All-American Princess - Maggie Dallen Page 0,52

somewhere I’m not being called an idiot all the time.”

“You don’t have friends here,” Tess said. I appreciated that she didn’t try to argue the point about Daddy.

“I don’t have friends back home either,” I said. “I have frenemies. At least here I have the potential for friends.”

Tess’s brows hitched up in surprise.

“What?” I said defensively. “I’ve made some friends.” I paused to think. “Sort of.”

“Brandon doesn’t count,” Tess said. “And neither does Jack.”

I blinked. “Amber would be my friend.”

Tess’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait… Amber? Amber Reed?”

I waved off any more questions of friends, not even bothering to ask how she knew Amber’s last name. Tess was a frightening vault of information, and friendships—even hypothetical, potential ones—were definitely not my area of expertise. “You know what? Never mind.”

Tess took a step toward me. “Just think about this before you make any hasty decision, okay?” She clasped her hands together in front of her, almost like she was begging me. “Just think, Dee. You wouldn’t be rich, you wouldn’t have glamorous friends, wouldn’t be jet-setting around the world—”

“But I’d have a home,” I finished. Oh God, did my voice just crack? How embarrassing. “I’d have a home,” I said again, this time in a calmer tone.

I heard Jack’s voice clear as day, the words that had haunted me for the past week. I want you. I want you here, in my life.

I’d have a home… where I was wanted.

Tess looked pained on my behalf. Almost as if she’d heard the words I hadn’t said. “And you deserve that, Lila, you really do.” She drew in a deep breath.

I waited for the ‘but,’ but it never came. Instead, Tess let out a long exhale. “I thought you didn’t like it here.”

I shrugged. “Me too.”

Her eyes met mine, and I thought I saw a flicker of understanding. “Daddy will never approve.”

I nodded and ignored the roiling in my gut. That was the understatement of the century. But for the first time in a long time, I’d seen a glimpse of what life could be like if my father wasn’t my father, if my life wasn’t my life... if I was someone different.

Tess sighed again, and her gaze grew distant. She was thinking. Scheming. “Maybe there’s another way,” she said.

Maybe. Maybe not. Right now, I didn’t want to think about any of that. I didn’t want to ponder the logistics of this crazy, life-changing idea. I didn’t want to make any decisions or think about the consequences. I just wanted to see Jack.

“Wish me luck,” I said, moving away from my sister and heading toward the door.

“With what?”

My heart pounded as I raced down the steps and into the hardware store. Jack’s father was closing up, but his smile was warm and enveloping when he saw me. “Lila,” he said with a fatherly pride that made my chest warm. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Mr. Carlton.” I looked around. “Is Jack still here?”

He shook his head. “He took off to go to the dance.” He arched a brow. “Which is, I’m guessing, where you’re heading.”

I nodded, and for a second, panic reared up inside of me. “Did he, um… did he leave with a date?”

Mr. Carlton’s mouth twitched up in a knowing smile that was eerily reminiscent of his son’s. “He left alone, and as far as I know, he’s not meeting anyone.”

I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that my giant, dopey grin was humiliating as I backed out the way I’d come. “Okay. Great. Um… thanks.”

And then I was gone, in my car, and on my way.

Funny, the entire time I’d talked to Tess and the whole drive to the school, my heart pounded like I’d run a mile. Adrenaline fueled me along. This whole past week, I’d been stewing over what Jack had said, and tonight, I was finally acting on it.

My body was on fire. My brain had turned off. All I could do was act on instinct. I wasn’t sure what I would say or do, but everything in me was urging to get to Jack. To be with him.

The school smelled the same as always when I entered. It reeked of cheap cleaning solvent and hormones; the sound of squeaking shoes filled the lobby, and I spotted faces I’d come to recognize after nearly a month in this little fishbowl of a school.

I felt their stares when I came to a stop in the lobby, and I heard the faint music coming from the gym,