BooksBarbecue
Back Nobody in Particular
Chapters (61)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  4. ONE DANNI
  5. TWO ROSE
  6. THREE DANNI
  7. FOUR DANNI
  8. FIVE ROSE
  9. SIX ROSE
  10. SEVEN DANNI
  11. EIGHT ROSE
  12. NINE DANNI
  13. TEN ROSE
  14. ELEVEN ROSE
  15. TWELVE ROSE
  16. THIRTEEN ROSE
  17. FOURTEEN DANNI
  18. FIFTEEN DANNI
  19. SIXTEEN ROSE
  20. SEVENTEEN DANNI
  21. EIGHTEEN ROSE
  22. NINETEEN ROSE
  23. TWENTY DANNI
  24. TWENTY-ONE DANNI
  25. TWENTY-TWO DANNI
  26. TWENTY-THREE ROSE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR ROSE
  28. TWENTY-FIVE DANNI
  29. TWENTY-SIX ROSE
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN DANNI
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT ROSE
  32. TWENTY-NINE ROSE
  33. THIRTY DANNI
  34. THIRTY-ONE DANNI
  35. THIRTY-TWO ROSE
  36. THIRTY-THREE DANNI
  37. THIRTY-FOUR ROSE
  38. THIRTY-FIVE ROSE
  39. THIRTY-SIX DANNI
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN ROSE
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT DANNI
  42. THIRTY-NINE ROSE
  43. FORTY DANNI
  44. FORTY-ONE ROSE
  45. FORTY-TWO DANNI
  46. FORTY-THREE ROSE
  47. FORTY-FOUR DANNI
  48. FORTY-FIVE ROSE
  49. FORTY-SIX ROSE
  50. FORTY-SEVEN DANNI
  51. FORTY-EIGHT ROSE
  52. FORTY-NINE ROSE
  53. FIFTY ROSE
  54. FIFTY-ONE ROSE
  55. FIFTY-TWO DANNI
  56. EPILOGUE ROSE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  58. Also by Sophie Gonzales
  59. Praise Page
  60. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  61. Newsletter Sign-up

Smack in the middle of the bleachers, two rows have a decent chunk of empty space left free. At first, I think maybe there’s something wrong with that spot, but then when we start climbing over already-seated students to make our way over to the empty area, I realize it’s been saved for us. Florence and Harriet are sitting there already, along with a whole bunch of Ashford guys.

“Which one’s Santi?” I ask Eleanor, while we’re still far away enough for it to be a private conversation.

“Oh, he’s down there,” she says, pointing toward the base of the bleachers.

“Are you going to go talk to him?”

“No. I’m going to look at his hair.” She beams. “A whole afternoon of looking at his hair. Pinch me.”

I don’t.

Between Alfie—another person I met for half a second at Molly’s party—and Harriet is a free spot. Harriet notices me and straightens, waving her arm around to flag me down. I really did figure she was only being nice to me because she’s my RA, but maybe she counts as a friend after all. She points at the empty space, but at the exact same time Alfie waves at Rose and points to the same spot. I’m about to tell Rose she can have it—I figure I owe her—when Alfie shuffles over and suddenly there’s just enough room for us to sit side by side. The bench is speckled with rainwater, and Harriet uses her bare hand to flick some of it off for me.

“Did someone fall before?” Harriet asks me as I sit. “That’s what it sounded like.”

“Rupert Mathers,” Rose answers for me, scowling. “Practically bowled us over on his way down, too.”

Rose turns to Alfie now, and the two of them talk so quietly I can’t eavesdrop at first. Then, Alfie says—loud enough for me to make out—“Sorry, I’m in a bad mood, I think. It’s just weird to be here without him, you know?”

Him. Oscar? I guess he would’ve been with the Ashford guys today, if he was still alive. Probably in this exact group.

Rose purses her lips so tightly they almost vanish. Then she sucks in a breath, and I concentrate, hoping to catch what she has to say about Oscar.

“I can’t imagine signing up for the rugby team, knowing practice starts during the school holidays,” she says. “I don’t know why they can’t just start the season a bit later.”