Page 6 of Bought For Us

“So, how do you like West Point so far? Sorry I wasn’t around to meet you this summer. Mom wanted to go on a cruise and I couldn’t say no to a summer away,” she shrugs.

“It was good.” I smile as I find myself slowly taking in her features. She’s really pretty with long brown hair and bright blue eyes. She’s a little bit taller than me, lean like she’s an athlete. I can already tell she’s not one of those mean girls who act nice to your face. I just get this good vibe from her. I hope I don’t turn out to be wrong. If she’s Zack’s best friend, she’s going to be around often.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Kimmy grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door.

“Hey, woman, you're stealing my best friend. Get back here,” Zack shouts.

Laughing, we start to run towards the doors. “Never!” Kimmy shouts back then looks at me with a smile on her face.

Something inside me shifts as I smile back. She looks away and stops when we get to the front door. “Knowing Zack, he’s going to try to steal all your time. But he already gets to live with you, so he’s going to have to live without you today so we can become besties and I can steal you away from him.” She grins, giving me a wink.

Maybe this new school won’t be so bad after all?

For the rest of the day, Kimmy stays by my side. She seems like a very social person. Everywhere we go, someone is coming up to her and talking about things and people I don’t know.

She introduces me as her new friend and my heart races just the smallest bit. I’m happy. A lot happier than I thought I’d be.

I had myself convinced that moving to a new town and a new school was going to be bad. While I feel a bit out of my comfort zone, it’s not too bad.

By the end of the day, I feel at home. People say goodbye to me as we walk out of the school and into the parking lot.

“Want a ride home with me?” Kimmy asks.

“Oh.” I blink and look over to where Zack is standing next to his car. He smiles when he sees me and my belly swoops as he waves me over. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just have Zack take me home?”

Zack is a year older than me, making him sixteen. He just got a new car for his birthday and insisted on driving us to school. Not going to lie, Zack is a little scary behind the wheel.

“My mom doesn’t mind. I was thinking we could hang out a bit more.” She bites her lower lip and looks around. “Look, here's the deal. I’m a really up front person. So, I’m gonna be honest. Apart from Zack, I don’t have a lot of friends. Most people only pretend because of who my parents are. And, well I think you're cool and you clearly don’t know who they are, and if you did, you didn’t make it known at all. And I like that.” She shrugs, vulnerability shining in her eyes.

My eyes widen slightly, a little surprised at her words. She doesn’t have many friends? But so many people knew her, talked to her. She’s popular from the looks of it.

And then I remember how lonely that can be. I was a part of the popular crowd at my old school and for the most part, it’s all for show. Putting on a smile, laughing when you think you have to.

But at the end of the day, there was no one I could really depend on, to call if I needed someone.

“Cora, say something before I feel like the biggest idiot.” she groans.

“I’d love to hang out.” I smile, an ungodly level of happiness filling me.

“Really?” she grins wide. “Oh, thank god. Come on. I want to rub it in Zack’s face before we go meet my mom on the other side of the parking lot.”

She takes off running towards Zack who’s watching us with a curious look. I haven’t seen much of him today, only when we sat with him at lunch. When Kimmy said she was gonna steal me away, she wasn’t kidding.

I kind of feel bad though because Zack said he was going to show me around the school and introduce me to some more people.

I follow after her and make it to them just in time to hear her say. “Hi. She’s mine, Ward. Suck it.”

“What?” his brows furrow.

“I’m stealing her away and she’s gonna come hang out at my place.”

“Oh.” Zack’s eyes flick over to me. “I was going to see if you wanted to watch a movie.”

My heart sinks. “You were?”

“Watch the movie later. You live together.” Kimmy waves him off.

“Why don’t I just come with you?” He asks. “I can follow along in my car.”

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