Excerpt 1
Summer… I can’t help but smile. This one will be like no other. High school will be over, and I’ll be heading off to college in the fall. I’m so ready to leave this small town behind. 

It’s not a bad place to live, but I’m psyched to move to an actual city where the downtown is larger than a four-block radius. And I’m eager to get my career started. Working probably isn’t what gets most eighteen-year-olds jacked up, but I know the direction I want to go, and I’m motivated to get there.

Hayden walks ahead of me without a backward glance, unlocking his early graduation gift—a shiny, new black Mustang. The jackass is sulking. 

Reaching for the handle, I happen to look left and catch sight of a herculean figure walking on the sidewalk toward me. His head is down, face mysteriously shadowed by a hooded sweatshirt pulled low over his eyes. Somehow, he must sense me staring because he stops and snaps his head up, then looks around like I’m blocking his path and isn’t sure what to do about it.

“Are you coming?” Hayden says over the roof of his car with a tinge of annoyance.

“Yeah, sorry.” After opening my door, I glance back. The stranger is walking at a brisk pace across the street.

After we’re both seated in the car, he says, “Do you know that guy?” 

“No, but I think I startled him.” I pull the seatbelt across my chest and secure it. 

“Well, it seems like you did.” He starts the car with a vroom. “Is there something I should know about?”

“No.” My heart races at the aggressive sound of the engine. “I’ve never seen him before.” I’m still plagued with nightmares and struggle with other people driving, all because of the accident I was in with my father when I was thirteen. Hayden knows this. 

The drive to my house is silent, and I wonder about the sudden awareness I had back at the restaurant. Am I really going to break up with him? I doubt he’s ever been dumped before. The guy is high school royalty. And it’s going to mess up our friend group, not to mention our plans for prom in two months. Maybe I’m being too hasty this time. I mean, aside from occasional insensitivity, the escalating moodiness, and the increase in his drinking, what’s really wrong with him?

Yeah, aside from all that, my brain shouts back at me. 

Excerpt 2
“Are you listening to me?” Rowan grips me by the shoulder, stopping me in the middle of the hallway as students continue around us like water around a boulder.

“What did you say?” I’m only half listening because my mind is racing through all the things I need to get done after I finish work today. Her mouth falls open. “Kidding,” I say. “I’m kidding. I don’t have an opinion either way.”

“But you have to,” she says half-hysterically, throwing her hands in the air. “It’s prom! The theme is everything. And I just think ‘A Night Under the Stars’ is absurdly unoriginal. They should have had a vote with the entire school, not just the student council. They’re all a bunch of geeks, anyway.” 

I scrunch up my face in distaste. “No, they’re not.”

“She didn’t mean it like that.” Tish gives Rowan a dirty look, concerned for everyone’s feelings, as usual. 

“Yes. She did,” I snap. “Just because someone is intelligent or doesn’t conform to social norms doesn’t make them a geek. And why are you just commenting about this now? They announced it months ago.”

Rowan shrugs, the messy top knot of black coils bobbing on top of her head as she does. “I just noticed the posters.”

“A student vote would have been better,” Tish throws out, probably to stop an argument from unfolding. “The student council could have picked four theme ideas, and the students could have voted.”

At the ridiculousness of this conversation, I roll my eyes away from her and see an unmistakable figure in a dark-hooded sweatshirt and jeans walking past us. Seeing him this close, I realize the guy is not only huge but seriously muscular.

“It’s him!” I smack Rowan’s arm several times in excitement.

“Ow.” She bats my hand away, annoyed. “Why are you hitting me? It’s who?”

“The guy.”

“What guy?” Tish follows my line of sight.

“I’ll be right back.” I can’t believe he goes to our school and I’ve never seen him before. Maybe he’s new to town. It would explain why he suddenly appeared on my radar. 

Why do I even care? He’s just another guy with his head downcast, hands jammed into his front pockets, trying to be invisible. 

No, there’s something vaguely familiar about him, which doesn’t make sense. I’ve never even seen his face.

“Hey,” I say, coming up beside him. 

He doesn’t respond. Just continues walking. 

Maybe he’s shy? 

He could have impaired hearing. 

I try again, this time, gripping his forearm. “Have you been following me?” I tease, thinking he’d recognize me from the other day. When he stops short and glacier-blue eyes bore into mine, I quickly realize my mistake and drop my hand immediately. “Sorry,” I say, my heart beating double time. 

A loud noise causes both our heads to turn down the hall. Two guys are pushing each other—a fight is ready to explode. When I turn back, the guy has disappeared into the crowd.