Lads & Lattes (High School Clowns & Coffee Grounds Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  “Why would you need to know?” I smarted, pulling a notebook and pen out to take notes.

  “Well,” he dragged out, “I was going to see if I could help in any of your other classes, but if that’s how it’s going to be…” He trailed off shrugging one shoulder. I pursed my lips knowing I should accept his help, but after the last several days of being let down by everyone, I wasn’t sure I wanted to rely on somebody.

  He did change my tire out of the goodness of his heart though.

  He seemed to be watching me flit through my back and forth mental argument, his lips twitching when he saw me make my decision. Digging out my schedule, I passed it over to him with a huff. After flashing me a cocksure smile, he examined my schedule. We didn’t talk through the rest of class as Miss Ester lectured about different things I had already covered in my last school. I took notes anyway, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to have a refresher since there was a test next week. The bell rang signifying the end of class. Stuffing everything back into my bag, I reached for my schedule, but Reid pulled it out of my reach before I could take it back.

  “Reid!” I snapped exasperatedly. I just wanted to make it through the rest of the day, and I couldn’t do that without knowing where to go. He hooked his arm over my shoulder once more and dragged me along into the crowded hallways. “What are you doing?” I whined. I had to lean into his muscled chest to avoid running into people, purposely ignoring how warm or solid his body felt against me.

  “Walking you to”—he paused glancing down at my schedule—“AP English.” Navigating the hallway under his arm was difficult at my 5’5” height when he was easily 6’, but somehow we managed. He high-fived people he knew or gave a wave with a warm smile as we walked. Reid seemed to know almost everyone in the school, including the teachers. Girls threw flirty smiles at him as he walked by and batted their eyelashes at him while guys did their usual bro-macho passing greetings of ‘sup’ or ‘hey dude.’ I forced myself to pay attention to where we were walking despite having eyes watching me under his arm or that I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I wanted to be able to find my way tomorrow when I did this on my own because I knew this wouldn’t become an everyday thing.

  “Hey, Reid,” a smooth greeting sounded from the opposite side of him. The melodic tone of the man’s voice reminded me of a finely tuned guitar, and I immediately felt my breath catch when I saw who the voice belonged to. He was tall, taller than Reid by an inch or two, with golden blond hair that was combed away from his face like Reid’s, only his was mostly straight instead of curly. His warm tan skin tone reminded me of the guys back home, and his handsome face was framed by a short beard. His body was lean and clothed in a denim chambray button-up and khakis, and cognac colored boots adorned his feet. His saturated coffee brown eyes glanced at me curiously from where I was tucked under Reid’s arm.

  “Kingston, I want you to meet the new girl.” Reid tugged me forward so I was standing directly in front of his friend. Two large hands rested on my shoulders as Reid held me steadfast between them, his breath shifting my hair slightly as he introduced me. “Emma, this is one of my best buddies, Kingston. He’s in your AP English class.”

  “Hi,” I squeaked. Smashing my lips together, I focused on keeping my heart from pitter-pattering out of my chest at their combined attentions.

  “Hey.” He gave me a soft smile, but before either of them could say more, the warning bell rang signifying class would be starting shortly. Reid shifted me once again and squeezed me to his muscled torso in a brief side hug before taking off down the hall. Dark, curly hair flopped on top of his head as he swerved around the other students on his way to make it to class on time. When I turned back toward the classroom, Kingston was holding it open for me to enter. His hand came to rest on my lower back when I passed, and he walked me up to our teacher who was standing by his desk.

  “Mr. Wright, this is Emma. The new student.” Kingston took the lead introducing me to the tall, lanky man before me. Mr. Wright’s head was shaved in a buzzcut and a pair of sharp green eyes focused on me at Kingston’s words.

  “Ms. Clark”—Mr. Wright handed me a copy of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky—“we’re currently reading this. An essay based on the topic assigned on your syllabus will be due Friday, but since you are arriving late I will give you until next Wednesday.” I took the materials he handed me and waited patiently while he signed my paper from the office. Kingston’s hand stayed on my back, the warmth of his touch nearly burning my skin with how much focus I was putting on it.

  In a similar fashion to what Reid had done, his ‘best buddy’ led me to a desk and proceeded to have me sit next to him. I focused on pulling my materials out of my bag, feeling Kingston’s gaze on me every so often from his leaned back, relaxed position in his chair, but I didn’t look at him because if I did, I’d probably embarrass myself.

  And trust me, no one wants to see that.

  To distract from the urge to look over at him, I busied myself with my usual routine before classes. Nibbling on my lip, I doodled quickly in the top corner of my blank notebook page. The little inked character was frowning back at me as I made the usual speech bubble next to the little drawing writing “two classes down, five to go.”

  A small musical chuckle pulled me out of my focus and I glanced over at Kingston. His gaze drifted from my doodle to my face; the hint of laughter filled his eyes making the coffee brown irises stand out. I immediately tensed, embarrassed that he had noticed my ritual.

  So naturally, I had to immediately embarrass myself further.

  “Did you know Johnny Cash was also an artist?” I asked hurriedly, my voice pitched up in my urge to redirect his focus. I nodded absently as I talked, barely waiting for him to shake his head. “Mhm. His painting, Flight, was highly sought after but he was too busy with music to produce much art. Yup!”

  So much for not embarrassing myself.

  “That’s very interesting, Emma,” he commented with a tiny smile. Internally groaning, I gave him a forced and awkward grin in return thankful that the teacher started talking essentially saving me from embarrassing myself more.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look over at Kingston for the rest of class and when the bell rang, I shot out of my chair and practically ran out of the room, frazzled not only from that interaction with Kingston but from all of the attention I had been receiving. Getting lost in the crowd of students, I walked several hallways over to my nutrition class. The class passed the same as all the others; Mrs. Sanders signed my papers, handed me my materials, and let me know what information was being covered. Thankfully, this class didn’t have any homework giving me a slight reprieve on my expanding to-do list. I spent most of the class only half listening since I had taken a health and nutrition class last year in California, splitting my time between taking notes and texting Kara and my other friends under the desk.

  They were hunting for information like sharks that smelled blood in the water. While they asked about Tyler and the breakup, they were more focused on my move. I fielded the inquiries as best I could and asked how things were there to try and redirect their nosy questions, but the bell rang before I could check their responses. Ignoring Tyler’s messages that were still coming in every hour since the party, I shoved my phone into my back pocket. Weaving around my fellow students, I made my way back upstairs to the classroom I was in earlier for homeroom since Mr. Fergusen was also my Civics teacher. I had just taken a seat when the familiar scent of Old Spice surrounded me.

  “You’re in my spot,” Reid teased, “but I’ll forgive you seeing as how you’re new and everything.” I glared over at him. My fuse was growing shorter the longer the day went on, and it wasn’t even noon. I had yet to hear from my dad since before I left for the airport, Tyler’s incessant messaging was wearing on me, and my agitation at every little thing was multiplying. I knew he was trying to make conversation and joke around, but I really didn’t want to keep being reminded that I was new.


  Or that my boyfriend had cheated on me.

  Or that my parents were no longer together.

  Or finally, that I was in the middle of the country while my entire life was back in Cali.

  “I’ll sit somewhere else tomorrow,” I muttered, turning my eyes quickly to my empty notebook page as they filled with tears. The compounding events over the weekend were finally taking their emotional toll, my chest constricting tightly at the thought of everything.

  “Hey”—he tilted his head down to look at my face—“I was just kidding. You can sit wherever you want. Well, as long as it’s next to me.” I couldn’t help it, but a strangled laugh bubbled out of me at his addition to his statement. “Aha! There’s that smile.” I looked over at him. His amused eyes were bright and a wide smile highlighted white teeth against his warm skin tone. Feeling a blush creep up my neck and cheeks, I gave him a small smirk before turning my attention to the teacher as he started class.

  “Come on, Emma.” Reid’s head jerked toward the door of the classroom as I finished packing up my stuff. My resistance to his attention melted away as he started toward the cafeteria, and I decided to follow him, not wanting to sit alone at lunchtime. Since getting lost in the rush of students was a realistic possibility, I held onto Reid. His black backpack was hanging off one shoulder allowing me to grab ahold of the back of his shirt. The light green material was soft under my fingertips and warm from his skin.

  We ran through the serving area quickly as I made sure to get enough to quell my hunger-a chicken sandwich, some fries, and a banana. Grabbing a bottle of water on my way through the checkout process, I continued to trail after Reid to a table near one of the gym doors. When we reached the table I noticed two other bags tossed on the top, but no one was sitting there.

  “They’re grabbing food,” he answered, having understood my confused expression. “You’ve already met one of them.”

  “Kingston?” I surmised sitting next to Reid.

  “Look at you”—he nudged my elbow—“you’ll be one of us in no time.” I chuckled and took a bite of my sandwich. When Kingston and whoever the other bag belonged to walked back to the table, I looked up, my skin prickling when I saw who the other student was.

  Jesse. The guy who didn’t want to sit next to me in homeroom.

  Don’t worry though, he didn’t lose his attitude in the few hours between homeroom and lunch. His scowl was still firmly in place when he saw me at their table.

  Awesome.

  “Jesse, meet…” Reid started to introduce me.

  “Emma. Yeah, I know,” Jesse cut him off, his voice disinterested and short. Kingston looked at his friend discreetly out of the corner of his eye, his brows furrowing ever so slightly at his gruff attitude.

  “Oh, when did you guys meet?” Reid didn’t seem fazed by Jesse’s interruption, his next question directed at me. “Why didn’t you mention you knew Jesse?” His words held a playful note, an eyebrow raised questioningly at me.

  “I didn’t know you were friends. So, how am I supposed to know when to mention I meet someone?” I pointed out taking another bite. I was determined not to let Jesse’s irritating attitude get to me.

  “She’s got you there.” Kingston smiled at Reid before going back to his food. He seemed content to just hang out at the table, not concerned that I was new or that I was sitting with them.

  “Where’d you move from anyway?” Reid’s question was muffled behind his hand as he chewed an overly large bite of hamburger.

  “California,” I answered as I finished my sandwich and started in on my fries.

  “Senior?” Reid continued his questions. I nodded, feeling my phone start to vibrate in the steady pattern of a call. Pulling it out, I saw Tyler’s name flash on the screen before I ignored the call and laid it on the table. “What brought you to The Good Life?”

  “The what?” I asked confused. What the heck is that?

  “The Good Life, it’s one of the slogans used for Nebraska,” Reid supplied. I barely restrained the urge to roll my eyes. Being in the middle of nowhere was not ‘The Good Life.’

  Not to me, anyway.

  “My mom got a new job”—I swallowed back the surge of emotion as I spoke—“and my parents were getting divorced, so apparently I had to tag along on this cross-country adventure.” Reid nodded, but before he could ask another question my phone started to ring yet again. I picked it up to ignore the call when Reid plucked my phone from my fingers and answered it.

  “Yellow,” he dragged out the playful greeting despite my shocked face.

  He seriously just answered my phone.

  I mean, who does that?

  “Emma is right here”—he paused and glanced over at me—“and I’m Reid.” I shook myself out of my stupor and snatched my phone from him.

  “What do you want, Tyler?” I rubbed my forehead before propping my elbows on the table and shoving my tray away.

  “Who the hell was that? Why haven’t you been answering my texts? Did you seriously move because of me?” he rattled off, his questions growing increasingly angry and full of disbelief.

  “Obviously my new boyfriend Tyler, because it’s my first day at a new school and I have no problems shoving my tongue down some random person’s throat like you. Seriously? He’s just a friend of mine. I haven’t answered because I don’t want to talk to you and no, I did not move away because of you,” I drawled out, not wanting to deal with this. This is just what I wanted to deal with today. Not.

  “I miss you, babe,” he pleaded. “When are you coming home?”

  “I don’t know when I’m visiting, and even if I was, I wouldn’t see you.” I sighed, my arm dropping to the table. Purposely ignoring the curious gazes of my tablemates, I stared at the far wall of the cafeteria.

  “Why? I said I was sorry. It was a mistake, Emma. You’re the only one I want. Can we please get back together?”

  I ground my teeth at his incessant begging. Does he not understand what the word “no” means?

  “No. We’re not getting back together.” I saw the guys’ eyebrows raise at my harsh and irritable tone. “I freaking walked in on you about to screw someone from my English class! Not just no, but hell no.” I hung up, dropped my phone on the table, and covered my face. I groaned miserably when I heard the phone start to go off again, but it was immediately cut off. Looking down in confusion, I saw Reid had ignored the call.

  “Well,” he started. At least he has the decency to look a little bad. “That was not what I was expecting.” I continued to glare at him as his tanned, stubble-covered cheeks began to turn red. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t do it again unless I say it’s okay.” I gave in, tired of being angry. I turned off my cell and shoved it in my bag.

  “So, friend, huh?” he teased, essentially breaking the tension around the table. Kingston laughed and shook his head while I couldn’t hide the smile that spread across my face. Jesse though… he still looked peeved.

  “I guess,” I teased back, “you didn’t exactly give me a choice on tagging along throughout the day. ”

  “That’s what us midwesterners are known for, don’t you know?” Reid spouted playfully. “We’re all about the friendliness. Forget about southern hospitality, they don’t have anything on us.” I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration but couldn’t stop the tiny curl to my lip.

  “Well, it’s certainly not like I was expecting here that’s for sure,” I joked back. “You guys actually drive cars to school, not tractors or horses.” No joke, Kara actually spouted that to me yesterday saying it was something she had heard they did here. Reid and Kingston burst out laughing; apparently even Jesse thought it was funny because his lip twitched just a bit before smoothing over into his irritated frown.

  “And you’re not blonde haired and super tan from spending all your time surfing or laying out on the beach,” Reid shot back with cocky smile. “Do you always believe what you hear?” I scoffed, my eyes narrowing on him.


  “Of course not,” I huffed. “I also never said I was the one who said tha…” I trailed off when I saw him trying hide a laugh behind a hand realizing he was joking. “Ha ha,” I hummed flatly, “very funny.” At that he couldn’t hold it in.

  “I’m glad you’re not like that otherwise you’d fall in your own valley girl stereotype there, Cali girl.” I glared at him playfully trying not to think about the warm tingles that filled me.

  “What other classes do you have?” Kingston asked. His laid back demeanor emanated from across the table calming my spiraling thoughts about Reid and his nickname for me. I breathed a sigh of relief at the change of topic, although Kingston’s gaze focusing on my face didn’t help the little wiggle of butterflies in my stomach.

  “Uh”—I dug in my bag and pulled out the wrinkled paper—“trig, AP chem, and dance.”

  “Who’s your teacher for trig?” Kingston’s smooth voice had little butterflies taking off in my stomach while Reid’s vivid eyes, which were trained on my face intently, had me blushing.

  “Mrs. Hazel.” I tilted my head to read the paper that was upside down as I had started to tuck it back in my bag.

  “Me too.” Kingston smiled, and I’m pretty sure I felt my heart stutter painfully in my chest. “I’ll walk you.” They started to stand and gather their bags, the clock showing a couple of minutes before the warning bell would go off. I took my time tossing my tray to calm my racing heart.

  Two insanely attractive guys who want to be friends?

  Well, technically three, but only two seem content to keep me around.

  I’m so screwed.

  3

  September 4th

  First, a guy I don’t even know is snippy with me and then Turdastic Tyler calls ruining a perfectly good lunch.

  #ISuckAtMakingFriends #DouchebagExBoyfriend #TickedOffTuesday

  The next class passed quickly with Kingston sitting next to me in trig. The easy smile that he kept throwing me made my cheeks burn. Jesse was in my AP chem class. Pretty sure he didn’t want me to sit next to him, but Kingston walked me into the lab and deposited me next to his friend. I kept my eyes forward on the notes Mr. Davids was writing on the whiteboard, but I felt animosity flowing off him in harsh waves. As soon as the bell rang, Jesse hopped up like his stool was on fire and took off out the lab door. I sighed, unsure of what I’d done to him to make him hate me so much, but I decided that was on him.