The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,31

“Go on.”

She paused in front of him, hesitantly meeting his dark eyes. “Thank you, Will. I-I can’t tell you how much I appreciated you… being there.” She lightly squeezed his arm in a gesture of thanks, but he didn’t move. She smiled up at him, but the expression broke and she turned away, her shoulders slumping as she headed up to her front door.

The night had been a complete and utter disaster.

Chapter Eight

Annabelle clasped her books to her chest as she fought her way through the crowded hallway to her next class. Trevor hadn’t shown up at her classroom to walk her to her next class, so she was trying to make her way by herself, a nearly impossible feat during the first lunch period. Students milled about without a care, clogging up the hallway and leaving barely enough space to let one student go through at a time.

She cried out as she slammed into someone, her books scattering onto the ground with the other person’s. She stared at them in dismay, then hurriedly knelt down to gather them up.

“Sorry,” she apologized quickly, blushing furiously. She picked up one of the books that wasn’t hers and held it out. “Here,” she said, the word dying in her throat as she found herself staring at Will’s friend Ebony.

“Thanks,” Ebony said calmly, her tone daring.

“You got out,” Annabelle breathed, relief flooding through her. Ebony’s eyes widened in surprise, so she went on quickly. “I was with Will when you guys got taken away, and he was really upset about the whole thing, and then when I heard someone from our school had called you guys in after some rumor that you guys brought… that stuff… to the party a couple of weeks ago—“

Ebony suddenly smiled, her face a mixture of confusion and amusement. “I see,” she said, as if she had discovered something.

Startled, Annabelle paused in picking up their books. “What?” she asked.

Ebony handed over one of Annabelle’s books she had picked up. Annabelle placed it on her stack, still confused. “We’ve never really met,” she said, holding out her hand. “Ebony.”

Annabelle felt a surge of happiness go through her as she took the girl’s hand. “Annabelle. And it’s really nice to meet you.”

They finished gathering their things and stood, Ebony still studying her with an almost pleased look. “I like your skirt,” Ebony said, nodding down at the plaid, pleaded skirt Annabelle had paired with a dark blue polo shirt.

She looked down at it automatically, then grinned up at her. “You can borrow it if you’d like,” she offered. She tried to picture Ebony in her skirt, and smiled at the thought. Ebony would probably do something totally crazy and fun with it, like pair it with ripped tights and combat boots or something Annabelle couldn’t dream up. Even now, she could never have thought to put together the ensemble of patterns, ripped clothes, lace-up knee-high boots, and black leather skirt.

Ebony laughed and leaned back, eyeing her appreciatively. “That would be cool. Thanks.”

“Sure! I’ll wash it tonight and bring it in for you tomorrow.” That reminded her… she still hadn’t given Will his shirt back.

Ebony grinned. “Cool. Thanks.”

“Anytime!” The warning bell rang, and Annabelle looked up, disappointed. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

Ebony nodded, and the two girls went in opposite directions down the hall. Annabelle felt strangely giddy as she hurried to her classroom. She had made a friend, of her own merit, being herself, and nothing bad had happened.

At least, she thought nothing bad had happened. Later, at lunch, she heard Claudia’s carefully practiced, airy voice say, “So, Annabelle… I heard you got slammed into in the hallway by that disgusting skank Ebony.”

Startled, she looked up from her soda. “What?” she asked, flushing when she noticed the entire table had gone silent waiting for her answer. “No. We bumped into each other because it was crowded. She didn’t slam into me.”

“I heard it was practically an attack,” Claudia went on, shaking her head in a disapproving way that was so clearly fake Annabelle couldn’t believe no one else was picking up on it. “How tacky. Her first day back to school and she’s coming after you. She must think you’re the one who ratted them out. You should be careful, Annabelle. Who knows how they’ll try to get back at you?”

She felt her back go rigid in fear. Was that why Ebony had been so nice to her? Was she just pretending to be nice to lower Annabelle’s