When the place started to clear out and Mr. Jones couldn’t keep his eyes open a second longer, Eva told me to take off.
I clocked out and walked up to Wyatt with a smile. “Hey.”
He laughed and smiled that panty-melting smile of his. Good Lord, that smile about knocked me to my knees.
“May I take you out for coffee?” he asked as he reached out for my hand.
My heart started pounding.
“Let me take you out for a movie, Sky.”
I started to shake my head, and Wyatt must have noticed how freaked out I was.
“I mean, not on a date… just as friends. I’ll follow you there in your car… you don’t have to drive with me or anything.”
He knows everything. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. My brain clearly wasn’t thinking tonight. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to meet him at the coffee shop.
As we walked out of the pizza shop, I noticed people staring at us. I looked around and saw two girls whispering something to one another as one glared at me like I was a piece of trash.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said as we got outside.
“Skylar, you can’t let what other people say about you run your life. Please come have coffee with me. Please.”
I smiled as I nodded my head. “I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”
I got to my car and called my mom. “Hey, Mom. Um… is it okay if I meet a friend for coffee for just a bit?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“A friend? A girl friend or a guy friend?”
I sucked in a deep breath of air and slowly let it out. “A guy, Mom, but he’s new. He’s offering to help me in calculus, so it’s nothing. Besides, Jenny has her sights on him.”
My mother laughed. “Well, it’s nice of him to ask you and to offer to help.”
I heard the excitement in her voice. My parents knew I was teased at school, but I never let them know how bad it really was. I’d made Mitch swear that he wouldn’t tell them. My father had had a heart attack not long after he found out I was raped, and he didn’t need the added stress.
As I pulled up and parked, I looked into the window. Wyatt was already there, and the waitress was flirting with him. I leaned my head on the steering wheel.
“Shit! What in the hell am I doing?”
I looked back up and just stared at him. He was breathtaking with his dark brown hair and the greenest of green eyes. He had the kind of hair that Michelle called “just fucked” hair—all messy but hot as hell. If I had to guess, I would say he was about five feet ten inches. He was built, really built—more so than Skip.
He looked out the window and saw me sitting in my car. He frowned for just a second before smiling and waving.
I reached over and grabbed my purse and took a deep breath. Here we go. Let’s see how this turns out.
CHAPTER FOUR
Wyatt
I’d never in my life met anyone like Skylar. She was beautiful and funny, and she had the most positive outlook on life, even after everything she’d been through.
“Dreams for after high school?”
She smiled. “To leave Marble Falls… and never look back. I’d like to go to the University of Texas. Get my degree in history. I love history.”
“Teacher?”
“Nah, probably law.” She slowly looked away. She glanced at the time and then turned back to me with a smile. “I guess I should probably head home. My parents might be worried about me.”
I jumped up and started to walk her out to her car. I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and hold her to let her know what it was like to have someone care about her.
“Do you work every day?” I asked right before we got to her car.
“Not every day. I’ve been having a hard time in calculus, so my parents are making me cut back on some hours. We have a big test coming up, so…”
I smiled as I looked into her beautiful blue eyes. She seemed so strong on the outside, but her eyes were so lost. “I’ll help you study. Meet me here tomorrow. What time works for you?”
She let out a small laugh. “How about right after school? I don’t work tomorrow.”
“Perfect! I’ll meet you here, angel.” I almost reached down to kiss her on the cheek before I caught myself.
She smiled and got in her car. I watched her drive off until I couldn’t see her car anymore.
I smiled as I walked back to my car. What is it about her that makes my stomach do twists and turns?
~~~~
Skylar and I had been meeting at the coffee shop for over a few weeks now. When she had to work, I would go and sit in Pizza Mia and wait for her to get off. It wasn’t lost on me that all the people at school were whispering and talking. I even had one asshole ask me if I was fucking her.
Prick.
Mitch had told me yesterday that this was the happiest he’d seen Skylar in a long time. That made my heart swell up. I’d told my parents about her and what had happened to her. My mom, being a therapist, had wanted to know if she had talked to someone about everything.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jenny and her little gang coming in to the pizza shop. They just stood at the entrance for a minute or two. My guess was that they were trying to see where Sky’s section was.
Bitches. Why they couldn’t just leave her alone was beyond me.
Eva was walking by with a soda. When I grabbed it off her tray, she just looked at me. “Sorry, Eva. I’ll pay for it.”
I got up and started making my way over toward Jenny. I knew the moment she saw me, she would bounce right on over.
When she looked up at me, sure enough, she came walking over. I looked away and didn’t stop walking… and I collided straight into her, spilling the soda all over her shirt.
She let out a scream, and I apologized. “Oh shit, Jenny! I didn’t even see you. I’m so sorry.”
She looked pissed, but for some strange reason, she smiled at me.
What in the hell?
“It’s totally okay, Wyatt. Accidents happen right? It’s just a shirt, and it’ll dry. You can make it up to me by sitting with us though.”
Oh hell, that totally just backfired on my ass. I looked up at the clock. Skylar was about to get off work.
“Sorry, Jenny. I’d love to, but Skylar and I are heading to the coffee shop to study for calculus.”
Her eyes turned to pure anger as she looked around me toward Skylar, who was so busy that she didn’t even notice what had happened. “Really? Study partners with the school…” She stopped what she was about to say as she looked back at me.
“Yeah… study partners.” I turned and walked away from Jenny. When I sat down and turned back around, they were gone. I let out the breath I’d been holding. Thank God they left.
When Skylar’s shift ended, I went up to her and got that beautiful drop-me-to-my-knees smile of hers.
“Coffee?” I asked with a wink.
She let out a giggle. “Coffee.”
I pulled up to the coffee shop and got out. I walked in and ordered my coffee and Sky’s since she was going to be a few minutes late getting here. I sat down and took out my notes.
“Hey, handsome.”
I looked up to see Jenny standing there. Fuck me. What does it take for this girl to get a hint? “Hey, Jenny. I’m actually waiting on someone.”
She sat down anyway. I noticed she’d changed her shirt, and the shirt she put on actually caused my dick to jump a little when I looked her up and down. She had on a low-cut, V-neck shirt that practically had her breasts spilling out of it.
Damn, she has a nice body, that’s for sure. But it was nothing I was interested in.
“Listen, Wyatt… some of the football players have been talking. They don’t like that you’re hanging around Skylar. I mean, she has a bit of a reputation.” She licked her lips.
Shit. I really wish she would just leave before Sky gets here.
I looked down at h
er lips as she bit down on her bottom one. I noticed she quickly glanced out the window before leaning over the table as she stared down at my lips. Before I even knew what was happening, she started kissing me. Her lips were so soft, just like how I imagined Skylar’s lips to feel. She let out a moan that snapped me out of it. I pulled back and glared at her.
“What the fuck, Jenny?”
She sat back, glanced out the window, and smiled. I slowly looked out and saw Skylar standing there. She quickly looked back and forth between Jenny and me. I saw tears building in her eyes before she turned and walked back to her car.
I turned back to Jenny. “You planned that, didn’t you?”
She tried to appear stunned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I saw the way you were looking at me, Wyatt. You want it as much as I do.” She winked.
“You’re sick and twisted, you know that?” I shook my head and stood up.
I felt sick to my stomach as I made my way outside to find Skylar.
CHAPTER FIVE
Skylar
“Hey, I thought you had a study date with Wyatt,” my mother called out after I walked in the door.
“Yeah, well, he had other plans.”
I headed up to my bedroom and slammed my door shut. I heard a small knock on the door.
“Are you okay?” my mother asked.
“I’m fine, Mom. Really… it’s okay. I have a lot of studying to do.”
My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see Wyatt was calling. I hit Decline. I opened up my calculus notes and tried to start studying. When I heard my Facebook notification go off, I jumped up and checked it. I was tagged in a picture. I threw my hands up to my mouth and instantly started crying.
Someone had taken a picture of me standing outside the coffee shop, looking at Wyatt kiss Jenny. The caption said, Looks like Wyatt is sending the whore a message!
I closed Facebook and walked back over to my bed. I grabbed my pillow and cried into it, so my mother wouldn’t hear me. I heard a knock on the door.
“Mom, I’m fine!”
“Sky… let me in,” Mitch said.
I got up and opened the door. I tried my best to seem like I was okay.
He looked me up and down, walked into my room, and shut the door. “Wyatt called me, and he’s really upset.”
I just looked at Mitch.
“Skylar, I saw the picture on Facebook. Wyatt is pissed about it. He said that Jenny reached over and kissed him, and she set the whole thing up.”
“Well, he sure looked like he was enjoying it, so—”
Mitch let out a long sigh. “Sky, don’t push him away. He really cares about you, and he doesn’t believe all the bullshit everyone feeds him.”
I sat down on my bed and let a tear slide down my face. “I’ve been getting notes in my locker again.”
Mitch closed his eyes and shook his head. “Sky… you’ve got to tell someone. This has to stop. You aren’t going to be able to take much more of this. Do they say the same thing?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Pretty much, except they keep saying Wyatt is using me to try and get sex… and I’m only good for sex… that kind of thing.”
“That’s bullshit. Sky. You know Wyatt is not after you for that, right? I mean, as much as I hate to say this… he’s a nice guy. I like him. He’s cool, and he really cares about you.”
I stood up and started crying again. “I don’t know anymore, Mitch. I don’t know who to trust and who not to trust. I think it’s best if Wyatt just leaves me alone. I just want to finish school and get the hell out of this town. I’m going to suffocate if I have to stay here any longer. I have enough credits to graduate in December, so I’m going to. I’m going to talk to Mom and Dad about taking a trip before starting college. I just need to get away.”
“Sky, running away is not going to help anything. What are you going to do? Never come home again? You’ll miss prom.”
I started laughing as I shook my head. “Really, Mitch? Prom? Why in the hell would I ever want to go to prom? I’d be the laughingstock of the school.”
There was another knock on my door, and I quickly wiped the tears away.
“Skylar? Mitch?” my mother called from the other side of the door.
Mitch looked at me with pleading eyes. “Sky… please tell her what’s going on.”
I shook my head and gave him a look. “Come in, Mom.”
When she opened the door, I put on a fake smile. “Hey… what’s going on in here? Skylar, you rushed up the stairs so fast.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Nothing. Mitch is trying to talk me out of wanting to graduate early.”
“What? Skylar, we talked about this. Your father and I think it would be best to just finish out your year. There’s no rush here. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
Mitch looked over at me, and I just smiled.
“I just thought it would be nice to take a trip before I started college. You know, get away for a bit. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy.”
My mother laughed. “Honestly, sweetheart, there’s no way in hell that your father and I would ever let you go to Italy alone. We told you that we’ll all go as a family this summer.” She smiled and leaned down to kiss Mitch and then me on the cheek. “Get some rest, Sky. You look tired.” She turned and walked out the door.
I sighed as I fell back on my bed. “I’m never going to get out of this damn town—ever.”
“Skylar, what about Wyatt? He really wants to talk to you.”
I looked over at my brother as I felt tears stinging my eyes. “I think it’s best if Wyatt just leaves me alone. I have a feeling this is not going to blow over fast.”
Mitch shook his head. “I think you should call him.”
“No! He kissed Jenny, and it’s been posted on Facebook for the world to see. I’m done. I just want to finish up the school year. I knew I shouldn’t have even talked to him. What in the hell was I thinking?”
“Sky, he didn’t post the picture.”
“Mitch, please. I need to study. Can I please be alone for just a bit?”
He turned to go. He looked back at me and tried to give me a weak smile. “He knows the truth, and he really does like you, Sky.”
I looked away before Mitch could see another tear rolling down my face. “Yeah… well, I don’t think that’s enough.”
~~~~
For the last few months, I’d done a pretty good job of avoiding Wyatt. Every time he tried to talk to me, I’d just walked away. I’d changed my schedule so that I wasn’t in the same classes as him, and I would either eat my lunch in the library or in my car.
Wyatt had called my cell phone every day, at least twice a day. Jenny was doing everything in her power to remind me how I was not good enough for Wyatt, saying he deserved more than the town whore. The notes were slowly starting to stop. Thank God because I was about to go insane.
Wyatt would still come to my work every now and then, but I did my best to ignore him. My heart broke every time he would plead with me to talk to him.
Standing at my locker, I took in a deep breath of air. I opened it and saw the note fall to the floor. I wasn’t even reading them anymore, but for some reason, this one caught my eye. There was a photo in it. I looked around as I bent down to pick it up. I slowly unfolded it and caught my breath as I saw a picture of Jenny leaning against a wall with Wyatt resting his hand on the wall. He was smiling at her as she laughed. My heart fell to my stomach.
“You finally pushed him away.”
I looked up and saw Michelle, the only friend I had left, staring at me. “What?”
“Sky, did you think he would just sit around and wait for you? It’s been months since you’ve even talked to him. He probably got tired of waiting around for you to come to your damn senses.”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Why are you saying that? You know I can’t, Michelle. They are just going to start up again with all the hate notes and the threats. It’s
better this way. I only have a few more months, and then I’m out of here.”
I glanced up and saw Wyatt walking up to me. “Hey, Skylar. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Michelle gave me a look, and I just stared at her.
“Um… I was actually getting ready to leave. I have a dentist appointment.”
Wyatt smiled that drop-dead gorgeous smile of his, and my heart dropped to my stomach.
“May I walk you out?”
I looked around to see if anyone was watching us. “Uh… sure.” I slammed my locker shut. “I’ll call you later, Michelle.”
Michelle smiled and nodded her head. “Okay, talk to ya later. See ya around, Wyatt.”
“See ya.” Wyatt pushed his hand through his hair.
Oh god, I’ve missed seeing him do that. I felt an ache between my legs, but I pushed it aside.
As we started to walk outside, Wyatt tried his best to make me laugh, and I tried my best not to be charmed by him, but I felt myself smile.
He grabbed me by the arm and stopped walking. “Skylar, please. Please stop ignoring me. I can’t take it. All I do is think about you, and it’s killing me. I miss you, Sky. I miss your laugh, your smile, your touch.”
I thought about the picture of him looking at Jenny, smiling. “Seems to me you and Jenny are getting along just fine.” I jerked my arm from his hand.
Wyatt let out a sigh and started to walk next to me. “Jesus Christ, Skylar. Will you stop with that?” he shouted.
I stopped and turned to look at him.
I noticed someone standing at the top of the stairs, but Wyatt walked closer to me and blocked my view. He grabbed my face, bent down, and kissed me. His soft lips slammed against mine, and I found myself getting lost in the passion of his kiss. I slowly started to move my hands up. I almost wrapped my arms around him to deepen the kiss until I heard someone behind me.
I pulled back and spun around. It was him—Charlie. My heart started beating faster, and my head was spinning.
“She’s a damn good kisser, isn’t she?”
Stories for Amanda Page 10
