Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
You’re Rex, right? God, the way those three words had made him feel like the king of the world.
So ridiculous.
Stupid.
Pathetic.
And true.
He’d felt more than that—as they’d talked, he’d felt this . . . connection. Something he’d never experienced before, even if he had no frame of reference to describe what it was.
There was a good chance, however, that it was all in his mind.
A guy could still dream.
But Rex was no stranger to dreaming about Cami. He’d been doing that since he’d first transferred to the middle school she attended and then on to Westridge Academy, thanks to a government-run program that sought to give poor kids with a minority heritage and good test scores a chance to take the AP classes not available at their district schools. He’d first caught sight of Cami across the classroom when he was a gawky preteen. That was it, that was all it took, one glance of her side profile as she’d gazed out the window at the sprinkler on the south lawn, which was making rainbows dance in the morning air.
He’d seen her daydreaming so many times since that first day. Sometimes—though he’d never tell a soul—he fantasized that she was thinking about him.
She was nice to him—she smiled when they passed in the hallway; she held the door if she was in front of him.
And yet today was the first time he’d said a word to her. And that was only because she’d practically stumbled into him. But it was that five-minute conversation that had sealed the deal for Rex. Camille Cortlandt was a beautiful dreamer, and she was nice to people she didn’t have to be nice to. But she was also smart and funny and engaging, and she’d looked at him like she cared what he said in return. And he wasn’t even sure he was happy about the discovery because, while it was one thing to have a crush on the gorgeous, untouchable head cheerleader, it was another thing to like her. Her. Not the image, not his fantasy, but her.
The screen door squeaked closed behind him as he entered the small rental where he and his mom lived. He was starving both from his walk and because it was long past dinner. He’d been too shy to approach the food table and grab himself a hot dog at the party—not to mention he’d seen the guy grilling drop them on the ground and pick them right back up.
Rex headed straight to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and sighed as he looked over the meager offerings, finally taking out the milk. He closed the fridge door with his foot and grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet.
He stood against the sink and scooped Frosted Flakes into his mouth, knowing they were devoid of nutrition. Hollis Barclay would probably never put anything so unhealthy into his muscled physique. Hollis Barclay, who got to put his hands on Cami whenever he wanted.
He turned and dropped the bowl in the sink filled with dirty dishes, chewing the final bite that suddenly tasted like sweetened sawdust. “Wash your dish.”
He turned to see his mom walking into the kitchen, lighting a cigarette as she entered the room. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, yourself. Where’ve you been?”
“One of the football players had a thing at his house and I stopped by.”
His mom gave him a closed-lip smile and blew smoke out of the side of her mouth. “Oh yeah? Any cuties there?”
He turned on the water and began washing the dishes and setting them in the drying rack next to the sink. “Sure.”
His mom came and leaned against the counter next to him, crossing one arm over her stomach, cigarette in the other hand, as she leaned back to see him better. “Talk to any of them?”
“Yeah, I guess. It was a party.” He didn’t mention that the only reason he’d talked to anyone was because she’d accidentally discovered him hiding behind a plant.
His mom took another drag on her cigarette. “Okay. Just making sure.” She reached out and pinched his cheek, and he ducked away. She laughed and pushed off the counter. “If no one in particular has seen your potential yet, they will.”
He placed a plate on the dish rack and then filled up a pot to soak that looked like it had burned soup at the bottom. Rex sighed as he used a dish towel to dry his hands. His mom’s remark had zapped the energy he’d felt coursing through his body since his unexpected conversation with Cami. His mom thought he had potential. Which meant, even she could see that if he was going to have any attributes worth noting, it was going to be at some point in the future.
Not now.
Now he was pretty much a loser.
He eyed the school-issued laptop on the kitchen table, where he’d been writing his college essay. It needed to be great. With that and his grades, he was hopeful he’d get into one of his top choices. His American Indian heritage was going to help pay for it.