The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,17

soon as he was gone.

He finished racking up the balls and stepped back. “You want to break?” he asked cheerfully.

“No, thanks. I’m horrible at it,” she laughed.

“Well no making fun of me if I’m terrible,” he warned.

“Promise,” she agreed, grinning. She stood at the side of the table as he broke, sending the balls flying everywhere. “What was that about a shark?” she laughed, delighted at his skill at the pool table.

“Lucky shot,” he assured her.

She laughed, and at the end of the game, she had barely managed to win. “Did you let me win?” she accused laughingly, as he set up the balls again.

“No way,” he admonished, grinning boyishly. “I would never do that.”

“You did!” she cried. “No going easy on me!”

“Okay,” he warned teasingly. “Just you wait. I’m going to clear the table.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she declared, then laughed.

He really had gone easy on her the first game. In the second one he slaughtered her. Once tied, he suggested they leave it at that, and she laughingly agreed. Together they dropped down onto the couch, and with the soft jazz music filtering through the speakers, she couldn’t help but think if only her parents weren’t home, it would be a perfect time for him to kiss her.

“So… next Friday... I thought, if you’d like, we could go see a movie?” he asked, sounding almost as nervous as she felt.

“Yes,” she agreed, trying to contain her happiness. “I’d like that.”

“Great,” he said, looking relieved. He shot her a blank look. “Do you have any idea what’s playing?”

She burst out laughing, charmed at how adorable he was. “No. Hang on a second. I’ll grab a paper.” She practically skipped down the hall to the dining room where her father always set the paper after his morning coffee, retrieved the entertainment section, and headed back to the game room.

Together they scoured it, Annabelle trying to keep herself from gushing or swooning as they leaned in over the paper together. He suggested a romantic comedy that had just come out, and she agreed immediately, pleased he had chosen a movie that was clearly for her interest.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” she asked, desperate to keep him around.

He hesitated, glancing at his watch. “I would really like that… But I need to try to keep my mom from worrying about where Will is.” He smiled apologetically. “Another time?”

“Anytime,” she agreed immediately. He grinned and she stood and walked him to the door, her heart lodging in her throat when he leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek. He bid her goodbye as she stood, glued to the spot, until she finally forced herself to shut the door.

As soon as she turned, she saw both her parents standing there with large, beaming smiles. She blushed furiously despite her grin, and her parents laughed out loud as she turned and ran wordlessly up the stairs, embarrassed and thrilled.

Trevor Scarlett had kissed her cheek.

Trevor Scarlett, the boy she had been in love with since childhood, had kissed her cheek.

It was almost too much to believe.

Chapter Five

She wasn’t sure if she was pleased or embarrassed at her sudden status as Trevor’s girlfriend. People she barely knew kept coming up to talk to her as though she were Claire, and other girls kept giving her dirty looks and making snide comments to her. When she was alone, of course—the girls were still afraid of Claire.

“Hey,” Claudia greeted, tapping Annabelle on the shoulder. Annabelle turned back, smiling in relief at the sight of her and Mary. Her friends were here. They would make everything better. “All anyone will talk about today is how uptight Annabelle went crazy with the guys. Is that how you managed to snag Trevor?”

Annabelle flushed, stricken. “No,” she protested weakly.

“Mmm…” Claudia murmured, exchanging a look with Mary. “Careful, Annabelle. You’re going to get a bad reputation if you keep this type of stuff up.”

Horrified, she tried to defend herself, but she was too mortified and the words caught in her throat. Tears sprang to her eyes and she quickly gathered up her books and fled from the classroom, making it out into the empty hall when the bell rang.

She rushed out the back door so her friends wouldn’t see her, hating herself for letting the harsh words get to her. She hurried over to a cluster of trees at the edge of the campus and stepped behind one, shielding herself from the school’s windows. Then she slid to the