Chapter 1
I thought that I knew almost every square inch of this place, I thought to myself, frowning as I zoomed in on the picture of the schedule on my phone, as if that would magically tell me where to find my American Government class. Room 302B.
Right building? Check.
Third Floor? Check.
I glanced up at the small black numbers over the doorways of the two corner classrooms in front of me, 302 on the left and 304 on the right. Room 303 was across the hall. So where is freaking 302B?
“Are you looking for Economics?”
“Yes!” I smiled gratefully at the teacher who walked up, an older man in probably his mid-60s who looked like someone’s kind and cuddly grandfather. “For some reason I can’t find this classroom.”
“Yeah, it kind of messes everyone up,” he chuckled. He pointed down the short corridor in between the two classrooms. “You see that sign straight ahead that says ‘Staff Only?’ Well, just to the left of that door, and I know it’s hard to see from here, you’ll find 302B.”
“Oh wow, I never would have found that!”
“It’s technically Room 302 divided into two sections. This corridor takes you around to that section of the room without having to walk through and disturb the class in front. I had a sign up here on the wall showing the way to the room, not sure where it went.”
“Oh, ok, that makes sense, I guess. Well, thank you…” I looked at the ID badge hanging around his neck from a lanyard. “Mr. Cline.”
“You are very welcome and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
Of course he was the teacher. I laughed quietly as I mentally checked this one off of my ‘found’ class list. I was sort of dreading the class but maybe he’ll make it tolerable.
Only one more class to hunt for now: French Year 4. Then I could go find Rachael and Adam.
Today is the Wednesday before school starts, senior year, and I’m knee deep in the adventure of navigating class registration. I know it’s probably lame, but I look forward to it every year – starting out in the cafeteria to hear Principal Avery give the exact same welcome back speech every time; setting up my locker in just the right way; comparing schedules with friends; and the general chaos of hundreds of students and parents crowding the hallways to find out where classes are located. Maybe even meet the teachers who show up. This whole ritual helps me to transition back into the school mindset after 12 glorious weeks of summer. This year in particular was bittersweet since it would be my last at Westbrook High.
Jumping back into the fray, I weaved my way through the sea of bodies. There was an exit at the end of this hallway leading downstairs to the outside and from there I could get over to the language arts building. I was beginning to sweat a tiny bit with all of the body heat around me and desperately wanted to put up my thick curly hair, but senior photos were coming up a little later in the afternoon and I couldn’t risk the potential frizz from manipulating it.
Spotting the exit door just ahead, I took a deep breath and plowed ahead. I don’t know if it was intentional or accidental, but someone bumped into me from behind, propelling me forward, and my shoulder knocked pretty hard into the person on my left going in the opposite direction.
“Oh!” I squeaked, startled. Looking up, my heart skipped a beat. In front of me was the cutest boy I had seen in a long while.
He quickly grabbed my arm to keep me from stumbling and taking us both down, and I found myself looking into his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. I blinked in surprise at the electric tingle that went through me at his touch, and I wondered if he felt it too.
“Careful,” he said softly, a small smile on his lips. His voice was deep and gravely.
“S-Sorry!” I stuttered, trying to pull myself together.
“It’s all good.” And he continued moving past me.
The whole encounter literally took seconds, but it felt like time stopped for a moment, as corny as that sounds. There was something vaguely familiar about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see him looking back at me, too, before losing sight of him in the crowd.
For a split second, I thought about turning around, but then common sense took over. It would be nearly impossible to find him now, and I didn’t want to risk being late to meet Adam and Rachael. Pushing open the exit door and hustling down the stairs, I could only hope that I would see him again.
“You’re wearing that!?”
Rachael Gutierrez, my soul sister, eyed me critically when I found her in the cafeteria a little later. We’ve known each other since 5th grade and have been pretty much attached at the hip ever since.
At that comment, I gave her the once over. In her typical aspiring-to-be-an-art-school-girl fashion she wore black harem pants and gladiator sandals, some sort of red blousy top that fell in a strategic way off one shoulder, and her nearly waist-length purple-brown hair was pulled up into an intricate up-do held in place with a pair of bedazzled chopsticks. She is tall, curvy, and absolutely beautiful.
I then looked down at myself, noting my vintage low-rise distressed jeans, Ramones t-shirt, and off-white Chucks. I saw absolutely nothing wrong with what I had on. As I took a breath and prepared to argue my case, Rachael held up a hand.
“I don’t give a shit about your excuses,” she stated bluntly. “It’s Senior Picture Day.”
“Informal Senior Picture Day,” I corrected, loving the idea of the candid shots that I could pass out to friends and use in my graduation announcement way more than the formal yearbook photo which would require me to wear the dreaded black velvet drape.
Rachael sucked her teeth. “Informal, schmormal. Look. I don’t expect you to be me, y’know? But Jesus, would it have killed you to pretend that you care, even a little?”
“But I don’t care. Not even a little.” I paused. “Well, maybe a little, I did put on makeup.”
I scanned the gym, unfazed by Rachael’s lecturing. I loved that we have the kind of relationship where we could be real with each other without hurt feelings most of the time. She was truly like another sister to me.
“Hey, so where’s the Raymond boy?” I asked, looking around.
“There ain’t no boys here, only men!”
Turning with a smile, I found myself looking up into Adam’s twinkling green eyes. He laughed and pulled me into a one arm hug, letting it drape casually across my shoulders. He made a fist with his free hand and playfully punched Rachael on the shoulder. She frowned and poked out her lips.
“So how come Gia gets greeted with open arms and I get attacked?”
“Love taps, babe, love taps.” Adam let me go and ran a hand through his already-tousled brown hair. He lifted his chin questioningly. “Have you seen my brother? I left the house before he did, but he should be here by now.”
Adam joined our little two-person squad at the start of sophomore year. Rachael and I couldn’t help but notice the lanky kid with acne weaving his way in and out of the registration lines, loudly cracking jokes with anyone who crossed his path and got them laughing in spite of themselves. When he finally made his way over to us, I guess we made an impression because he stuck around. Three years later, Adam was 6’1" and filled out, and had beautiful skin as well as an incredibly charming smile to go along with the jokes. He was also genuinely nice and liked by pretty much everyone who meets him. It’s no wonder girls threw themselves at him all the time but he didn’t seem to care. Relationships were too much work as far as he was concerned.
Rachael shook her head, popping a piece of mint gum into her mouth. She immediately took another stick out of her pack, unwrapped it, and held it out towards Adam who removed it from her fingers with his teeth. This had been their daily ritual for months now.
“Not that we would know what he looked like since we’ve never seen him before,” she commented. “But he shouldn’t be too hard to spot, right?”
“Tut-tut, don’t assume.” He wagged his finger at her. “Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean we look exactly alike.”
“Especially if you’re fraternal twins,” I added and Adam nodded, pleased.
“You are correct, grasshopper, we are.”
“Hey.” I frowned. “Why is it that we’re just meeting your brother after three years?”
“Dude, you knew he didn’t live with me…”
“Well, yeah, duh…but to never meet him before now?” I thought back to the photos around Adam’s house, and the only one I could recall seeing was the two of them at around eleven or twelve years old, maybe younger. I certainly would never have connected Adam with the boy in the photo, let alone the brother I had never met.
Adam shrugged.
“I don’t see where it’s that big of a deal. He’s not as interesting as I am anyway.”
If anything, Adam’s brother had been some kind of mythical beast in my mind. Not much had been said about Ethan except that when their parents split up the summer after freshman year, Adam moved here to Westbrook with their mom and he chose to stay with their dad in Hartfield, two towns over. He apparently just moved to Westbrook this past weekend for senior year.
“Oh, there he is.” Adam rose up to his full height and brought the thumb and middle finger on his left hand to his mouth, emitting an ear-piercing whistle. “Get over here, fucker!”
Rachael gave me a quick glance, brows lifted. I shook my head and laughed. That was typical Adam. I looked in the direction he was facing and froze.
“That’s your brother?!”
Ethan approached Adam and they gave each other the “bro” hug – a quick lean with a slap on the back – then stepped back and grinned at each other. Well, Adam grinned and Ethan smirked. I looked back and forth between them. They shared the same wavy dark brown hair and tall, muscular build, and I could see some similarities in their faces comparing them now side by side. But where Adam’s fun-loving and extroverted nature was reflected in his warm smile and approachability, Ethan gave off more of a brooding, hands-off, enigmatic vibe. He gazed down first at Rachael and then me, and I found myself once again looking into the hypnotic chocolate brown eyes that made me tingle earlier on the 3rd floor. My stomach flip-flopped as I looked away.
Adam made casual introductions. “Ethan, this is Rachael and this is Gia.” He pointed at each of us as he said our name, lightly pushing our forehead with his finger. Rachael grunted and swatted his hand away.
“Hey,” Ethan said quietly, his eyes not leaving mine.
“Hi…again.”
Adam looked at me and then his brother, confused.
“You two already know each other?”
Ethan laughed. “You could say that.”
“Hi babe.” A petite brunette in a baby blue maxi dress suddenly appeared at Ethan’s side, leaning into his shoulder. She looked up at him with an intimate little smile. I was inwardly surprised at the little pang of disappointment and jealousy that washed over me. I covertly checked Ethan’s face for his reaction to her. He gave away nothing, only lifted his brow at her in greeting before turning his attention back to his brother, Rachael and me. She looked satisfied and eyed us rather dismissively.
“Hey. I’m Dinette.” She said this vaguely, to no one in particular. Her gaze then landed on yours truly, her eyes widening ever-so-slightly in surprise.
“I thought I heard this was picture day. Is that what you’re wearing?”
Adam laughed outright and Rachael turned to me with a gleeful “I told you so!” look on her face. I was steaming inside but responded only with a casual laugh. Ethan said nothing but when I snuck another peek at him, he was still watching me, his head tilted a bit to the side and that small smile on his face. I met his gaze briefly and then nervously cleared my throat as I averted my eyes. He chuckled.
“Let’s go,” he said suddenly to Dinette, and to us, “We have one more class to find and then we’ll do the photos. See you later.” Dinette gave us a small wave and, glancing once more at my jeans, meekly followed him. Okay, could you be any more annoying!?
Rachael, Adam, and I made our way to the main auditorium to take photos, yapping and gossiping the entire way. I was glad to have the distraction to keep me from thinking too hard about Ethan. In my mind’s eye, I kept seeing his face, him practically looking through me with curiosity and wearing that crooked smile. Just thinking about him made something in my chest and stomach tighten with anticipation. I’d never felt this way before but knew in my heart that, somehow, as crazy as it sounded even in my own head, he was going to be something big in my life. And that sort of scared me.
