Raw Deal (Beauty for Ashes: Book One) Read Free Page B

Kingston?”
    “Tenth Grade. I went to Los High for a year, but basketball was rubbish there.”
    “Are they the ones we played tonight?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I missed the game. Did we win?”
    “Yep.”
    “Did you score any?”
    “Ten points.”
    “Cool.” I sipped my Dirty Dribble.
    Lewis swigged his Slam Dunk.
    We were both quiet for a moment. I wondered what to say next. Lewis was looking at me. I smiled and looked over at the people on the dance floor. I hated awkward silences. I stared into my drink. “Um, do you want to dance?”
    “Sure.” He downed his drink and stood up.
    I downed mine. Bad idea—now I really wanted to burp. Lewis danced me over to the dance floor, and as we danced we talked about school, what subjects we were taking, which teachers we liked, and which teachers we didn’t. Lewis was funny, and I actually started to enjoy the party.
    Suddenly, the lights went out for a few seconds, and everyone started screaming before they came back on.
    “Party’s over,” Lewis said.
    “Oh, is that how they get us out?” I asked.
    “Yeah.”
    I’d grabbed his arm for dear life when the lights went out, and I realized that I was still hanging onto it. I let go. “Sorry.”
    “No worries. How are you getting home?”
    “I brought my car.”
    “Hey, Lexi, where’ve you been?” Monica asked, suddenly appearing beside me. “I thought you’d left.”
    “No, I was with Lewis.”
    “We’re going to the burger joint across the road. You coming?”
    “No, I think I’ll just head home now.”
    Monica scowled. “Lexi, why are you in such a rush to go home all the time, you miserable—”
    “Okay, Monica,” I cut in, raising my hand. I’d done my best to make Lewis think I was all fun and jovial. I didn’t need Monica uncovering the real Lexi. I looked up at him. “Are you in a hurry to get home?” I knew better than to just follow Monica to the burger joint. She’d flutter off as soon as we got there, and I’d be left on my own. I’d go if Lewis was coming.
    Lewis grinned. “Not when there’s the option of hanging out with a beautiful girl.”
    Monica’s eyes widened. “Liam never calls me beautiful.”
    “Yes, I do,” Liam piped up. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching.
    “No, you just say I’m hot. I want to be beautiful.”
    Liam rolled his eyes and took Monica’s hand as the four us made for the exit.
    Lewis draped his arm around my shoulders when we got outside. Sandy joined us as we walked, and started talking to Monica, totally ignoring me.
    The burger joint was pretty empty when we arrived. The guys ordered burger meals, and we made our way upstairs. I couldn’t stop laughing over the fact that the burger joint was actually called The Burger Joint, and Monica thought it was funny that I found it funny. She started laughing too.
    Soon more kids from school arrived, and within half an hour, the place was packed. Some people started dancing to the awful music blasting in the joint.
    Most of the basketball squad sat with us at our table, and Monica and Sandy were in their element, flirting and giggling for no apparent reason. Lewis pulled me onto his knee when a couple more guys came over, and Monica gave me a totally tactless wink. I ignored her. Hopefully, Lewis hadn’t seen it.
    When Jace Washington walked in, everyone cheered. He came over to our table and slapped hands with a couple of the guys.
    “You were on fire tonight,” Liam said.
    “Thanks, man. It was a team effort,” Jace replied.
    “Too right, it was a team effort!” Craig yelled over the music, pounding his fist on the table. “I scored tonight too!”
    “So did Lewis,” I put in. I looked down at Lewis. “Didn’t you score ten points?”
    “Yeah, Lewis was hot,” Sandy agreed.
    Jace looked around the joint, an amused frown on his face as he watched our peers making fools of themselves, dancing on the tables and acting like they were in kindergarten. “I’m gonna split ya’ll,” he said.