Free Wanderlove by Belle Malory Page A

out of sight from the rest of the students. It felt nice to have a moment of peace in the busy day. I searched around in my satchel until I found my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I had specifically made this sandwich for myself because I felt like it was the epitome of the American school lunch. Something I had never experienced until now.
    “It’s Lola, right?”
    I turned, facing the bench to the left of me, pushing my lenses closer to my eyes. Surprised, I found a boy I’d heard called “Cam” sitting there. I recognized him because Professor Larson had kicked him out of history class earlier. They had gotten into an argument about one of the World Wars. Cam had informed the professor that he was teaching his class the wrong information. He told the professor (with a completely straight face) that our history books were filled with a bunch of bullshit. It was rather amusing. Many of the students had chuckled in the background of their argument.
    “Yes, that’s me,” I answered him. He was wearing his polo shirt with the collar popped up and his iPod was attached to his ears in the trendy, delinquent fashion I noticed seem to be all the rage among members of this school. It seemed the students here found small ways to stand out against the crowd.
    “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he said. “We happen to be neighbors.”
    “We are?” I asked, surprised. There were only two houses near the area where Miriam lived. One had been abandoned and the other was the. . .
    “Wait a second, you live in that huge mansion in front of the pier?”
    Cam took a bite of his bread roll and nodded. Between bites, he stated, “Yup. That’s me.”
    His personality made somewhat more sense to me now. He walked around like he was superior to everyone and everything. Almost as if he were wasting time going to school when he had better things to do, more important places he needed to be. I supposed it would have been a completely horrible trait for most people, but Cam carried a sort of conviction about him, which slightly redeemed him for his snobbishness.
    “So, Lola, where did you come from? The student body has come up with all kinds of rumors.”
    I rolled my eyes, annoyed with the endless gossip. I was used to most people taking notice of me, though not for much longer than a glance since I never stuck around in one place long enough for anyone to start talking. It was weird, being the central focus of conversation. And I really didn’t like it.
    “Which ones have you heard?” I asked.
    “Oh, you know, the usual. You’re a rich heiress that lost her parents in a tragic accident. There is another one about how you were kicked out of your last school. Oh, and some believe you’re a European model.”
    I could feel him scrutinizing my expression. I suspected he was trying to shock me. “My favorite one is your parents were drug lords who were caught and sentenced to life in prison.”
    Cam smirked at this. I sat up straight and stiffened, widening my eyes until they were rotund saucers. “How do they know ?”
    Cam’s expression paled and his jaw dropped. But when he saw the grin tugging at my lips, he broke into laughter and I couldn’t help but laugh, too.
    “Nice one,” he said. “I like you already.”
    “Well, that’s awesome,” I remarked happily. “Because I don’t have any friends yet. Do you mind if I enlist you for the position?”
    “Not at all. We are fellow Roms , are we not?”
    My body went entirely still. I had completely forgotten. He was a Constantin, obviously. He was Gabe’s brother. But Cam didn’t really look much like Gabe, which is probably why it hadn’t even occurred to me that they were brothers-or that Cam was of gypsy descent. Cam’s hair was shaggy and blonde, whereas Gabe’s was dark and thick. The structure of their faces seemed different, but now that I was looking for it, I noticed their eyes bore the same shade of dark gray. The only difference was that Cam