I made sure the two of them left before I got into my own car. I turned the key and the engine made a clicking noise before it finally turned over. I heard a distinctive clanging as I pulled out onto the road and knew that couldn’t be good. But as long as the old clunker got me to where I needed to be, I internally promised to have it looked at as soon as I had the cash.
Black River Community College was only fifteen minutes from where I lived but it might as well be on another planet. This was a side of Wellsburg that still looked semi-decent. Well-manicured lawns and pretty brick buildings were everywhere.
I stuck out in my jean shorts and second hand button up shirt like a sore thumb. I had made an effort to look nice today but my wardrobe was severely limited. As I looked around at the other kids in their pretty clothes and nicely trimmed hair, for the first time I was embarrassed by how little I had.
Enough of the feeling sorry for myself shit. That didn’t get me anywhere. I threw my shoulders back and squared my jaw before heading in the direction of the financial aid office.
An hour later I left the building in a bit of a daze. I had gone into the meeting expecting to have the door kicked shut in my face.
What I hadn’t anticipated was to have…options.
That wasn’t something I was accustomed to.
But they were there, shining like new pennies. For the first time in my life, something I wanted might actually happen.
Mrs. Randolph, the head of financial aid at the school, had looked over my GED paperwork. I had done surprisingly well on the test for having barely paid attention during the prep course.
Apparently, given my history in the system as well as my low-income status, I qualified for several grants that would pay for me to take classes. As in I wouldn’t have to pay for it out of pocket. As in, I no longer had an excuse for not doing this.
I had taken the folder of paperwork from Mrs. Randolph with a promise I’d fill it out and return it to her before the fall semester’s July 30thdeadline. She had said she could expedite the financial aid process so that I would be able to start at the end of August when classes started.
She had been kind and helpful. And I hadn’t wanted to knock her teeth out. I was super proud of myself.
I clutched the red folder to my chest and walked out into the hot, summer sunshine. I knew better than to get my hopes up. I just knew something would come along and snatch this golden opportunity from my needy grasp.
Things like this just didn’t happen for Ellie McCallum.
And there he was again.
I saw the slouched shoulders and dark hair darting between the trees, skulking as though trying to go unnoticed.
Just like that, my tenuous good mood evaporated and I became angry again. As though Flynn Hendrick were a bad omen.
One that I needed to get rid of…quickly.
So I followed him.
I watched as he skirted around people as he hurried toward his destination. I also couldn’t help but notice the way girls looked at him.
Huh. That was new.
He had never been a guy to get the right type of attention when I had known him. He was a joke. A freak. Not the sort of boy that girls lusted after.
Apparently things had changed.
Because even though he kept his head down, girls were definitely checking him out.
They just didn’t realize what a weirdo he was.
An older man stopped Flynn and I ducked behind a tree to watch them, fascinated in spite of myself. Flynn fidgeted, his hands jammed into the pocket of his khakis. I snickered seeing them. He always wore the same thing. Khakis and a long sleeved button down shirt, no matter how hot it was. The guy really hadn’t done himself any favors by dressing like a dork. He was such an easy mark. As though he were begging to be picked on.
I took a sadistic joy in realizing he was still awkward and messed up.
Just like me.
But then he did something that surprised me. He lifted his head and smiled at the older man. Then he laughed. And I could hear it from my hiding spot behind the tree.
It had been a long time since I had seen Flynn Hendrick smile. In all the years I had known him, in all the time I had made it my mission to hurt and humiliate him, he hardly ever smiled and he very rarely laughed. I often made sure that he never had a reason to.
