Free DIFFERENT (Different Series Book 1) by Erin J. Cross Page B

they?’ There was a concerned glint to his brown eyes.
                  ‘No, no one got hurt.’
                  ‘I know this is hard for you, Celeste, but you just have to put up with everyone for a bit longer. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?’
                  ‘I can’t, I need to leave. No one wants me around here anymore. Then you show up and tell me things from my past, things that no one should know and things that can’t be true.’
                  ‘That’s not right; I want you around. I never meant to scare you. I just wanted you to listen to me. ’
                  ‘You don’t even know who I am.’
                  ‘Yes I do, Celeste. I know lots about you, and I know that I want to help you if you’ll just let me.’
                  ‘You turn up out of nowhere claiming to know things about me, you won’t give me any answers, yet you expect me to trust you?’
                  ‘You don’t have to trust me, Celeste, but if you don’t, who else have you got to help you? I will help you; you just have to hold out for a bit more time.’
                  ‘What if I don’t have time?’ I sighed.
                  ‘I’m sure you can figure out how to make some. You’re a smart girl.’
                  ‘I’m smart enough to know that my mum is dead but not smart enough to pause time.’
                  He took a biro out of his pocket and hovered it above my hand.
                  ‘My number,’ he grinned before he scrawled the digits onto my skin. ‘And Celeste,’ he said, as he put the pen back in his pocket and he stood up. ‘Your mother is alive and she’s safe. Soon I will take you to her, but we just need a bit more time.’
                  ‘I don’t understand,’ I blurted out. ‘I was told that she died. Why would they lie to me?’
                  ‘I don’t know all the answers, Celeste. All I know is that sometimes people lie because they think they’re doing the right thing, even if it turns out to be wrong. Look, I’ve got to go. Text me, okay? And believe me when I say that soon everything will be sorted.’
                  I wanted to stop him from walking away from me, I wanted answers, yet I just sat there and watched him walk up the path. I could have stopped him easily, but I didn’t. Instead, I found myself wanting to trust him, although I wasn’t sure why. How did he know about the pond and the fire, and why had I just let him walk away when I could have made him give me answers?
                  As I looked up, I saw that the group of teenagers that’d been sitting down were now walking towards the path. I didn’t take much notice of them and found myself thinking about Finn and what he’d said. Right now it felt like he was my only hope, and this fact both intrigued and scared me.
                  ‘If it isn’t Celeste Gough sitting in the park all on her own,’ someone giggled. I looked up to see that it was Veronica; she was one of the teenagers walking towards me. 
                  ‘Veronica,’ I said as I rolled my eyes.
                  ‘I’ve heard all about how Leo has traded you in for Megan. I’m surprised it took him so long.’ There were two boys and girls with her, including Rose, and they all chuckled behind her, which reminded me of the hyenas from The Lion King .
                  ‘Just shut up, Veronica,’ I said as I stood up and was about to start walking up the path.
                  ‘Don’t talk to me like that!’ She grabbed at my arm.
                  I shoved her arm off me and carried on walking. I really wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation with Veronica and her stupid sidekicks.
                  ‘Fine, walk away. No one