Anti-Stepbrother - Tijan Page 0,22

wasn’t she?”

She didn’t wait for my response.

“I saw how you looked at her in the hallway this weekend, and I cornered her later. I made her tell me what happened. She didn’t explain everything. I’m sure of that, but it was enough. I can read between the lines. I’m really sorry, Summer.”

“Oh.” I had no clue what to say now.

“I’m not making excuses for her, and she will apologize to you too, but some of her attitude was to protect Shell. She thinks if you’re around, Kevin will be around. She doesn’t want that.”

I sat back. “Well, after that ringing endorsement…” I laughed, looking away. The sound was hollow. “I mean, wow.”

“You should know something else, but you can’t tell because the other girls don’t know.”

I regarded her again. “What?”

“She dated your stepbrother. She was two girls before Maggie.”

“Wait. Shell dated him too, right?”

She nodded. “She doesn’t know about Claudia. And Claudia didn’t know about Shell until the summer. She felt horrible when she found out. I’m the only one who knows, and now you too. Please don’t say anything. Kevin dated a ton of girls last year, and he had everyone keep quiet, saying some bullshit line about how he’s private about things.”

I grunted, tugging on the bottom of my shirt. “Yeah. People are idiots sometimes.”

“That’s why you haven’t come with us the other times I’ve invited you, isn’t it? Because of Claudia.”

I nodded.

I could feel another invitation coming my way, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I shifted, wrapping my arms around my knees, and I held tight to my jeans.

“You don’t have to, but the girls and I are part of this program called Community Core Services, and a couple other groups on campus teamed up with us for this big flamingo fundraiser. I was just going to one of the meetings. We’ll all be driving around, handing out flyers.” She bit her lip. “You want to come?”

There it was.

I didn’t know what a flamingo fundraiser was, and I had no intention of finding out, but at that moment, two freshman girls from our floor passed us on the sidewalk. They waved, their bags slung over their backs, and I recognized the look in their eyes. Fear.

They were feeling the freshman fear—fear of getting to class, fear about finding friends, fear of being rejected, being alone, having no one else.

I changed my mind.

“I’m in,” I told Avery.

I wouldn’t be afraid. I was going to have friends. I wasn’t going to be alone.

An entire parking lot was filled with vehicles, guys and girls milling around. Some taped banners that said Community Core Services in big bold letters to the sides of trucks, with the phrase Flock Your Neighbors underneath. Pictures of flamingos were everywhere, and large flamingo lawn ornaments had been taped to the tops of the trucks. One truck had a pool in the bed, filled with the same flamingo ornaments and a group of guys wearing swimming trunks. Some had pink flamingo inner tubes around their waists and drinks in hand.

Avery waved to someone, heading across the parking lot. I paused. I had to take in all the pink glory.

“Hey.”

I turned to find Kevin coming toward me.

“What are you doing here?”

I gestured around the lot. “What? And miss this flamingo haven? The real question is why didn’t you invite me first?”

He stared at me, then let out a laugh. “I’ll steal one for you at the end of this.”

“Speaking of, what is this?”

Avery stopped talking to her friends and glanced back over to find me. Seeing Kevin, the corners of her mouth turned down, but she waved. I waved back as she turned to her group again.

“It’s a fundraiser,” Kevin said. “A bunch of us are members of CSC. We’re raising money for the Brain Injury Association of America.” He grunted. “Banks suggested it, of all people.”

I pointed at the nearest flamingo banner. “What’s up with the pink birds?”

“Oh.” He laughed again. “I don’t even see them, I’m so used to them by now. People pay us to ‘flock’ their friends’ front lawns. It’s three dollars a bird. We put ‘em in overnight and leave a sign that says they’ve been flocked. Then we take ’em out the next day. It’s all in fun and for charity. We’re just driving around today to hand out fliers and raise awareness that the next opportunity is coming up.”

He folded his arms over his chest, yawning, as he nodded at me. “How’d you get pulled into it?”

I pointed