An Unexpected Start: A Prequel to An Unexpected Hunger Read Free Page B

caught her off guard. She stared at me—didn’t say anything—just studied me with her eyes. It was so quiet in that small ass room; I could barely hear the drunken chaos outside. I wanted to say something smooth, something to make her think I wasn’t who everyone thought I was—who everyone expected me to be.
    Without any warning, someone busted through the laundry room door. Alexa jumped back away from me.
    “Oh shit!” Ben, red-faced and glassy eyed, had his arm draped over the dark hair, blue-eyed chick from downstairs.
    “ Ben, what the fuck, man,” I groaned.
    He hiccupped. “Sorry, dude. I didn’t know you were getting busy in here.”
    “Nobody here is getting busy,” Alexa said.
    Ben trudged out into the hallway, dragging whatever-her-name-was behind him. “Listen up, everybody,” he shouted over the railing that overlooked the first floor. “Do not, I repeat, do not, go in the laundry room. It is being occupied by the great Ricky Perry!” He said my name like a fucking sports announcer. The whole house erupted with hoots and howls.
    “Oh my God,” Alexa mumbled. She stomped past me and made a run for it.
    “Alexa, wait.” But she was out, sprinting for the stairs.
    I shoved Ben and seriously considered rearranging his face.
    He raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to mess it up for you.”
    Good thing I was more worried about catching up to Alexa. I released my grip on his shirt and pushed him aside. I jetted down the steps and shoved through the crowd to get outside.
    “Alexa, wait!”
    She ignored me and continued down the driveway.
    “Lex!”
    She slowed to a trot and then eventually stopped and hunched over. “Just leave me alone, Ricky, please.” Her voice had that same sound Mom’s did when she was about to cry. “Please.”
    “Don’t worry about Ben. He’s drunk.”
    She stood up straight and swiped at her eyes. Fuck. She was crying, and it was because of me. Nice work, loser.
    “Yeah, and now everyone at the party probably thinks you nailed me.”
    “What?” I cried. “Nobody thinks—”
    “Oh please,” more swiping under her eyes, “I was alone in a room with the great, Ricky Perry .” She mocked Ben’s drunken slur.
    “Relax, it’s not like we were doing anything. You know I would never—”
    “I know,” she said. “You would never…but what do you think people will think? We were playing Scrabble?”
    “Look, I’ll make sure to straighten this all out, okay?”
    She held up her hand. “Just do me a favor and don’t say anything. It will only make it worse. I should have known better.”
    Damn, it was like getting hit in the gut with a bat. “Let me take you home.”
    “No, it’s fine. I’ll find my own way.”
    A few girls passed by, stopping their conversation when they saw us.
    “Madison,” Alexa called. “You mind giving me a ride home?”
    “Sure,” she replied.
    Alexa gave me a short wave and disappeared down the driveway.
    I turned around and walked back to the house, ready to forget what just happened with a few more beers.

Chapter Three
January
     
    My day started off shitty, and I had a feeling it wasn’t going to get any better. Mom was up all night, getting sick, so I’d spent the night on her bedroom floor, holding the trashcan to her face. I’d overslept that morning, and my car wouldn’t start right away, which made me super fucking late to homeroom. I ran to my locker and realized I’d forgotten my first period book at home.
    The bell rang, signaling homeroom was over, and the halls flooded with people.
    “Yo,” Drew called. “What happened to you this morning?”
    “Sorry, car wouldn’t start.” I slammed my locker shut and made my way to Music Theory. It wa s my favorite class of the day. Mr. Thompson’s theory lessons only lasted about thirty minutes, and I usually spent the rest of class playing the drums.
    “Don’t sweat it . Got a ride from my sister.”
    “How’s she doing, anyway?”