and that made her angry and scared, and wanting nothing more than to run. She looked down at herself, and their words played back in her mind. So what if she was a
size sixteen instead instead of a double zero? Maybe she was thicker than the anorexic girls on the
cheerleading squad, but her weight had never bothered her before. Now, though, hearing Andrea’s
cruel words made her feel very self-conscious. Who else thought the same thing? What difference did
it make anyway? She was who she was, and nothing was going to change that. All she needed to
worry about was getting through the last stretch of school. Then all these assholes could go screw
themselves.
She shoved the books she had been holding when she darted into the bathroom back in her bag.
Stepping out of the stall and gripping her bag tight in one hand, she was so ready for this day to be over with already. A look in the mirror showed her red-rimmed eyes and a cherry colored nose. After
splashing some cold water on her face she came to the conclusion that she wouldn’t be able to wash
away the fact she had been crying. Pulling the bathroom door open she kept her head low in hopes to
go unnoticed. The air left her in a whoosh when she slammed into a hard chest. Her bag fell from her hand, and her books and papers scattered across the hall. The bell rang, and students went to class. Of course no one stopped to help her pick up the crap. Kiera muttered an apology and dropped to her
knees to scoop up her stuff. Her damn tears came back, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to stay at
school. She’d feign sickness, but she didn’t have a ride home. Fuck it, she’d walk home. The time
would help to clear her head.
An arm reached out and picked up her physics book, and she stopped when she saw the tattoos
covering it. Kiera slowly dragged her eyes up the muscular forearm, over the ripped bicep, and
finally to the face of none other than Reese Trenton. God dammit did he have to look so good?
“I’m the one that should apologize. I should have watched where I was going.” His brows
furrowed, and he said, “Hey, you’re crying.”
Shit. She quickly wiped her cheeks, shoved her crap in her bag, and stood. “No, I mean it’s nothing.” She turned to leave, but he touched her shoulder, and she stopped.
“Wait.”
Kiera turned and looked at him. He dropped his hand, and her skin tingled from the contact.
“You okay?”
She swore she would scream if someone else asked her that. “No, I’m not.” She immediately
felt bad for sounding so bitchy, but with her shitty weekend then the rumors and hearing Andrea and
her clan saying those things about her, Kiera just wanted to dive under a rock and never come out.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just been a really crappy day, and it just started.” She offered a smile and lifted her hand in a wave. “Thanks though.”
Kiera tightened her hand on her bag and walked quickly down the hallway. She pushed the front
doors open and stood at the top of the front steps contemplating where she was going to go. Her house was a good hour walk away, but her parents wouldn’t be leaving until at least nine. That gave her two hours to kill. Before she could take a step the front doors opened behind her, and she turned to see Reese standing in the doorway.
“Want some company, or at least a ride home?” The grin he gave her was lopsided and
reminded her of a much younger version of him, maybe not so rough and tough. She looked at his car
then back at him. “I’m harmless, I swear.” He held his hands up and grinned. “Besides, I want to
make sure you’re safe.” His words were sincere, and she felt herself smile and nod. His grin
widened, and he held his arm out for her to lead the way. When they got to his Trans-Am he held the
door open for her, and she ducked her head to hide her smile. For some reason she never saw him as
the gentlemanly type. But then again there was a lot