Free The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells Page A

guess.”
    â€œHere, I have one for you, too.”
    Sydney took her rubber band and shoved it in her pocket.
    â€œYou talk to Drew yet?” Raven asked tentatively. Guessing by Sydney’s bad attitude and appearance, she probably hadn’t.
    â€œI’m going to talk to him today,” Sydney said matter-of-factly. “He just needed time to cool off.”
    â€œYeah.” Raven wished Sydney would just open her eyes and see the truth. They were broken up and, from the sounds of it, Drew was in no hurry to make amends.
    â€œI should probably go before the bell rings.” Sydney hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. “See you guys later.” She headed in the opposite direction and disappeared around a corner.
    â€œI gotta go, too, see you at lunch?” Kelly said, veering off in another direction.
    â€œYeah, see ya.”
    Raven headed for the C hallway where the history classrooms were and nearly ran into someone as she rounded the corner.
    â€œOh!” the girl said, then, “Ray-Ray! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
    â€œHey, Lori,” Raven said.
    â€œI heard what happened at Craig’s party the other night.” Lori scrunched up her nose as she pulled on her long, sandy-brown braid hanging down her shoulder. “Sometimes my brother can be such a jerk.”
    Raven shrugged. She totally agreed, but she didn’t feel like discussing Caleb right now or his lack of respect. Especially with his little sister. Lori was a good friend of Raven’s, but Lori had a hard time keeping anything from Caleb. Those two were practically best friends, which was way weird if you asked Raven.
    â€œAnyway,” Lori said as Raven started to edge away. “I wanted to know if you could make a quick appearance at Simon’s bar mitzvah reception this weekend. He totally wants you there. You know how Simon is. He’s in love with you.”
    â€œI don’t know.” Raven shifted her weight from foot to foot. The bell was going to ring any second. “I don’t know if it’d be a good idea.”
    Lori swatted the air. “Are you kidding? It’s fine. Caleb is supposed to leave around six to go home to let the dogs out. You could come at six, say hi to Simon, and then bolt.” She stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Do it for Simon, please?”
    Raven was starting to feel coaxed, but she wasn’t sure how to get herself out of it. Simon did seem to look up to her for some insane reason. Caleb always said Simon had a crush on her. She hated to let him down.
    â€œOkay. A quick appearance, but I do not want to see Caleb.”
    Lori nodded emphatically. “Totally. I’ll make sure he isn’t there.”
    The bell rang overhead. Raven scowled at the annoying sound and the tardy that was sure to come.
    â€œOh, better go!” Lori hurried off, waggling her fingers over a shoulder. “I’ll talk to you later.”
    â€œYeah, okay,” Raven muttered and ran to her history class.
    The teacher, Mr. Banner, pushed his glasses back by the nose bridge and eyed Raven with irritation. “You’re tardy.”
    â€œSorry. First day, you know?” She shrugged and flashed the smile her dad had paid a fortune for.
    Mr. Banner tipped his head toward the classroom. “Sit down.”
    She breathed a sigh of relief. She hated to start the new semester off with a tardy on her record. Two tardies earned you a detention, and Raven hated detentions. She’d had her fair share last semester because Caleb always made her late. The good thing about that, though, was heusually served detentions with her and they’d pass notes to each other.
    Raven scanned the room for an available seat and saw one near the back. She moved to take it but froze when she noticed the person sitting in the next desk over.
    Horace.
    Her heart went from a silent-and-steady beat to a loud hammering in only two seconds.