Chapter 1
Quick note:
This is considered a bonus book that is a companion to 20 year Triangle.
The Twenty Year Triangle is a Then and Now love story, with several flashbacks scenes of Kinsey Abbot's past.
This story is only her past story from High School. So it takes all those flashbacks and puts them into to one bonus book: It will include those same flashback scenes from 20 Year Triangle it, but they are extended, and there are also extra scenes and even a few extra chapters.
You can read the books in any order you choose, but I recommend reading 20 Year Triangle first and coming back to read this one if you want a deeper look at those HS years.
September 1999
Sweet Haven, Tennessee
When it comes to the first day of school, there are two types of kids, usually. The ones that hate it with passion and the ones that love it with their whole soul.
My two best friends are on each end of that. Olly Stone, my best friend from the moment we were born, loves school. He even does weird summer projects and stuff for fun. I think he might just run the world someday, but I worry about him taking breaks and having fun sometimes.
Hunter Wilde on the other hand, a new kid that Olly and I took in after he protected us from bullies a year ago, despises school. He says it’s just a waste of time, but I think maybe he’s a little insecure about how he struggles with it. Hunter doesn’t like asking for help, so it’ll be up to me to ask Olly to help him out this year.
Then there’s me. I’m a mix of excited and nervous and it has nothing to do with actually starting school. It’s that it’s high school I’m starting! By the end of this year I’ll have dated, gone to a dance, maybe even kissed a boy!
That’s a big maybe though with these stupid braces I’m sporting. Two weeks before school started, I got a mouth full of metal, fun timing, right?
I guess on the plus side it’ll fix my overbite but what a way to start freshman year.
“Hurry up, Kinsey Girl!”
“Coming, Dad!”
I take one last pitiful glance in the mirror, second-guessing everything.
“I should have worn jeans.”
Instead, I spent all my babysitting money on this new dress I saw at Betty’s Boutique last weekend. Olly, Hunter and I were in town to get a burger at the diner, and it caught my eye from the store window. Hunter insisted it would look great on me, so I bought it.
It’s a baby-blue dress with a pretty white pattern etched into it. It has short, ruffled sleeves and what’s supposed to be a fitted bodice. A white belt separates the top from the short flowy skirt, which made the mannequin’s legs look long and slender.
I should’ve tried it on at the store because I do not have the figure that the plastic woman did. The bodice is loose even with the belt cinched as tight as I can, and the short skirt only shows off my skinny legs and knobby knees.
“I look like a little kid,” I whine.
My hair is my one saving grace. It smoothed out and lightened some over the summer. It’s now a dark honey blonde that falls nearly to my waist. I leave it down and comb it silky smooth. Hopefully, it’ll draw attention away from my brand-new metal mouth.
“Kinsey!” Dad hollers louder this time. “We need to go!”
Crap! He’s getting annoyed. I don’t have time to change now. With a sigh, I slip on my white Keds and run downstairs. Mama is in the kitchen sipping coffee with her long honey blonde hair tied back, she never dresses until after wheel of fortune. She anticipated I would take too long getting ready to have breakfast and has a muffin bagged up and ready for me to take alongside my lunch, and I shove it in my backpack.
“You look so pretty, Honey!” Mama says with a huge smile, and I relax as she embraces me.
“Sure, are growing up fast,” Dad agrees as he ruffles my hair. “But we’re going to be late, and I’m guessing you don’t want to make a grand entrance?”
“No way,” I agree as I follow Dad out to his truck. I climb right up, and it comes to a chugging start as he pulls out of our long driveway.
The high school is farther away than the middle school, and since I live out on a farm, I’m not on the bus route. Hunter and Olly get to take the bus, which has a pickup stop right outside the duplexes where the two of them live.
The three of us are pretty much inseparable, but there is a bond the two of them have that I’m outside of. Mostly because they’re both boys with single moms who trade off overnights often, so they get to have sleepovers. It doesn’t bug me; it’s nice that they can play their video games and watch those boring wrestling shows they both obsess over.
It’s just sometimes I feel a little left out.
It’s silly, though, I know it is if I think about it. We all have special bonds with each other outside of us as a trio, nothing wrong with that.
It would be nice to have a sleepover, though. I never got to have one, unless my cousins count, but they’re all way younger than me. Maybe I could make a girlfriend this year. It would be nice. Hunter keeps saying new school, new start, so maybe it will be.
“Don’t be nervous, Kinsey Girl, you’ll be just fine,” Dad assures me as he pulls up to the school lot. It’s much bigger, and the high school is an imposing-looking big red brick building; the bold words Sweet Haven High are printed on a huge sign at the top. The front sidewalk is littered with groups of kids standing around and chatting. No one seems to be in a hurry to go inside.
“The boys are waiting for you,” My dad points out Hunter and Olly, standing near the steps to the school.
“Here we go,” I say bravely.
“You got this, Kiddo,” Dad says as he parks.
“Thanks, Dad.” I lean over and kiss his cheek.
“Have a good day, Kinz.”
“I’ll try,” I promise as I hop out, his truck comes to a roar as he pulls out. I hustle over to the boys, who haven’t noticed me yet.
Olly is standing there reading, The Stand. He’s obsessed. A mini-series starts on TV this week, and Olly has to read the book before he starts the show. He’s going to rant and rave about how bad the television version was and how much better the book is, yet still, he’ll watch every episode.
Olly has always been very small, he’s a short and skinny guy, that coupled with big glasses that overwhelm his face, and his hair which tends to stick out every which way, has made him an easy target for bullies. What they don’t see is the big soulful brown eyes beneath those glasses, or the sweet smile, he offers to those that do get to know him.
He’s dressed up today for school wearing a thin blue and white checkered buttoned short-sleeve shirt with dark blue jeans. His glasses start falling down and he scrunches them back up with his nose, so he doesn’t have to let go of the book.
Hunter is casually leaning against the rail, looking like he’s bored as he plays with a handheld Gameboy. His dark hair hangs down over his eyes, left loose and unkempt. He’s wearing baggy shorts that hang past his knees paired with combat boots, and of course his wallet chain. It’s paired with a Pink Floyd shirt he picked up from the vintage shop in town, it’s slightly fitted on his chest which is broad, much broader than most fourteen-year-old boys.
As a few girls walk into school it’s clear they are checking him out, but he doesn’t look up from his game. He has to know how good-looking he is. I mean seriously. But he’s modest about it, which makes him even hotter.
I gulp, there I go again, He’s my best friend, and I’m not supposed to think stuff like that, but I can’t seem to help it.
I hasten my steps towards them as I yell out. “Hey, guys!”
“Hey, Kinz,” Olly says without pulling his eyes from his pages.
“Hi, Darlin,” Hunter looks up and grins as I get closer, and our eyes lock, his seem to be sparkling in the bright morning sun, as he takes in my outfit. “Look at you. I told you’d look pretty in that dress.”
Hunter has complimented me probably a million times since we met. That’s just how he is a flatterer. But with his eyes on me and that sweet smile, it feels different this time. My face goes beet red, and I freeze.
Say something! My brain screams, and I finally say, “Thanks,” but I don’t. It comes out as some weird-sounding squeak, so bad, that even Olly looks up sharply from his book, and his eyes widen as he takes in my reddened face.
“Course,” Hunter says and there’s a strange stillness to the air despite us being outside.
Billy Benson the lead bully and a small group of boys come hustling by us, breaking up the weird moment. Billy hands Gabe his best friend what I recognize as a pack of smokes, which he quickly shoves in his pocket. “Come on, let’s get over to the side of the building.”
“Billy! Your lunch!” Brandi, Billy’s twin sister yells, and I see her racing across the parking lot with two brown bags in her hands.
“Your stupid sister is going to get us busted!” Gabe hisses as his dark eyes dart over to Brandi.
“Brandi, I’ll get it from you later. Shut up!” Billy yells back. She looks irritated but slows down her running.
Billy turns suddenly, and before I can look away, he realizes I saw the whole thing. His eyes regard me coldly as he takes a step closer. “Listen up, Bucky; you say one word about this and—”
I should mention Bucky is the sweet nickname Billy gave me years ago for my overbite, isn’t he just the best?
“And what?” Hunter steps in front of me.
“Nothing,” Billy retracts, “Just keep your mouths shut, all of ya.”
“No one is going to say shit,” Hunter says in a low voice. “But threaten Kinz again, and I’ll rearrange your face.”
“I was just talking. I ain’t gonna hurt a girl,” Billy huffs.
“Then you shouldn’t be threatening it. Hunter might take you seriously. You want to risk that?” Olly stuns Billy, me, and well, everyone, by joining Hunter in defending me.
“I wouldn’t,” Hunter warns as he cracks his knuckles.
“Touch me, and I’ll get your ass kicked out of this school,” Billy snaps back.
“Oh yeah?” Olly challenges. “How are you going to do that? When they ask what happened, no teacher will believe you or any of your friends, over me.”
That renders Billy speechless and scowling, because he’s right—every teacher, parent, grandparent, or adult otherwise, adores Olly. No one in this town, or even the next one over, would believe Billy over him.
“Come on, Billy,” Gabe grabs his arm and looks at Hunter as he pulls him away. “He’ll leave her alone, guys.”
Billy mutters something I don’t hear as they dart off to the side of the building.
“Thanks... guys,” I almost just said Hunter. I’m not used to Olly sticking up for me too. His face is a little flushed, and I’m sure it made him nervous to speak up like that.
“Good for you, Olly,” Hunter sounds proud. He looks over at me next. “Kinz, you got to start doing that too. It’s high school now. Y’all get to decide who you’re going to be, so be brave.”
Oliver is probably the smartest kid in Sweet Haven, which is great, except he’s in all these advanced classes, and I don’t see him. Halfway through the day, I’ve had one class with Hunter and none with Olly. I feel totally alone, I don’t have any other friends but those two.
As I head into the science lab, I see Hunter sitting at a small table, each table in the room is set up for two. I am just about to head over when I see the teacher already has nameplates where we’ll be sitting. It looks like everyone is going to have a lab partner. The name next to Hunter’s is Mary Beth Baker, the prettiest girl in our class.
Of course, he’d get paired up with her. Great.
A pit of something I can’t explain fills my gut, but I push it down and wave at Hunter as I walk by him. He waves back cheerfully, oblivious to my dismay over his pretty partner.
When I reach my table, I can’t hold back my cringe; the nameplate beside mine is Brandi Benson.
Double great.
I slump down and watch Mary Beth walk in; her blonde hair is gleaming and bouncy. A bright smile lights her face when she sees her name tag. She’s wearing makeup actual makeup, shiny pink gloss, eyeliner, and blue shadow; her eyebrows are even sculpted into a perfect arch. If that’s not bad enough, she’s wearing a pair of jeans that sit low on her hips, and her tight shirt, which clings to her perky chest, doesn’t quite cover her belly, flashing a tiny bit of her tanned stomach.
Hunter pulls her chair out for her and she’s flashing that big perfect smile at him which he’s returning. I suddenly feel the urge to scream.
“Oh, good. I got a smart partner. I hate science, be ready to work for two, Ragdoll” Brandi breaks up my inner freak-out, and I turn to scowl at her.
“Don’t call me that.” My irritated reaction to Hunter’s lab partner comes out in my voice, and it sounds menacing and harsh. Brandi’s eyes widen at my tone, and I think mine do too, but damn, that felt good.
“Bout time you stick up for yourself,” she says after a moment with a small shrug.
Be brave. Hunter’s words come back to me.
I ride the sudden confidence and follow it up with. “I’m not doing all the work either. I don’t like science any more than you do.”
“But aren’t you a genius like Oliver?”
I laugh, “No one is a genius like Olly.”
“Well yeah, but aren’t you like super smart?” Her eyebrows furrow with her question, and I notice then that she also has her eyebrows shaped into a perfect arch, highlighting her big brown eyes, which like Mary Beth’s, are lined with thick eyeliner.
“Why are you staring at me? Are you mad or something?” Brandi snaps, and I blink stupidly.
“No, I uh, I’m normal smart, not Olly smart, and .... how did you get your eyebrows like that?” I have to ask; I just have to. Unintentionally, my gaze flits over to Mary Beth as I do, who is cheerfully chatting with Hunter.
Brandi sees where my eyes go and snickers. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll help you get your eyebrows like this. On one condition.”
“What?” I’m scared to ask, but I do anyway.
She leans in so close I can smell her strawberry body spray as she whispers. “You have to tell me which one you like, Olly or Hunter.”
“I like them both.” I nearly laugh at her dumb question. “They’re my best friends.”
“I meant, which one do you like, like?” She prods.
“I have no idea what you mean.” I play dumb hoping she’ll drop it.
“Oh, you do so. Which one you are trying to get pretty for?” she asks with a roll of her eyes. “Hunter, right? It’s obvious the way you keep glaring a hole at Mary Beth’s head. Plus, I doubt Olly cares about eyebrows.”
I haven’t gotten past the, it’s obvious, my cheeks are flushing again, and my heart starts racing; obvious to who? Everyone? I didn’t even realize he had such an effect until today. I mean, he always makes me smile and blush and stuff, but—
“They all are so rude and annoying anyway. So, I’m good with getting home later,” Brandi is saying, and I look up quickly.
“Huh?” I realize then that she is and has still been talking, and I missed most of it.
“I said I can come over today after school. Get your head out of the clouds, Bucky.”
“Don’t call me that either!” I surprise myself yet again. “The braces are going to fix my overbite.”
“It’s a habit,” Brandi says with a small shrug. “Go ahead and call me a bitch or something to get back at me.”
“I’m not going to call you any names.” Somehow the offer seems weirdly nice though. “You can come over, but Olly is going to be coming over to help me with geometry too.”
“That’s fine. He can do your homework while I do your makeover.”
“I said help me with my homework, not do it for me.” I should’ve been more specific when I wished I had a girlfriend on my way to school this morning.
“What’s the point of having a genius for a best friend if he doesn’t do your homework for you?”
“You don’t have a best friend, so they do stuff for you,” I scold. “You like each other, and can tell each other stuff, and laugh and be lame and never have to be embarrassed, because they like you anyway.”
She’s quiet for a moment as her eyes drop. “I never had a friend like that. My friends are all so... I don’t know.”
“Sorry,” I offer, and I feel bad for her. I can’t imagine not having a best friend when I got lucky enough to end up with two.
“You never answered my question about which one. It’s Hunter; I’m right, aren’t I?” she whispers again, and I glare at her.
“Just tell me, I won’t tell anyone, I swear!”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Liar,” she accuses. “Fine, I’ll get it out of you later.”
No, she won’t...I tell myself firmly. I don’t trust her one bit, she’ll blab to the whole school.
“So, what about Olly then?”
“What about him?” I ask tiredly. “I told you there’s nothing to tell.”
“I’m just curious, do you think he likes-likes girls yet? Has he ever flirted with you?”
“I don’t know, and no,” I mutter.
“But Hunter has, right? I’ve seen him flirting with you,” she continues nagging.
Is this what girlfriends are like? Forget sleepovers, I’m good with my books.
“Good afternoon, everyone!” To my relief, the teacher walks in, commanding everyone’s attention and shutting down the pestering questions from Brandi.
But her questions leave behind a weird, knotted up feeling in my stomach that I don’t like at all.
