Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel) - By Kate Perry Page 0,8

in New York had come to class wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and flip-flops like Michael, he'd be run out of town.

"Fine. Have it your way, Ms. Rosenbaum." He rolled his eyes. "I noticed you didn't turn in the letter I'd assigned yesterday."

Her turn to roll her eyes. They were reading Pride and Prejudice, so of course they had to write an old-fashioned letter. Typical. She'd read the book last year and they'd had the same assignment.

"I know you only transferred to Laurel Heights recently, but an assignment is an assignment." He raised his bushy eyebrows. "What's your excuse?"

"No excuse, Mr. Baker." Just let me go.

"Hmm." He stared at her, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Then he said, "Turn it in tomorrow, but you'll only get half credit."

"Thank you, Mr. Baker." She scurried out of the room before he could ask her anything else.

The good thing about having to talk to him was that the hallways were pretty cleared out. With any luck, her locker would be all clear, too.

But as she rounded the corner she deflated. No such luck. Madison and Addison were hanging out there—or the –sons of anarchy, as she liked to call them. Privately, of course.

Great. Just what she needed to cap her day. She hurried toward her locker, because based on her experience over the past few weeks, it was better to just get it over with, like ripping a Band-Aid off.

They began to snicker the moment they saw her. Lowering her head, Rachel fumbled as she opened her locker, her fingers clumsy.

Their snickering got louder.

She gritted her teeth and focused on the padlock. She should be used to their subtle ridicule after so many weeks. She should just ignore it. It didn't matter.

But it did.

Her lock clicked open and she exhaled in the small victory. She started to switch her books out, but one fell on the floor with a loud bang.

Rachel huffed, frustrated, bending over to pick it up.

Behind her, one of the girls—she couldn't tell if it was Madison or Addison—said, "I guess they wear white briefs in New York."

"At nursery school," the other one said dryly.

Hating herself for blushing, she stood and pulled her pants up as surreptitiously as she could. Her mom loved underwear and had drawers of it, in all sorts of colors. She'd made a big deal about taking Rachel on a big lingerie shopping expedition, but then she'd been killed, and updating underwear hadn't been a priority for Rachel. She had no idea how to buy underwear anyway, and there was no way she was going to ask her dad.

There was nothing wrong with her panties. They were white and simple. She wouldn't have even thought about it if she hadn't seen the colorful g-strings Madison and Addison wore.

"Rachel, haven't you graduated from nursery school yet?" Madison said with fake sweetness before they began laughing again.

She knew the tips of her ears were burning, but she focused on putting her things away so she could leave. As she zipped up the last book in her bag, she closed her locker and turned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Griffin Chase poster Madison had taped in her locker.

Seeing it always made her crazy. Neither of the –sons of anarchy deserved to listen to the genius of Griffin Chase. Griffin Chase understood sadness and loneliness in a way most people didn't. He understood love. He'd kept her company when her mom had just died, and still now when her dad worked all night and left her to roam the scary big house alone.

Her mom had been crazy for his music. When Rachel listened to his songs, she could almost hear her mom singing along.

Hiking her bag onto her shoulder, she shot Madison a glare, walked down the hall, and left the building.

She walked toward their house but she knew no one would be there. Her dad had been coming home from work really late. What was the point of going there?

Instead, she headed to the shopping area in the middle of Laurel Heights. She'd seen a lingerie shop there called Romantic Notions. Totally cheesy, but she had to start somewhere.

Rachel hovered outside the door. What size was she? What if her boobs were too small for a bra? How embarrassing would that be? She could already hear the –sons cackling at her lack of endowment.

What would she buy anyway? She had no clue.

If only her mom were here.

Ducking her head, she moved on