The Backup Girlfriend (Grove Valley High #2) - Emma Doherty Page 0,10
pause. “If you were having an affair, you’d be doing a pretty bad job at hiding it.”
“I assure you we’re not having an affair.”
“Oh.” I pause. “I’m—”
“Abigail, right?” he interjects before I can properly introduce myself.
“How do you know that?”
“Just do. You look just like your sister.”
That makes me smile, because my sister is beautiful and popular and does everything just right and I have always, always wanted to be just like her.
“You know Ellie?”
“I did, a long time ago.”
“From college?” I ask. Ellie stayed fairly local for college and would come back all the time to see me.
“Nope. I didn’t go to college.”
“You didn’t?”
I find this way more interesting than I probably should, but I’m really drawn to people who don’t go to college, who don’t bow down to that pressure from parents to attend just for the sake of it, just because supposedly it’s the next step you take. For me, especially after the last couple of days, I’ve realized I’m really not academic enough to want to commit four years of my life to something I’m not passionate about.
Wait, I’m being dumb. I don’t even know why I’m thinking about college. That’s definitely not going to happen since I can’t even graduate high school.
“No. I was never interested.”
“So what did you do instead?”
“I work at a car shop down on the beach.”
I must turn up my nose because he starts chuckling, not looking the least bit insulted.
“We take in high-end cars and restore them or improve them to the standard that our customers want.”
“Oh yeah?” That actually sounds a lot more glamourous. “What sort of cars?”
“Bentley, Jaguars, Cadillacs. A lot of people like European cars, too, so we specialize in that.”
“That must cost a lot.”
He smirks. “Some are definitely on the expensive side, for sure. That’s actually why I’m working here at the moment. The tips are good, and I’m saving to open my own place.”
“Your own car shop?”
“Yeah, I reckon I’m about halfway to saving the money I need.”
“Wow.”
He laughs at my enthusiasm. “The dream is to start off here and maybe one day turn it into a franchise, open up branches across the country.”
I’m pretty sure I’m staring at him in amazement. Most people probably wouldn’t care so much about that, but to me, the idea of starting your own business from the ground up is amazing. I think it takes real bravery and courage to put yourself out there like that and actually pursue something you want to do.
“All just a dream at the moment,” he says.
I nod, glancing away but not quite ready to go back to the benefit yet. “So how do you know my sister?”
He goes silent at that, assessing me, like he’s not quite sure what he should say. Eventually, he replies, “We went to high school together.”
I narrow my eyes; Ellie went to a different high school than me. We moved to town right after she graduated, and her school was an hour away. I’m pretty sure I’m not getting the full story here. I open my mouth to ask for more details, but my name is called from behind me and I turn to see my mother standing there, looking at me in annoyance.
“What are you doing out here?” She doesn’t even glance at the bartender. “I want you to meet the McDonalds. They have a son a couple of years older than you, and it would be good for you to make a good impression.”
Well that’s my mom in a nutshell. She might be desperate for me to get back with Chase, but she’s definitely a fan of keeping her options open and expects me to do the same. The McDonalds are probably really wealthy and have some annoying son I’m expected to swoon over just because he has some money.
I roll my eyes, but I don’t argue with her. I know better than to do that, and I turn to follow her back inside, waving to the bartender as I go.
I’m almost at the side door I ducked out of when I hear my name being called again, this time by the bartender.
I turn back to him. “Yeah?”
He shifts on his feet in front of me, hesitant, and then: “Is she happy?” It takes me a second to realize what he’s referring to. “Is your sister happy in her life?”
I look at him, this good-looking guy with all the ambition in the world, and I think about the fact that he’s working a bar in a