Page 1 of Traces Of You
PROLOGUE
His gaze swept over the school grounds, sharp and instinctive before moving forward with purpose.
She was off to the side by herself. The same place. The same time. Probably the same reason she was alone.
His size twelve feet moved with quick, quiet precision in her direction.
“Ford. Wait up.”
His shoulders dipped, frustration simmering beneath the surface, but he kept it buried deep.
“Hey, Stacy.”
His silly classmate stopped at his side, slid her arm through his, and gave him a tug toward her group of friends.
He wouldn’t be budged.
“Come over here. Are you going to the game tonight?”
Friday night football. He’d be there with his family because they were known in the small town community of Warrensburg, New York. Hell, all of Warren County knew them.
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes moving back to Reenie Dupree eating her sandwich with her head down.
Once he realized she was outside with her lunch and not in the cafeteria, he had wolfed down his food next to his friends, put his tray away, and set out to find her.
The lingering ache in his stomach over her treatment by others in gym class earlier made him want to slam his fist through the wall.
He wouldn’t.
Never show your anger.
Never show a weakness.
It’d been drilled into his and his siblings’ heads from the day they first worked the family farm.
You got more respect when you remained calm.
“Do you want to meet up with us?” Stacy asked. “We are going to Landon’s after.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Excuse me.”
Stacy frowned after his words.
Sorry if he wasn’t rude by walking away without a word as his friends did. Or dropping the normal, “later” at her feet.
If his father raised them to be strong, his mother raised them to have manners.
Middle school didn’t excuse it.
His ten steps toward Reenie had four other people slowing him or calling his name.
He gave the cursory wave or head nod but wasn’t stopping.
His stride ended in front of Reenie, her brown hair straight and falling past her shoulders.
She was new to his school this year and in most of his classes.
Cute, shy, and troubled.
