“Sorry. I didn’t realise I was doing it again.” I leant forward and pecked him on the lips before following him out of the room the moment the bell rang.
“I’ll see you at lunch,” I said to him as we stopped outside the door to my literature class, trying once again to ignore the stares from everyone as Chace and Christina walked down the hall toward us. I couldn’t help but notice people turning away from them, giving them disgusted looks and calling them names. They’d been back at school for fifteen minutes and had already become outcasts. It made me smile. I wanted to jump for joy and fist pump the air. Instead, I settled for gracefully sticking my middle finger up at them. It was childish, I knew, but they deserved it.
“Of course, love.” Ryder laughed, closing his hand around my finger and pushing it back down. He dipped his head and captured my mouth with his, allowing his other hand to trail along my cheeks.
He pulled away too soon and started walking away. I watched him for a minute, still in awe of the person he was and that he loved me. Just before I turned and entered my class, he spun around to face me with a giant smile on his face as he continued stepping backwards. That smile just made me want to squeal with happiness when it was directed at me. I smiled back, noticing the glint in his eyes. Oh.
“Hey, B!” he shouted down the hallway. In my peripheral vision, I saw Chace snap his head around to Ryder and then to me. His mouth was hanging open. I used to hate being called B, but I could probably get used to it the way it sounded coming from Ryder.
“Jones!” I called back, trying not to laugh at the entire situation as I had a feeling what was coming next.
“I fucking love you,” he said. And if it was even possible, I could have sworn his smile got wider as he winked.
No one moved. All eyes in the hallway darted back and forth between Ryder and me. So much for him hating the attention. Everyone was dead silent, except for the thud of Chace’s books as he dropped them to the floor. Ryder freaking Jones had just declared his love for me in front of half the hall. That urge to squeal just tripled. But Indie beat me to it when she poked her head out the door from the classroom.
“I fucking love you too,” I called back, spinning on my heel and walking into the room after Indie.
Epilogue
Eight months later
Indie’s birthday was a bittersweet disaster. I was glad we were leaving for uni the following day. The year had flown by in a whirlwind of kisses and laughter, and before I knew it, we had graduated. By the end of senior year, no one in school would even look at Chace and Christina, let alone speak to them. They had become total outcasts. Their lockers were trashed, and their cars were covered in toilet paper. They’d lost all of their friends. They had no one but each other. Word traveled fast in small towns, and high school kids could be bitter and resentful. Miraculously, though, their relationship lasted through the rest of the year, and they too were preparing to graduate.
Chace’s family lost a lot of standing in our community once word got out about the money they tried to use to pay Kenzie off, and they moved away about a month ago, just sending Chace back to school every day. Having a teenage son with an illegitimate child was apparently cause for concern in their social circle. In a town as small as Blackhill, social standing (if you had it) was everything and very easy to lose. Although I had heard that Chace’s family had planned on leaving Blackhill after graduation anyway—something about his father going into politics or whatever.
I occasionally felt sorry that it turned out so terrible for them. Never in my wildest dreams when I agreed to be Ryder’s fake girlfriend had I thought that it would result in shunting Chace’s family from the town. But then I would look at Cole, see what a perfect little boy he was, and feel completely disgusted by Chace and, in particular, his family for what they did to Kenzie. All feelings of sympathy and remorse were completely thrown out the window.
I felt proud of Kenzie for being so strong and raising such a perfect little boy. We became close friends throughout the year, hanging out whenever Ryder was at work. I loved Cole to bits and always jumped at the chance to babysit him when Kenzie had to work.
It was going to be hard to say goodbye to them when we left for uni, but I knew we’d see them often. Ryder would want to go home and visit as much as possible.
But for now, we were still celebrating. Celebrating our final year of high school. Celebrating life. Celebrating the fact that we’d ruined Christina and (mostly) Chace’s reputations. They got what they deserved.
And celebrating Indie’s eighteenth birthday.
We were at her house for what started off as a great evening but went downhill very quickly when someone suggested a game of spin the bottle. We were eighteen, not thirteen. This was our last chance to relax and have fun before heading off to uni across the country.
Indie’s eyes lit up, and she smiled at me. “This is my chance.”
“For what?”
“I’m going to kiss Linc.” She clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle her squeal. I groaned and shook my head, knowing it could only end badly. I knew she’d never had a boyfriend. Or even kissed a boy before. She’d been holding out hope of Lincoln falling madly in love with her for her entire life. It wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t tell her that. I had to support her.
“You are?”
“Yes. If we get him to play, I’ll spin the bottle so it lands on him, and he’ll have to kiss me.” She whispered in my ear so Ryder couldn’t hear her.
“And what if it lands on Allen or someone other than Linc?” I asked. I knew the chances of her actually getting what she wanted were slim to none.
“It won’t. Come on. Let’s play.” She grabbed me by the hand and began to drag me to the circle.
“Like hell.” Ryder growled and tugged me back to him. “She’s staying here with me, away from that bottle. Those lips belong to me.” He traced his finger across my mouth and smirked.
“Sorry, In. You’re on your own.” I gave her an apologetic smile and snuggled into Ryder’s side.
“You guys suck.” She poked her tongue out and joined the circle next to Kenzie.
Lincoln sauntered over with a bottle in his hand and a smirk on his face. He stepped into the circle and placed it in the centre. “I’ll start,” he announced, staring straight at Indie, whose mouth was hanging open.
Ryder snickered beside me and used his finger to close my mouth. Apparently, I was just as shocked as Indie that he actually wanted to play. I didn’t get it. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a broad smile on her face before whipping her hair around to watch Linc spin.
I held my breath.
Indie held her breath and crossed her fingers. She knelt forward on her knees to get a better look as the vodka bottle dragged to a stop. I fell to the floor behind Indie as she gasped.