Free The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade by A.P. Kensey

that easy.
    Everywhere she went in the school,
students looked at her suspiciously and whispered to each other,
laughing or staring wide-eyed in potential fear. It wasn’t until
she finally caught up with Kayla in between classes that she
learned the reason why.
    “ Hey,” said Haven as she
walked up to Kayla’s locker. Kayla put a book inside and pulled out
a folder that she dropped into her backpack.
    “ Oh, hey!” She zipped up
her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, then started walking
down the hallway.
    “ I called you, like, a
hundred times last week,” said Haven. “Why didn’t you ever pick
up?”
    Kayla wouldn’t make eye contact with
her. “I thought you needed your space, you know? I didn’t want to
bother you.”
    “ I needed someone to talk
to, Kayla.” said Haven. She had to swallow to stop her throat from
tightening. “You’re supposed to be my friend. I thought I could
count on you.”
    “ Look, I’m sorry, alright?
I don’t do well with…with situations like that.”
    “ Yeah, me either. But you
could have answered your phone.”
    They passed a group of students who
stopped talking and stared at Haven.
    “ Why does everyone keep
doing that?” she asked. “They stare at me like I’m some kind of
freak.”
    “ You mean you don’t know?”
said Kayla.
    “ Know what?”
    Kayla stopped and sighed. “They all
think you did it.”
    “‘ Did it’? What do you
mean? Did what?”
    Kayla still wouldn’t look
at her. “ You know…”
    Haven’s eyes opened in shock. “They
think I burned my own house down?!”
    Every student within earshot stopped
what they were doing and turned to look at her.
    “ Shhh!” said Kayla. “Keep
your voice down.”
    “ But you were there! You
saw it yourself!”
    “ I already told them,”
said Kayla. “Over and over again, but they didn’t care. Ever since
one of the reporters said they hadn’t ruled you out as a suspect,
it’s the only thing they believe. You know how rumors work. The
worst one is always the favorite.”
    “ Well, that’s just great!”
said Haven, throwing up her hands in frustration. “Everyone at
school thinks I’m some kind of psycho!”
    “ I don’t,” said Kayla.
“ You know the
truth, and that’s all that matters. Look, my class is right over
there. I gotta go.”
    “ Kayla, wait!”
    Kayla walked away and ducked into her
classroom. Haven stood on the sidewalk in front of the building,
too stunned to move.
    The bell rang. Students hurried past,
trying to get to class before the teacher marked them tardy and
sentenced them to detention. Haven watched them scurry inside, and
she was both envious and furious that the biggest thing most of
them had to worry about was punctuality.
    She walked slowly to her next
class—history, her least favorite. The teacher didn’t say anything
when Haven walked in five minutes late, he just paused and waited.
All the students stared at her as she walked to the back of the
room and sat at her desk. The teacher cleared his throat to get the
students’ attention, then resumed his lesson.
    Haven wasn’t hungry at lunchtime, but
she wanted to catch up with Kayla and reclaim a sense of what her
life was like before the fire—even if it was only a fraction of
what it used to be. She was still mad at her for not picking up her
stupid phone when Haven needed her most, but they could talk about
that later.
    She walked into the cafeteria and
looked for her friend. It was the very beginning of lunch, so most
of the tables were full. Kayla sat on the other side of the room
and Haven started to make her way across the cafeteria.
    As she got closer, she noticed that
Kayla was sitting with someone—a boy. The boy said something and
Kayla laughed. She flipped her hair back playfully and touched the
boy’s arm. Haven couldn’t see who it was since he had his back to
her, but as far as she knew Kayla didn’t have a boyfriend. Maybe
she had picked one up while Haven was away.
    Haven