still had ahead. Prom, Ditch Day, the Senior Trip, and college.
We could see the bonfire from pretty far away. It was huge. Nobody ever did anything halfway here. This was the South; everything was big. When we got there the crowd had already grown to a considerable size. It was a small island where not very much happened, so when it did, everyone showed up.
As soon as we got close, Veronica made a beeline for me and grabbed my arm.
“Finally! Where have you been? I’ve been texting you.” She dragged me away from the fire to where Laken was looking anxious. I pulled out my phone and saw that it was on silent. Oops.
“What’s going on?” I asked, turning the sound back on and shoving it in the pocket of my new jeans.
“Walker has been talking to Regina Finster all night and ignoring Laken.” Veronica looked at Laken, who was trying not to look upset, but I could tell she was struggling.
“It’s fine. Whatever. I mean, he can do whatever he wants. We aren’t official. I just wish he would say something instead of pretending he likes me all day and then acting like an ass because he’s drinking,” Laken said.
I could tell she was more upset than she was saying, and I didn’t blame her. What a jerk. Sometimes I understood why my mom said dating in high school was a bad idea.
“You know what to do?” I asked.
They both nodded. We took off toward the fire. We found the nearest bunch of people and started laughing and talking like we were having the time of our lives. We weren’t flirting as much as just doing our best to make sure Walker would see Laken having a good time without him.
We had a pact with a set of rules. We called it “IGIT.” It stood for Idiot Guy in Training. Sometimes it stood for Idiot Girl, depending on the situation.
We had seen many a girl get her heart broken by guys thinking they had the upper hand. These guys would start ignoring them, and the girls would just get more and more desperate. We had decided we would not be those girls. We would not be caught looking like we were upset in public if a guy turned. We were not desperate females.
IGIT was born.
We circulated, smiling and laughing our way around the bonfire. I wasn’t drinking—not really my thing. I don’t like feeling out of control, and in general, drunk people look stupid. So when I noticed Holden acting like even more of a jackass than normal, I decided to give him a wide berth. As I went to go around his back, he turned around.
“Aurora, my love, what are you drinking?”
Crap. He was slurring and sort of leaning toward me.
“Water, Holden. You know me—I’m a big partier.” I was trying to make my exit, but he grabbed my arm.
“Let’s get you something stronger than that. You can’t drink water at a party. That’s just wrong.”
“No, really, I’m good. I’m gonna go find Veronica.” I tried to pull my arm free, but he didn’t budge. “Holden, let go.” I looked around for Dominic and noticed he was down by the water with a bunch of guys playing football. I didn’t want to cause a scene and shout for him. I could handle this.
Just when I was starting to get really annoyed, I saw Holden look up. He must have seen someone else he wanted to irritate because his face lit up. I was relieved, but then my stomach flip-flopped when I heard Holden call out.
“Hey, everybody, look—it’s our new neighborhood drug dealer. Got any meth?” He was laughing like he was the funniest person on the planet. He still had a hold of my arm. I tried pulling back again, but he tightened his grip. I looked up, and Gage was right in front of me glaring at Holden like he was going to kill him.
“She said let go.” He was a good three or four inches taller than Holden, and his stance made it clear he was serious. This was going bad fast.
“What are you gonna do about it, loser?” Holden’s tone was mocking.
Gage reached out and grabbed the hand Holden had on my arm and yanked it off. He shoved Holden
We could see the bonfire from pretty far away. It was huge. Nobody ever did anything halfway here. This was the South; everything was big. When we got there the crowd had already grown to a considerable size. It was a small island where not very much happened, so when it did, everyone showed up.
As soon as we got close, Veronica made a beeline for me and grabbed my arm.
“Finally! Where have you been? I’ve been texting you.” She dragged me away from the fire to where Laken was looking anxious. I pulled out my phone and saw that it was on silent. Oops.
“What’s going on?” I asked, turning the sound back on and shoving it in the pocket of my new jeans.
“Walker has been talking to Regina Finster all night and ignoring Laken.” Veronica looked at Laken, who was trying not to look upset, but I could tell she was struggling.
“It’s fine. Whatever. I mean, he can do whatever he wants. We aren’t official. I just wish he would say something instead of pretending he likes me all day and then acting like an ass because he’s drinking,” Laken said.
I could tell she was more upset than she was saying, and I didn’t blame her. What a jerk. Sometimes I understood why my mom said dating in high school was a bad idea.
“You know what to do?” I asked.
They both nodded. We took off toward the fire. We found the nearest bunch of people and started laughing and talking like we were having the time of our lives. We weren’t flirting as much as just doing our best to make sure Walker would see Laken having a good time without him.
We had a pact with a set of rules. We called it “IGIT.” It stood for Idiot Guy in Training. Sometimes it stood for Idiot Girl, depending on the situation.
We had seen many a girl get her heart broken by guys thinking they had the upper hand. These guys would start ignoring them, and the girls would just get more and more desperate. We had decided we would not be those girls. We would not be caught looking like we were upset in public if a guy turned. We were not desperate females.
IGIT was born.
We circulated, smiling and laughing our way around the bonfire. I wasn’t drinking—not really my thing. I don’t like feeling out of control, and in general, drunk people look stupid. So when I noticed Holden acting like even more of a jackass than normal, I decided to give him a wide berth. As I went to go around his back, he turned around.
“Aurora, my love, what are you drinking?”
Crap. He was slurring and sort of leaning toward me.
“Water, Holden. You know me—I’m a big partier.” I was trying to make my exit, but he grabbed my arm.
“Let’s get you something stronger than that. You can’t drink water at a party. That’s just wrong.”
“No, really, I’m good. I’m gonna go find Veronica.” I tried to pull my arm free, but he didn’t budge. “Holden, let go.” I looked around for Dominic and noticed he was down by the water with a bunch of guys playing football. I didn’t want to cause a scene and shout for him. I could handle this.
Just when I was starting to get really annoyed, I saw Holden look up. He must have seen someone else he wanted to irritate because his face lit up. I was relieved, but then my stomach flip-flopped when I heard Holden call out.
“Hey, everybody, look—it’s our new neighborhood drug dealer. Got any meth?” He was laughing like he was the funniest person on the planet. He still had a hold of my arm. I tried pulling back again, but he tightened his grip. I looked up, and Gage was right in front of me glaring at Holden like he was going to kill him.
“She said let go.” He was a good three or four inches taller than Holden, and his stance made it clear he was serious. This was going bad fast.
“What are you gonna do about it, loser?” Holden’s tone was mocking.
Gage reached out and grabbed the hand Holden had on my arm and yanked it off. He shoved Holden
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