Kristen’s news made me feel. Hurt? Relieved? Like the biggest loser in the dating world?

  “Listen,” Kristen said, drawing my attention back to her. “I won’t betray any confidences, but I think you really should move on too. No matter what you’re worried he thinks about you, don’t give up on Jace yet.”

  I shot her a puzzled look. “What’s that supposed to mean? Did you and Jace talk about me?”

  Kristen’s eyes shone with excitement, and she smiled but pinched her lips together with her fingers while shrugging.

  “You did!” Suddenly all thoughts of Danny with a little blond cheerleader on his arm vanished. I hopped off the loveseat and planted my fists on my hips. “You’re my best friend. You have to tell me what he said. It’s like a law of friendship or something.”

  “Nope.” She was fighting hard not to tell me I could tell. “He made me pinky promise. He said you told him a pinky promise couldn’t be betrayed.”

  My arms dropped to my sides as I remembered sitting in the diner with my finger locked with his. I narrowed my eyes and shot a look at Kristen’s beaming face. “Did he tell you to tell me that?”

  She grinned. “I think he wanted to be sure you knew he’s been asking about you.”

  I started to smile but stopped and let my head fall back. “That was before I spied on him. Or fell out of the bushes on him. Or almost gave him the vampire treatment.”

  Kristen snickered.

  “Now at the best, he’s going to know I’m clumsy, but at the worst, he’ll think I was following him. I wouldn’t be interested if I found out he was secretly following me around. I mean, not that I really was, but I know that’s how it looked.”

  Kristen gave me a sympathetic smile, but no matter how much I alternately begged and threatened she wouldn’t tell me what Jace had said.

  Chapter 22

  Mom and I opened presents Christmas Eve right after dinner. Every year since I was a little girl she’d given me money for Christmas since she just didn’t have a lot of time to shop, but this year I had actual presents.

  As much as I liked getting money, I had to admit it was fun unwrapping gifts. She’d bought me some cute clothes—including two pairs of decorative tights and a large black purse that I loved.

  She seemed to like the perfume and books I ended up getting for her. We enjoyed the Christmas tree for awhile then she headed to bed, leaving me alone with a pile of gifts and my thoughts.

  I spent some time cleaning up the living room, even going so far as to fluff the pillows on the couch and run a dust rag over the tables and TV. I didn’t blame Mom for going to bed early. She was still beat from all the hours she’d been putting in, and she’d have to go back to work right after the holiday. I just didn’t want to be alone right now.

  I’d been driving myself crazy all day trying to figure out what Jace had said about me to Kristen. It could have been anything, from “why was I dating a jerk like Danny” to “did Kristen think I liked him?”

  I really wished Kristen had just told me, but I understood why she didn’t. She was a good friend and wouldn’t betray someone like that. But, man! I was dying of curiosity.

  I was afraid to get my hopes up too much. Whether they were friends or something more he’d definitely been hanging out with Jules last night.

  I’d been checking my phone for texts all day. I had some from friends wishing me a Merry Christmas but none from Jace. Or Danny for that matter. I didn’t even expect to hear from Danny. It just seemed so strange that he’d been such a huge part of my life for so long and was now simply gone.

  I thought maybe I should send him a quick text wishing him a Merry Christmas but decided it was probably best to let some time pass before I tried to smooth things over with him. If I ever did. His new girlfriend probably wouldn’t appreciate me texting him anyway.

  I spent even more time contemplating sending the same text to Jace. Merry Christmas was short and sweet. There was no way it could be misinterpreted. I could send him those two words and then the ball would be in his court. If I didn’t hear back from him then I wasn’t really any worse off than I was now. But if I did. . .

  I shook my head and unplugged the Christmas tree lights. He could send me a text or call anytime. He didn’t have to wait to hear from me first. I was continuously finding myself in embarrassing situations around him. It was probably best just to put him out of my mind.

  But I couldn’t. Not completely. I made sure the lights were all off downstairs and checked the locks on the doors before heading to my room. I wondered what Jace was doing for Christmas Eve. Would he be with his family at home? Maybe they went out of town for the holiday. The thought that kept poking at me was that maybe he was with Jules.

  I made myself comfortable in my chair, swinging both legs up over the arm and bit my lip while I stared at my phone. I hadn’t heard from Jules today. My thoughts spun. I could wish her a Merry Christmas. Maybe ask what she was up to. If she just happened to mention something about Jace I might be able to get some answers.

  Before I could stop myself I typed Merry Christmas! and hit send. And then I stared at my phone, breathlessly waiting for her reply. Thankfully she texted me back right away.

  Merry Christmas! she replied. And that was it.

  “Ugh!” That told me nothing. I almost texted again and flat out asked if she and Jace were dating, but I just couldn’t. I dropped my phone and held my aching head. I stared at the romantic movie posters on my walls and ran through each theme, wondering if maybe I could learn something from one of them, but my problems were in a class of their own.

  Girl loves guy. Guy isn’t all she thought he was. Other guy is more than she expected and girl starts to like him. He likes other girl. Yep, that was my life in
a nutshell. I just wasn’t sure where I’d gone wrong. I mean, okay, I’d obviously pinned feelings on Danny that he just didn’t have for me. . . And I guessed that was the beginning of the end right there.

  My question now was if I was doing the same thing with Jace. I thought he liked me, he’d given me so many signs that he did, but if that was true why was he with Jules last night?

  I grabbed Jace’s book ready to bury my trouble under someone else’s and was surprised to see I’d almost read the whole thing already. I was impressed by how Jace wrote the story so smoothly that it was easy to forget I was reading. It felt more like I was part of the book.

  Just like the night before I again read until I fell asleep. This time I woke still propped up against the headboard with a major kink in my neck. I massaged my neck with a moan as I listened for signs that Mom was up. The house was quiet. I only had a few pages left so I decided to see if I could finish it up. I couldn’t wait to see how the story ended.

  Only pride stood between the love the main characters so clearly felt for each other, and I was so frustrated with both of them I wanted to tell them both to shape up and stick their pride in the trash. I hoped Jace would end up doing that before the story ended, otherwise, I might have to have a little talk with him about reader expectations.

  After a while, I heard Mom moving around in the kitchen. I only had a few paragraphs left so flew through them as fast as I could read. There were tears in my eyes by the last page but happiness in my heart.

  “Ahhh.” I clutched the book against my chest. Boy and girl overcome even the largest obstacles in the name of true love. Jace knew all about reader expectations. What a terrific book with an even better ending.

  I reluctantly set the book on my nightstand and ran a brush through my hair. Then I did one more thing before going down and helping Mom. I had a little present for Jace. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever actually give it to him, but it was ready now if I wanted to.

  Mom looked good today. I decided all the rest she was getting was finally starting to pay off. She wore her long hair down for a change, and I realized it was longer than mine now, hitting her mid back. A red Christmas apron covered her sweatshirt and jeans and she looked trim and fit. A large ham was already in the oven and homemade cranberry sauce bubbled on the stove.