Winter Untold (Summer Unplugged) Read Free Page A

seconds, he’s not about to leave me for work again. “I love you, Bayleigh.”
    “I love you more.”
    He shakes his head. “You wish.”
    By the time we tip-toe our way to the front door so as not to wake up my brother or mom, I’m feeling a little less bitter about the whole situation. He came to see me, after all. I should be happy about it. And I am happy about it. I just wish it w as a longer stay.
     
    Waking up to one alarm in the morning is annoying, but waking up to a second one just three hours later really sucks. No one should be woken up from a blissful sleep twice in one morning. Especially when the second time you wake up alone and realize it’s a school day.
    Screw Mondays.
    After throwing on the first halfway decent outfit I could find, I head downstairs and root through the pantry for something that even remotely resembles breakfast food. If I leave within five minutes I’ll get to school early enough to hang out with Becca before first period. Monday mornings are gossip catch up mornings. Hell, who am I kidding? Every morning is gossip catch up morning.
    I shove a brownie in my mouth, sling my backpack over my shoulder and head out the front door. I’m staring at my cell phone when something soft crashes into me.
    Then it talks. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
    I look up to find myself facing my new neighbor, who’s wearing a puffy winter coat that’s a little too warm for mild Texas winters. I take a bite out of the brownie and take the rest of it out of my mouth. “Um, hello. What are you doing on my front porch? And why are you dressed like an Antarctic explorer?”
    Chase slips his thumbs under the straps of his backpack. “I came to take you to school, and it’s cold outside so I’m wearing a jacket.” He points to the thin sweater I wear over a t-shirt. “Aren’t you cold?”
    “Hardly. It’ll be hot as hell by noon. Where are you from, anyhow?”
    “Missouri. This is the lightest jacket I have.”
    “Ah,” I say, since his overdressing all makes sense now. “Well you won’t need that around here. It never gets too cold. It hasn’t snowed once in my entire life.”
    “Good to know,” he says. “So your mom suggested that I drive you to school since you were going to show me around anyhow. She said you normally walk when you can’t borrow her car.”
    Ugh. Thanks a lot Mom for blabbing about my entire life to the new neighbors who don’t need to know that we’re too poor to own more than one family car. It hasn’t escaped me that my new neighbors own three vehicles.
    Chase holds up the remote on his keychain, points it at a newer model Jeep in the driveway next door and presses a button. The engine roars to life.
    “Show off,” I mutter.
    He laughs. “Remote start is nice in Missouri winters.”
    I want to tell him that he can take his fancy jacket and expensive vehicle and drive himself to school, but I swallow my annoyance because it is cold outside and catching a ride with a stranger sounds better than walking two miles and freezing my ass off.
    The high school secretary is happy to welcome Chase to Lawson High, and she’s even happier to volunteer me to be his personal guide through the school, for as long as he should need. Her words, not mine.
    I’m a little annoyed at being assigned the babysitter to an eighteen year old senior who seems smart enough to navigate the hallways of our small school w ithout someone holding his hand. I guess my new responsibility isn’t so bad. He is incredibly hot by Lawson High standards, and I’m his first friend, which means girls will be flocking to me asking me to put in a good word for them.
    Like that girl with the anchor tattoo on her arm who hasn’t stopped giving me dirty looks in the hallway ever since she discovered that I’m dating Jace Adams. I can’t wait to see the look she’ll give me when I’m walking with a hot new guy.
    Unfortunately, getting his schedule and signing in takes a lot longer than we thought and by