Page 1 of Hawk

Prologue

Savannah

I was never one of those girls. You know, the pretty ones with new clothes and fancy hair. The girls that got their first shiny new car for their sweet sixteen and came from big families with money. Not all were wealthy, but they sure lived life comfortably. Those were the girls that all the boys wanted and chased after. Wearing their pretty little dresses compared to my hand-me-downs or stitched together scrap dresses. So, when Lloyd Wiedermann started to talk to me, I was shocked, to say the least.

Boys like that didn’t go after girls like me. We came from different worlds, and people like him didn’t normally socialize with people like us. They didn’t slum it with trailer trash with me. He had all those pretty girls on his arms, so why would he even take a second look at me?

Lloyd was the star quarterback of our high school football team. He was every girl’s dream guy; baby blue eyes with blonde hair, tall, built, and your typical football star. He had the big jeep with no doors that he would drive around town, making everybody stop and stare.

We were sitting in geometry class when he tapped on my back with his pencil.

“Hey.”

I turned and looked at him. Lloyd smiled at me with that boyish smile of his, making my heart skip a beat. He had this charm about him that made even me, the sensible one, get lost in his charm.

“Do you understand any of this?”

I nodded. “It’s pretty simple. Math makes sense in my head.”

Lloyd laughed. “It’s all a jumbled mess in mine. I’ve got to pass this class, or I can’t play in the big homecoming game. Mind tutoring me?”

I shrugged. “I don’t really have the time…”

“I know. I’ll pay you, Savannah. I know about your job at the diner and your mama. No worries, let me pay you, so you have a cushy simple job that will pay more than any minimum wage.”

I turned back around and huffed. “I’m all set.”

I hated this small town... everybody knew everybody’s business. I knew they all stared at me with pity, the ‘awe that poor girl’ comments whispered as I walked by them. But my mama didn’t raise me to be a beggar. She raised me to be a strong woman who didn’t need handouts from any man.

The bell rang, and I grabbed my books to run out before Lloyd could talk to me more. I didn’t need handouts from him or his family. I was a hard worker, just like my mama raised me to be. We worked hard for what we had. Plus, mama always told me never to expect anything for free; I didn’t want to owe Lloyd a thing.

Walking out of school, my thoughts drifted to my home life. It wasn’t a typical high schoolers life. My mama was sick and couldn’t work, so I was working some shifts at the local diner to pay our bills. My dad left when I was just a baby; it was always just me and her.

I got to the other end of town and crossed the old railroad tracks. Pretty cliche, but this was the ‘not so great’ side of our town. Those like me and my mama lived over here. Bambi, one of the other girls at school, lived over here as well.

We all tried to help each other out as best we could, despite our low income. As I kicked some rocks, I could hear the rumbling of a large vehicle.

I moved to the side of the road just as Lloyd slowed down, pulling up next to me. I looked into his jeep and he flashed that beautiful smile at me.

“Savannah. I’m really sorry about math class. I didn’t mean it like that. I just hate to see you work that pretty little ass off for nothing.”

I blushed and turned away from him. “I’m fine. Hard work is good for you, try it sometime. Thanks for the offer, but I’m all set.”

“Let me at least give you a ride home.”

Shaking my head, I started to walk away. “Don’t want your daddy to catch you on the wrong side of the tracks with somebody like me. We all know how he feels about mykind.”

Lloyd sped up and whipped the jeep right in front of me, blocking my path. He hopped out and crossed his arms while he leaned against the jeep.

“My pop is an asshole, Sav. But I’m not out to impress him. You’re the one I want to impress.”

I glared at him. “I don’t believe you. Why me? I’m nothing special. Just a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.”

Lloyd shrugged. “You’re gorgeous and don’t even know it. All those other girls are so full of themselves. You’re smart, funny, kind, sweet, and so fucking stubborn. But it makes you stand out, you don’t just get on your knees for any guy.”

I blushed again as he came closer. “I don’t know, Lloyd…”

“Give me a chance. Let me take you home first and then we can talk.”

---