Beautiful Read Free Page B

wowing,” I said as I walked past Jenny and made my way over toward Skylar.
    Skylar’s friend noticed me first and flashed a polite grin. I smiled back as I sat down on the same side of the bench where Skylar was sitting, and I started to slide over, closer to her.
    The guy sitting at the table was good-looking. He was a big guy, so he must be athletic. I smiled as he gave me a death stare. He kind of resembled Skylar, like maybe they were related.
    “Hey,” I said as Skylar turned and stared at me.
    Her face turned ten shades of red.
    “Um…hey,” she said as she glanced around before looking back at me with a blank expression on her face.
    The kid sitting across from me shook his head and let out a gruff laugh. “I take it, your friends haven’t talked to you about my sister yet?”
    Ah, another overprotective brother.
    I smiled and nodded my head. “Oh, yeah, I’ve heard all their rumors. Funny thing about me though, I actually like to get to know someone before I label them.”
    Skylar cleared her throat. “Um…this is my younger brother, Mitch.”
    I extended my hand and introduced myself, “Wyatt Smith.”
    With a smile, he replied, “Younger only by five minutes,” he said as he stole a glance at Skylar and winked.
    “Twins. Oh, wow,” I said as I looked at Skylar and smiled.
    The blonde friend reached across the table toward me and smiled again. Her blue eyes lit up when she turned to Skylar and then me. “Hey, I’m Michelle, Sky’s best friend and this idiot’s girlfriend.”
    I laughed and turned back at Skylar.
    “Yes, fraternal twins,” she said.
    I looked at Mitch and then Michelle with a grin. “Nice to meet you both.”
    For the rest of lunch, we all sat and talked, and I got to know all three of them better. Mitch loosened up a lot, and I found out he played football and baseball. Michelle and Skylar had been best friends since kindergarten. I also learned that Mitch and Skylar’s older brother, nicknamed Skip, was in the Marines, and he would be home on leave during Christmas.
    Skylar had a beautiful laugh, and a part of me wanted to make her laugh like that every single day. But she also seemed to be really uncomfortable around me. I couldn’t tell if she was just a shy girl or if it was because of the label everyone had placed on her. I knew there had to be more to the sadness behind her eyes, and I intended to find out what it was.
    When the bell rang, I asked her what class she had next.
    She rolled her eyes. “Calculus.”
    My heart slammed in my chest. “I do, too.”
    She smiled. “Oh, yeah? Cool.”
    “Can I walk with you?”
    She stopped and peeked around while she chewed on her lip before glancing back at me. “Um…sure. I mean, if you want to.”
    With a wink, I nodded. “I want to.”
    That beautiful rose color went across her cheeks again. It was clear to me that Skylar wasn’t used to getting attention—whether she had been before the whole Charlie mess, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was, I wanted to get to know her more.
    We talked all the way to class about how much she hated calculus, but she was trying her best to keep her grades up. Her parents were pretty hard on her about keeping a B-average and above in all her classes.
    “I’m great at it. I love it. Let me know if you ever need any help,” I said as I bumped her shoulder.
    She smiled and then dropped out of sight. I watched as she fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw Jenny and another girl walking by.
    They both laughed before Jenny said, “Oh, sorry, strumpet.”
    I leaned down and tried to help Skylar up, but she pushed my hand away. I could see tears building in her eyes, and it caused my chest to tighten.
    “I’m fine.” She stood and started walking away at a fast pace.
    “Skylar, wait.”
    She walked into the classroom and made her way to the very back.
    Does she sit, alone, in the back of every classroom?
    Jenny grabbed my arm. “Empty seat here.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
    “No,