No Regrets Read Free Page A

rolls his eyes. “Hurt and furious, Zadie called a friend of her family who went to the all-boys catholic school and asked him to be her date.”
    Davey nods approvingly. “ Smart move. Is he cute?”
    “ Carter is drop dead gorgeous,” Tricia says. “She showed up looking like she fell out of the pages of a fashion magazine.”
    “Whatever,” I say, but it’s true. I looked hot.
    “Then she and Carter made out on the dance floor, left together and disappeared into my bedroom at the post prom party at my house,” Josh continues. “From the hallway we heard the bed rocking and creaking. Zadie entered the room a girl and came out a woman.”
    “Oh my God. Shut up,” I say, but we all start to laugh. “He’s full of shit. That never happened.”
    “But everyone thought it did,” Tricia says. “The plan was to make Henry jealous for ditching her.”
    Davey looks incredulous. “Did it work?”
    I shrug, ignoring the pain in my chest. “I don’t know. We never spoke to one another again. Until today.”
    “Wow,” Davey says.
    “Zadie changed her entire social standing that day. She no longer needed Henry Fletcher and he was graduating anyway. She lost her V card, at least the school thought so, and she ended up pretty popular.”
    “Too popular. That’s why I went to Elton. To get away from everyone. I wanted a clean break.”
    “But you ended up back here anyway?” Davey asks.
    “Yep.” I try not to show my defeat.
    Josh senses my discomfort and shifts the conversation. “Forget the past. Let’s talk about the present. Did you get to see him in a Speedo?”
    “No.” I gulp at the thought. He looked pretty good in one back in high school. I could only imagine it got better.
    “This is go ing to be awesome,” Tricia says evilly. “Watching you freak out all summer.”
    “I’m not freaking out,” I say, crossing my arms in an attempt to look non-freaking. I mutter, “Traitor.” under my breath.
    “Whatever,” Josh says. Tricia gives me a not-nice grin. They know me too well. The only one remotely sympathetic is Davey and I suspect that will change soon enough.
    “You know hot guys are sort of my kryptonite, especially Henry.”
    “That’s the dumbest thing ever,” Josh laughs. “I mean, we’re friends and I’m like the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
    “Shut up.” I stick my tongue out at both of them. “Henry was really mean to me.”
    Tricia’s face softens. “I’m sure he and Tate have both grown up. Maybe it will be fun.”
    “Douchey? Clueless? S elf-absorbed?” I ask. “I’m not sensing a lot of change happened, other than getting better looking.”
    “ Ouch,” Tricia cringes.
    “And called me ‘pipsqueak’.”
    Her hand clasps over her mouth. “No.”
    “What?” Davey asks, but I cut them off by pointing at the TV.
    “Oh look, Yetis, ” I say, and make my escape. I leave my roommates to their nonsense. In my room, I peel off my red lifeguard suit and crawl into pajamas, done with this day.

 
    Chapter Two
    The last four weeks of spring semester take on a rhythm. School, work, home. Exams are brutal but I manage to get through them. Since I’m a transfer, I have to catch up on some final core classes. At my old, tiny school my classes were small and the professors knew me. There was no way to blow off a class. Here? A small class has two hundred students. The teacher is more likely to be a TA and doesn’t care if you pass or fail. It’s weird but I like the invisibility. Even if it means I have to work harder.
    Home is never a problem. Tricia and Josh make everything fun. I can’t believe I left them to go away last year. Thank God, they gave me a place to stay and support when I needed it. No questions asked. It’s so weird. What I thought would be good for me, a small school with a close campus community, ended up being a noose around my neck.
    Work? Well work has turned me into a basket case. Henry keeps scheduling me to work with Tate,