The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,52
at the sight of Will, she had all-but forgotten about it. And yet somehow, the thought of Will being there for that bothered her more than she could put into words, for reasons she couldn’t begin to express.
“Besides,” he went on lightly. “Not being part of the in crowd isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It opens your weekends right up to do other things.”
She laughed weakly. “Other things?” she repeated. She didn’t know any other things. She only knew going out with her friends to the mall, or partying at someone’s house. It was all she had done since she had made friends.
But… that wasn’t really true, was it? She and Will had gone out and done things. Will had shown her so much more than just partying and watching her friends get drunk and do stupid things to make the others laugh. Will was full of these “other things.”
He smiled slightly. “Things you really want to do.” He tapped her lightly on the forehead. “Think about it. I’m sure you could come up with something.”
She couldn’t resist smiling. No matter how bad things seemed, Will was always able to cheer her up and somehow make them seem almost… trivial. He had some uncanny ability to make every bad thing go away—to make her look forward to the future. She didn’t know how he did it, but she was impossibly grateful to him.
“I don’t know,” she drawled, already feeling better, “you’re kind of the one who always comes up with the crazy plans. I just keep coming along for the ride.”
He grinned. “Tell you what, Belle. As soon as you come up with a crazy plan, I’ll let you drive.”
She laughed out loud, surprised to feel happiness bubbling up inside of her. “Is that a promise?” she teased.
“I’ll even show you how to put the roof down.”
She grinned. “Deal.”
Chapter Thirteen
Annabelle looked up at the scuffling noises outside of her window, her heart skipping excitedly in her chest. She set down her book and hurried to the window, opening it and looking down at the tree that separated her house from the Scarlett’s.
Just as she had suspected, there was Will, scaling the tree like an expert. She giggled at the sight, happiness overcoming her at his appearance. She had felt mellow and subdued all day after the night before, but at the sight of him she felt like a light had been turned on inside of her, almost giddy to see him again.
“Late night?” she called down at him.
He looked up quickly, his boyish features lighting up with a charming grin at the sight of her. He hoisted himself up onto the branch outside of her window, straddling it as he faced her. “Some friends of mine needed a ride.”
She grinned back, kneeling down on her floor. “And enter the gallant hero Will to save the day. It’s the curse of being a nice guy. Everyone’s got you on speed dial.”
“Maybe I’ll change my number,” he suggested, mock-thoughtfully.
She shrugged, smiling impishly. “Wouldn’t bother me. I’ll just toss rocks at your window until you open up.”
He laughed. “Okay. I’ll make an exception for you. But only because I don’t want to clean up broken glass when you pick up a rock that’s too big.” He peered past her into her room. “What’re you up to?”
“At nine o’clock on a Sunday night?” she returned teasingly. “I’m having a wild and crazy party in my room. Just about to bust out the disco ball and the smoke machine.”
“Crazy kids these days,” Will tossed back. “Just don’t know when to quit.”
She laughed. “How about you?” she asked. “Now that ‘Will’s taxi service’ is closed for the evening?”
He grinned mischievously, leaning toward her. “Well we do have an after-hours special,” he offered.
She felt her heart skip a beat, excitement and adrenaline rushing through her. “What?” she asked, not quite understanding his meaning through his words.
He held out a hand to her, his eyes dancing. “Let’s go for a drive.”
Her mind spun with all the different reasons why they shouldn’t. “Now?” she asked.
“No. Tomorrow. Yes, now!” He reached out for her hand, to pull her through the window. “Come on.”
She hesitated, but before she had decided on an answer she had already placed her hand in his. Will helped her through the window, her heart pounding in her chest as he guided her down the tree. She nervously darted a look between their houses, but the lights were off—no one was going to come running after them