BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (28)
  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Chapter 1
  6. Chapter 2
  7. Chapter 3
  8. Chapter 4
  9. Chapter 5
  10. Chapter 6
  11. Chapter 7
  12. Chapter 8
  13. Chapter 9
  14. Chapter 10
  15. Chapter 11
  16. Chapter 12
  17. Chapter 13
  18. Chapter 14
  19. Chapter 15
  20. Chapter 16
  21. Chapter 17
  22. Chapter 18
  23. Chapter 19
  24. Chapter 20
  25. Chapter 21
  26. Epilogue
  27. About the Author
  28. Copyright Page

“Hey, man, leave her alone,” he says. Ryan grins and makes an Ooh, I’m scared face. Nick grins back and nudges him. “Dude, if she doesn’t drink, she doesn’t drink. It’s cool. Lighten up. I’m just going to stick with Coke tonight too.”

Everyone watches as he pops open a Coke and winks at me. I smile at him. It feels a little like he’s come to my rescue. And I like it.

Thirty minutes later, it seems like everyone is drinking out of the kegs in the backyard except for Nick and me. The party’s getting louder, more raucous and more crowded by the moment. People are doing keg stands, and there seems to be some kind of loud, off-key karaoke thing going on inside. There’s a card game at the picnic tables, and people are starting to jump into the pool fully clothed. Nick excuses himself for a moment to go find the bathroom. I stand there for a minute, feeling conspicuously alone, until a girl walks over to me.

“You must be Amanda,” she says. She has long brown hair and deep-set eyes, and she’s staring at me. I glance from side to side.

“Yeah,” I say. Who is this girl? She shifts her beer bottle from her right hand to her left.

“I’m Kallie,” she says. Her eyes don’t seem to be focusing on me quite right.

“Hi,” I say, realizing that she’s drunk.

“Are you with Nick?” she asks.

I nod.

“Did he tell you about me?” she asks.

I shake my head. I’m starting to wonder what this girl is up to. She doesn’t look as friendly as I thought she did when she walked up. Actually, the look in her eyes is downright mean. I suddenly feel uneasy.

She laughs. “What am I going to do with him?” she says, her words slightly slurred. “He’s probably leading you on and making you think he likes you,” she adds.

I glance around for Nick.

“He’s such a flirt,” Kallie continues. She leans down so that our noses are almost touching. I can practically taste the beer on her breath. She holds a finger up in my face and jabs it at me. “But hands off, goody-goody,” she says, her voice suddenly cold as ice. “He’s my boyfriend. Don’t you dare touch what’s mine.”

Chapter 14

Oh baby, baby,
You make me lose my mind.
I don’t know what’s up, what’s down.
Tell me, baby,
What’s going through your head?
Show me, baby,
’Cuz I need to know, oh, oh.

—“UNDERSTAND YOU,” STAR BECK
ALBUM: POP STAR

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Chapter 14

I blink at her. “He’s what?”

“My boyfriend,” she says. A smug smile creeps across her face and she narrows her eyes. “Don’t mess with him or you’ll be sorry.” Then she turns on her heel and wobbles away.