Page 5 of I Hate You More

Kill me now!!!

I smiled at the message, and another one arrived before I got a chance to respond.

No seriously! If that woman makes me spend another minute with the demon child they keep trying to convince me I’m related to, I’m filing for emancipation!

I chuckled under my breath and typed my response.Your brother’s not that bad. It’s just one day. You’ll be fine.

Traitor.Tessa fired right back.

“You’ll never guess who’s looking this way,” Cora said, making me glance up from my phone. All three of the C’s had their eyes fixed on someone behind me. I swiveled in my seat to see who they were talking about, and Bart, one of the more recent additions to the nursing home, was stealing glances in our direction. Connie’s direction, to be precise.

“He’s checking you out again,” Cora whispered. I turned back to the group as Cora gave Connie an encouraging nudge.

“In his dreams,” Connie said. She lightly touched her perfectly coiffed, bright pink hair though, and I got the feeling she wasn’t quite as opposed to Bart’s attention as she made it seem.

“You should go talk to him,” I said. “He looks nice…”

“He’s okay, I suppose.” Connie tilted her head as she studied Bart. There was a slight smile on her lips, and it was clear she thought he was more than just okay.

“Enough matchmaking,” Grandma said. “Ally, you need to go enjoy your last day of freedom before your senior year starts.” We were back on the subject of my social life again, and I could tell none of them were going to let it drop.

They really didn’t need to be concerned as I already had the rest of my day planned out. I needed to make sure everything was in order before the first day of school. I’d set aside an hour to sort out my schoolbooks and supplies, another hour to make sure my schedule was organized, and twenty minutes for picking out my outfits for the week. Since it was the last day of vacation, I’d even penciled in some time for reading the latest book in a series that had just been released.

I glanced at my watch and let out a sigh. It was almost time for me to leave anyway. “Fine, fine. You guys win. But I’ll be back to visit in two weeks, and then the next book club will be in a month, so you all better have something to contribute. This book club has been feeling awfully one-sided lately.”

I stood up and tucked my book into my bag. “And, Connie, I’ll be expecting juicy Bart gossip. So you better go talk to him.”

“Always so demanding.” Connie grinned as she shook her head at me.

“It works both ways, young lady,” Cora added. “There’s been no boy talk from you all summer.”

“You know Dad doesn’t let me date,” I grumbled.

“Since when?” Cora asked.

“Since always. He says I can date when I get into college.”

“How ridiculous.” Cora waved the comment off with one hand. “Your father doesn’t have to know. A beautiful girl like you must have plenty of boys chasing after her, and it’s about time you started letting them catch you.”

I wished it were as easy as that. My dad was a pretty nice guy most of the time, but this was one area where he wouldn’t budge. He was determined I get into a good college and wouldn’t allow any distractions—and dating was definitely considered a distraction. I’d also had to give up dancing lessons so I could focus on schoolwork this year, and I was much more upset about that. The boys at my school were all idiots, and I probably wouldn’t have dated any of them even if I could.

“Cora, stop being a bad influence,” Grandma scolded before focusing on me. “She was boy-mad at your age, Ally, so don’t feel obliged to listen to her advice. You keep being my sweet, innocent granddaughter as long as you want.”

I gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Yes, Grandma.”

“Ignore her, date some cute boys,” Cora whispered to me as I went over to give her and Connie a kiss too.

I laughed and said goodbye to The Three C’s. I was already missing them by the time I reached the parking lot, but I smiled the whole way home. Spending time with Grandma and her friends always made me happy. It was a shame I wouldn’t be able to see them as much once school started again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for school or glued to my Kindle in the living room. My friend Mia texted me to see if I wanted to meet up with her, but the book I’d started was too good to abandon, and I didn’t want to go anywhere until I finished it.

It wasn’t the most sociable way to spend my day, but it was exactly how I felt like ending what had been a perfect summer break. I’d spent most days hanging out with my friends, and my brother had been too busy with football to bug me like he usually did. Even his loathsome best friend, Chase, had gone away for the summer, so I’d been left in blissful peace.

I wasn’t ready for it all to be over, and I was dreading the start of the school year. I was going to have to study harder than I ever had before to get the grades I needed for college. Even though I’d clearly outlined my study plans on my calendar ahead of school tomorrow, I wasn’t mentally prepared for all the work I needed to do.

I wasn’t dumb or anything, but I had to work a whole lot harder than my brother to do well at school. Learning and memorizing things came so easily to Shane, whereas I needed to put in hours of work. It was the reason Dad always had such strict rules for me and tended to turn a blind eye with him. Shane was naturally smart while I was a work in progress.

I was partway through a chapter when the front doorbell rang. I frowned as I glanced in the direction of the chiming sound. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I had no idea who would be visiting us.

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