Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 822(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 822(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Drake kept the cross as a keepsake. He kept his promise as well.
He brought the cross to school everyday, and everyday we’d sit on the swing, keeping one another company.
He still didn’t like to talk much about himself, so to keep things from being awkward I talked about my life.
I talked about how I wanted to be a singer when I grew up, and what my favorite books were. I talked about what my favorite color was, and how I loved jelly on my biscuits, and really cheesy macaroni.
Drake didn’t mind getting to know me. He always listened, and he’d always ask questions… but only about me. He never spoke of himself—not as much as I wanted him to.
Whenever I asked something about him, he’d be afraid to answer. Whenever I kept asking about his bruises, he wouldn’t respond. He’d changed the subject.
I figured he would tell me when he was ready to. He never did. But he did tell me one thing about his mom that truly shocked me.
The first day he decided to swing with me was the date that she died due to an accidental suicide. Overdose. It was May 17th. He promised his mom that he would do something nice for someone at least once a week before she died. Well, when she died he made it a once a year thing to do something generous.
It all made sense.
As we got older, and I went onto Lake Lane Middle, I still saw him outside of school on some days. He most likely couldn’t afford the private school I attended, but during my car rides home, I’d see Drake getting off his bus.
I don’t know how he knew it was me in the car—maybe he remembered seeing it when Sue dropped me off in the mornings in elementary—but he’d watch until I disappeared.
He watched me come and go, and one day he even held up Mitchell’s cross, smiling faintly until I could no longer see him. I smiled and waved before I lost eye contact.
What we had was simple, really.
Just smiles. Quick waves. A good ol’ friendly vibe…
Until the end of my senior year.
Until we happened.
Until Drake Davenport became the love of my life.
Chapter 2
Jenny
During the middle of my dreadful high school years, I officially decided private school wasn’t for me.
I kept my mind open, choosing rather foolishly to wait it out and hope it would get better.
I stuck it out for as long as I could. Unfortunately, things never got better. If anything, they’d become worse.
So when I reached the end of sophomore year I was finally ready to put my foot down.
The high school I attended, Lake Way Christian, was a load of horseshit. No one took it seriously. Everyone was too consumed with other people’s opinions to ever be genuine.
Of course, they pretended to play polite.
I hated it.
I was a nice person. I never felt the need to be someone I wasn’t. I guess I was one of the few like that. Perhaps that was the reason I wasn’t very likable and constantly judged.
I hated private school. The prim and proper facade. The way every girl talked shit behind each other’s back, and then would smile right in your face like they were your best friends.
And don’t get me started on the boys who would hook up with a girl and then brag about it over a dull game of croquet or tennis.
It was exhausting and, honestly, every time I set foot into Lake Way Christian, I wanted to gag. I felt smothered by the fakeness—the lies.
There was nothing holy or sacred about the place. The girls there were ten times worse than girls in public school when it came to sex. Every week, someone was exposed on social media, sucking a small dick or included in some slutty video of a threesome.
Like I said, exhausting.
My parents hated that I wanted to drop out of a school they paid over ten grand for. I didn’t see much of a choice. I wasn’t happy at all.
I wanted to attend Lake Lane High, where there weren’t people pretending to be Christians. Where there were actually girls I could hang out with without feeling judged.
Like my best friend Kylie Miller.
I met her the first day of my junior year at public school and instantly fell in love with her personality. I sat at the desk right beside her in geometry class, feeling totally out of place as I sported my expensive red polo dress and white Nike’s.
Kylie got a kick out of it, and the first words she said to me were, “Listen, I don’t care what anyone in this shitty school says. You are fucking hot, and we are definitely hanging out.”
I smiled, and for the first time that day I didn’t feel so out of place. She helped me with the study guide and even invited me to her house after school.