The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,5

to stop herself from swooning.

“You guys should join us when you get your food,” Claire suggested. She smiled, her perfectly painted red lips curling up to reveal straight, white teeth. “We can discuss the party tonight.”

Trevor looked back at Zach, who grinned at the girls. “Of course,” Zach agreed. “Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by beautiful women as they eat?”

The girls all laughed, calling him “flirt,” and “tease,” as they giggled. Zach was almost as big of a ladies’ man as Parker, often hopping from girl to girl without ever seriously dating any of them. Annabelle was grateful Trevor had never picked up the same behavior.

As soon as the boys left to go get their food, the girls leaned forward and spoke in quiet whispers. “How delicious does Trevor look?” Claudia asked dreamily.

Annabelle tried not to flinch. If it was a contest for Trevor’s heart, history showed Claudia would win every time. She tried not to think about seeing Claudia wrapped up in Trevor’s arms or wearing his letterman’s jacket, but her imagination was already running wild. The image almost brought her to tears.

“Hey,” Claire snapped suddenly, startling all of them into silence. “Trevor is Annabelle’s, Claudia. Don’t even think about moving in on your best friend’s guy.”

Annabelle stared at her in gratitude and awe. Claire was fiercely protective, and she was always willing to put someone in their place when she thought they were going to do something that would hurt one of her friends. She really was a great friend. Once again, Annabelle found herself incredibly grateful to the blond girl.

Claudia shook out her long hair. “I was just saying he looks extreme,” Claudia declared shortly, almost protesting. She gave Annabelle a reassuring smile. “I would never do anything to hurt you, like go after your guy.” She leaned forward, her eyes dancing mischievously. “In fact, I was going to ask if you wanted to borrow a dress for the party tonight. It’ll look gorgeous on you. Trevor is sure to notice.”

Annabelle shook her head immediately, feeling guilty. If Claudia really did like Trevor, what right did she have to stand in Claudia’s way? It wasn’t like she was dating Trevor. Trevor had never even asked her out. “No, no. I don’t mind if you go for Trevor. Really. I’m happy if he picks one of us.”

They were interrupted from discussing it further as the boys reappeared, adorably pulling chairs up to the end of the table between Claire and Claudia and sitting backwards in them as they pulled out hamburgers and fries.

Their food smelled amazing. Annabelle longed for a cheeseburger.

“So, the party tonight,” Claire started, smiling impishly. All traces of anger had completely vanished from her face, replaced with that irresistible twist of her lips all the boys fell for. “You guys are coming, right?”

“Of course,” Zach answered, grinning flirtatiously at her. “As long as you girls are.”

The girls burst into giggles. Even if it was cliché, it was still really cute, and Annabelle felt lucky to get to be around people who had so much confidence in themselves.

“You know Caleb is supposed to have, like, five kegs,” Erin stuck in from the other end of the table, looking desperate to be part of the conversation. “He said he bought them off his brother since they had too many at their last party.”

“Sweet, keg stands,” Zach declared, flashing another charming smile. “You ladies need any help, I’m there.”

Again the flirtatious laughter rang throughout the table. Annabelle dared to sneak a look up at Trevor, who was grinning at Zach and shaking his head slightly, looking amused. Feeling tongue-tied and shy at Trevor’s close proximity, Annabelle looked away and stirred her milkshake, trying to keep herself from blushing.

“Annabelle?” Startled, she looked back up at Trevor, who had turned his kind smile on her. “Do you need a ride tonight? I can drive you.” He smiled around the table. “Unless you girls are already going together, that is.”

For the first time since she had turned sixteen, Annabelle was overjoyed her parents had refused to buy her a car.

And then she remembered. The girls had all planned to get ready at Claudia’s house and go together. As much as she was dying to say yes, Claire would be furious if she ditched them.

But Claire surprised her. “Oh, Trevor, you’re so sweet. Would you bring Annabelle? That would be so awesome. You guys live so far away from everyone else that going out to grab her was going to add