She’s deep in a conversation with Amy Jones, another cheerleader, and doesn’t even look up to say hi.
Fine. I’m in no mood to pretend anyway.
I stare out the window. The overcast sky is a perfect complement to my mood. I’ve been in the dumps for going on two weeks, and I just can’t figure out why.
The rest of the class file in through the next five minutes, and the ringing bell is followed immediately by the crackle of the intercom. Dr. Martin, the assistant principal, announces the next ten students that will be receiving the vaccine.
No one from our homeroom is named, and we all groan. S.K., who is in Ms. Stamp’s homeroom with Bree, is on the list, which means, of course, that she gets to go home for the day, but even better, after twenty-four hours, she gets to leave Golden. She’ll no longer be under quarantine.
“Ugh, I hate S.K.,” moans Halah. “It’s so unfair.”
Technically, it was a random lottery, but I kind of feel the same way. Even though I don’t like the idea of actually getting the shot, I like what it will mean: that I’ll be able to drive into Denver if I want, or go to Boulder. They think they’re going to be through our whole school by the end of next week, and my luck, I’ll be the last one.
“Dr. Bryant, the Stinking Bagpipes are playing at Red Rocks this weekend and I’ve had tickets for week,” says Donny Eddins, Junior Class Secretary and someone who once told me he was the busiest person in school.
Riiiight.
I tune him out and look back out the window, but Dr. Bryant, once done with Donny, calls my attention back to the front.
“We have a new student, and I’m sure she wishes she had come at another time. So please help us welcome Laura…”
She’s a beautiful girl that I am instantly certain is Japanese. She’s dressed stylishly, but I’m not really in the mood to brand-check her, so I turn my eyes back to my notebook.
Halah, on the other hand, is gawking openly. “Look at those amazing boots!” she hisses to Amy.
Dr. Bryant is still talking, but I’m not paying attention. I stare out the window, trying again to remember the dream, when I realize the girl is walking toward me. Her outfit really is stunning; she’s wearing a red silk tunic over very skinny jeans, which are covered at the bottom by her tall, brown leather boots. Her black hair is layered and hangs past her shoulders.
I forgot that the seat beside me was open; for some reason Daren Andrews was moved to Ms. Stamps homeroom yesterday.
Laura takes her seat, and immediately Halah is on her.
“Oh my gosh I looooove your boots,” Halah gushes. “And I love your purse, too. Or is that a handbag?”
“It’s a handbag I guess,” the new girl says. “It’s Vera Wang.”
For some reason, this has catches my attention. I turn, to see this Vera Wang handbag, but instead I find myself staring at Laura.
“Hello Milo Mitchell,” she says, in a voice that sounds amazingly familiar.
“Do I…know you?”
“You did,” she says softly. “And I’m here to make sure you do again.”
ELLA JAMES IS A Colorado author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a man who knows how to wield a red pen, and together they are raising two children under three who will probably grow up believing everyone’s parents go to war over the placement of a comma.
Ella’s books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists; two were listed among Amazon’s Top 100 Young Adult Ebooks of 2012.
To find out more about Ella’s projects and get dates on upcoming releases, find her on Facebook at facebook.com/ellajamesauthorpage and follow her blog, www.ellajamesbooks.com. Questions or comments? Tweet her at author_ellaj or e-mail her at
[email protected] OTHER TITLES BY ELLA JAMES
STAINED SERIES
Stained
Stolen
Chosen
Exalted
HERE TRILOGY
Here
Trapped
LOVE, INC. SERIES
Selling Scarlett
Taming Cross
Unmaking Marchant
Ella James, Trapped
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