Free Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 by D. J. Pierson, Kim Young Page B

Softly, I say to her, “I’m sorry for taking your book from you. I
brought your towel as a peace offering.” She must not have heard me coming
because she jumps at the sound of my voice. “And now I’m sorry for scaring
you.” I laugh a little, draping the towel over her shoulders.
    “You’re
lucky I read that part already or I would have slapped you,” she says.
    “I
don’t doubt it for a second.”
    “Thank
you for the towel.” She turns back to look at the flowers in front of her.
    “You’re
welcome. Where did you learn to swim?” Why am I still standing here? I’ve
already come to the conclusion she deserves better than me. I need to get the
hell away from her and stay away.
    She
turns around to face me, clutching the towel closed in front of her chest.
“Years and years of swimming lessons my mother made me take at the country club
her and my father belong to. Do you swim?” she asks, almost as if she cares to
know.
    “Not
like that. We didn’t really swim much back in New York. Only occasionally at a
friend’s house, or a really long time ago when we’d go on family vacations.”
    “New
York? You don’t sound like you’re from New York.” The way she’s looking at me
somehow makes it even worse to know I’m not good enough for her.
    “What
do you mean by that?” I try to sound offended
    She laughs.
“I don’t know. I had a few friends at college who were from New York and they
had an accent. You don’t.”
    I
shrug my shoulders. “Maybe because I’ve been here for four years?”
    “Maybe.”
    “So,
that guy from the club last night? Is he someone who will be bothering you
again?” I really need to shut the fuck up and go home but, instead, I dig my
hands into the pockets of my shorts and refuse to do what my brain is
encouraging me to do.
    “I’m
not worried about him. It’s my parents that annoy the shit out of me.”
    Just
as I am about to ask her to elaborate on that, Jake calls my name. “Yo, Evan!
Chris is on the phone! Thursday night! You in?!” Not everyone gets this much
notice about a race. Any new people or those who have been around a few times
only hear about it the day prior. Otherwise, we’d have a whole shitload of
people show up to enter. Too many people would attract unwanted attention.
    “Yeah,
I’m in!” I call back. He waves me over to him and goes back to talking on the
phone. “I’ll see you around,” I say to Kacie.
    “‘Bye,”
she says.
    As
much as I don’t want to leave, I walk away and try really hard not to look
back. I meet up with Jake in his kitchen. He is just finishing up the call when
I sit at the table and put my head in my hands. “Chris said he’s expecting at
least seven cars. I think that’s more than enough. This shit is starting to get
too big.”
    “It’s
fine,” I tell him. “If we didn’t have the cops, I’d worry. The road will be
empty both directions by the time the flag drops.” I don’t look up.
    “Evan,”
he starts, “what Jade isn’t telling you is that she needs Kacie to be here. She
depends on Kacie way more than Kacie will ever depend on her. I’m quite happy
with our parents not wanting to be around, but Jade isn’t. She’s hurt that they
aren’t. Kacie gets it. That’s why Jade was freaking out so much.”
    “You
don’t have to worry about it,” I sigh. “I just met the first girl in my life
who’s not interested in me.”
    “Don’t
take it so hard,” he laughs, patting me on the shoulder. “Kacie Foster isn’t
interested in anyone.”
    Jake’s
attempt to make me feel better only makes this whole thing a lot worse.

Chapter
Six
    Kacie
     
     
    Since
we left the club last night, Jade has done nothing except lecture me on how awful
a human being Evan Pierce is. She told me all about how he’s the biggest player
she’s ever met. How Evan has been known to take girls into his office, back to
his place, out to his truck in the parking lot, and even random places in
public only to send