Chapter One
Xander
The first dayof school is always easy. The teachers are still unprepared and we're not ready to settle in. A day of messing around is a pretty cool way to ease back into the thought of having to spend every day here until next summer. Lame.
We're walking outside on the playground and I realize we're the big kids on this side. See, Roosevelt Elementary has two playgrounds: One for kindergarten through second grade; and the other for third through fifth grade. This year we're kings. I'm going to enjoy it before we get knocked back down next year.
Jesse and Ben Kingston, Ethan Ashcroft, and Kennedy Caldwell are the guys I hang with. They're cool. None of them care that I come from money and I like that. My dad always warned me against the kids who like you only because you have money, so I'm always cautious with new people.
Speaking of new people. Jesse lifts his chin in the direction of the monkey bars. There's a girl lying at the end of one side, the bottom half of her legs swinging. Her long black hair cascades down between two of the bars and I watch as the strands get caught in the breeze, blowing in a haphazard pattern. I lift my gaze to the girl's face and I see she's wearing sunglasses with a white frame that are way too big for her face. Somehow she makes it work.
She blows a bubble. We're not supposed to have gum, but she doesn't seem to care because she blows another bubble. If she's not careful, when the wind picks up, her hair might fly up into that wad of gum.
"Who is she?" I ask Jesse.
He shrugs a shoulder. "New kid. Tera Ramirez. She's got a brother in the same grade. She said they're twins but they don't look too much alike."
I grunt in response.
"Seems like she doesn't give a shit about anything," Ethan says.
"Yeah," Kennedy agrees.
I ignore their stares as I walk over to where she's butchering Alanis Morissette'sYou Learn.
"Who sings that song?" I ask, wincing as she sings every note off key.
"Alanis Morissette," she says quickly, then goes back to singing.
"Let's keep it that way," I tell her with a laugh.
She turns her head and looks down at me. "Haha. Funny guy. You can do better?"
"Heck yeah, I can."
She lifts a brow. "Go on then."
So I do. Her nostrils flare. Bam! I win.
She rolls her eyes.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Tera. Yours?"
"Xander."
"Nice to meetcha," she tells me while chomping on her gum.
"Where are you from?" I ask, because obviously she's not going to tell me anything without my prodding her.
"St. Louis. Dad got a job up here." She turns her head. "Those your friends?"
I turn and see Jesse and the guys walking over.
"Yeah."
"Cool."
