Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,38

you don’t know him. He graduated last May. Made me all kinds of promises, how we were going to stay close, stay together when he went off to Florida State. Then the second weekend he was there, he wrote me a Dear John email.”

The pain and hurt rolled off Anne in strong waves. My heart ached for her.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“Yeah, well… that’s how it goes, right? I should’ve seen him for what he was. All my friends did. Jim—” she was referring to another one of our lunch table crowd “—told me right off that Nick wasn’t good enough for me. He knew he was a user, he said. But I’d never had a boy pay attention to me the way Nick did, so I told Jim to mind his own business.

“They never said I told you so. When I came back this year, and I knew Brea had told them everything that had gone down with Nick, no one said anything. Michael punched me in the arm and asked when I was coming back out to the nursery, and Dan teased me about something…” She frowned a little, remembering. “Only Jim isn’t really the same anymore. He still kind of treats me… differently. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my guilty conscience!” She gave me a half smile.

“Everyone at the lunch table has been really nice to me. I don’t know them that well, but they’ve all been kind. I think it’s because of Michael.”

Anne smiled at me. “Maybe when he first brought you over, but I think they like you now for who you are. Even though it’s only been a few days, we can tell. Plus, Michael likes you. We’ve never seen him this way about a girl, ever. And believe me, there’s been plenty of opportunity.”

“Really?” I was quite curious about this.

“Oh, yes. Haven’t you noticed the glares you’ve been getting from a large segment of the senior girls? All these years they’ve been flattering him, following him around, making eyes at him… and you come in and have him in a day—with not that much effort.”

“Try no real effort,” I muttered.

“What was that?” Anne asked.

“Nothing. What about Nell Massler? Was she ever after Michael?”

Anne wrinkled her forehead, thinking. “No… not that I remember. Nell has always been sort of an anomaly, if you know what I mean. If everyone else was doing it or liked someone, Nell didn’t. She’s definitely more of a leader than a follower. And she’s a major pain in the neck,” she added. “None of us can really stand her. She surrounds herself with girls who think she’s amazing, and every now and again she chooses some boy to date. It never lasts, but it gives her someone to take her to dances or whatever. Last year it was Kyle Dannon. He stuck with her longer than most of them. Then she got all involved in that chemistry club stuff and the new teacher, and she dropped Kyle because he said the teacher gave him the creeps.”

Ah. Some pieces were beginning to fall into place for me. It wasn’t a surprise that Nell and Ms. Lacusta were pals—or at least that Nell saw things that way. It fit with the vibes I’d gotten from both of them in class.

“Well, I don’t think I have to worry about Nell in that way. She hates me. I don’t know why. I haven’t done anything to her.”

Anne nodded. “Nell’s always been that way. If she takes a dislike to someone, it’s not pretty. And sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason as to why she doesn’t like a person. She used to target girls in elementary school and junior high—and it was ugly.” She shuddered slightly. “She never bothered with any of us—we were older, we didn’t much care—but the girls in her own class and below—oooh. I used to feel so sorry for them.” She looked at me with a mix of sympathy and compassion. “I hope she gets tired of picking on you soon. I’d tell you to just ignore her, but the normal stuff never seems to work with Nell. There’s a girl in your class—Amber Cole—Nell started harassing her in grade school and never stopped.

“I’d love to see someone stand up to her,” she finished, looking at me hopefully.

I laughed without much humor. “I don’t think it’s going to be me,” I told her. “My mind doesn’t move as fast as hers does. And you’re right—she’s nasty.” I shared my