Just One of the Good Guys. by Allie May (best mystery novels of all time txt) 📖

Chapter One - The First Day of School

 

 

 

 

All weekend I had been excited for the first day of school. I had planned out my outfit, bought all the supplies I could possibly need and more, showered the night before, and quickly fell asleep knowing I'd need as much rest as possible for the next morning.

 

Then I woke up, and all my excitement for the day ahead was replaced with anxiety.

 

My cousin, Ashley, had lived here her whole life, but my family and I only moved here last month.  So when Ashley and her parents came over offering house warming gifts, she assured me that she'd help me weave through the ins and outs of Pleasant Hills High. She promised to introduce me to her closest friends, show me off in front of all the cute jock boys, and that eased my nerves a little. At the time it had been nice to know I could walk into school knowing that I at least knew someone, and that I wasn't alone.  But now the thought of me following Ashley around school like a lost puppy dog was providing me with little to no comfort.

 

I stood in front of the full-length mirror my father had hung on the back of my bedroom door and took in my appearance.

 

I carefully studied my makeup. I was far from a makeup artist, and it was pretty easy to tell. The light brown eye shadow applied over my lids was sloppy and wasn't blended that well. My winged eyeliner was a little thicker than I had originally intended, and my lashes were more then sufficiently coated with mascara. I had filled in my brows with just a touch of auburn powder to better match my dyed copper hair, and that was it. It wasn't my best work by far, but I honestly kind of liked the way it turned out. It made me feel less innocent and sweet like everyone always said I seemed, and instead made me feel confident, messy, and bad-ass.

 

I gently played with my long copper waves, twisting them in my fingers, scrunching them. After a few moments, when I realized I still wasn't content with the way it looked, I through it into a  messy ponytail at the back of my head. I quickly pulled out a few tendrils from the front, to frame my pale heart shaped face. It fit my messy but cute look well, so after another few seconds of swatting at the curls on my head I stopped and then stood up straight to study my outfit.

 

I decided to play it simple and safe today. The white v-neck I chose was a little big, so I tucked the hem into my favorite pair of blue skinny jeans. I was wearing diamond studs in my ear, the same locket I always wore, white tennis shoes, and a green military style jacket to protect me from the cool breeze.

 

I turned from side to side, my hands in my jacket pockets, to get an overall feel for my outfit. I wanted to make sure my jeans were hugging my hips, and my shirt wasn't showing off my extreme lack of fun-bags.

 

"Tatum! Ashley's here, are you ready for school?" My  father yelled up the stairs to my room, and my heart began to race.

 

Oh no, already?

 

I looked at my alarm clock. It said six thirty. Ashley was right on time.

 

But am I ready? Do I have everything? My schedule? My books? Do I look cute? Or do I look like I'm trying to hard? Oh my God, what am I going to do? I'm already a nervous wreck, how am I going to do this? I wish I was home, with my friends Tammy and Jessica.

 

I looked on the table beside my bed and longingly looked at the photo of the three of us back at my home. We were all laughing, on the grass, arms holding each other. I picked up the small frame and remembered how happy I was that day. God, I miss them.

 

"Tay-Tay, lets go! Get your tight butt down here!" This time, it was Ashley yelling for me.

 

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and placed the frame face down while reprimanding myself.

 

Stop torturing yourself. This is your home now, whether you like it or not.

 

 

~    ~    ~

 

 

I was very thankful for Ashley, who was so willing and excited to introduce me around school. But by lunch period, I was fed up. Granted, Ashley and her friends weren't mean to me in any way, shape, or form. In fact they were quite the opposite, blowing comments up my butt every ten minutes, which was annoying all on it's own. They all were trying too hard to get me to like them, constantly smiling at me with plastic Barbie doll smiles, "Oh my God, I love your hair! Is it natural?", "You have an amazing body, wow. Do you like do pilates?", "You could totally be a model". It got old after the first hour.

 

Sure, I was scared of not making friends. But I'd rather no friends then have to spend another hour with these girls. When they weren't complimenting me, it was because they were bashing someone around them not in their clique. It was honestly disgusting.

 

Even now, while at lunch, Mandy--the blonde one--just studied her cuticles and smacked bubblegum in her mouth like a cow. Jeanette, the brunette, went on and on about how she was convinced her math professor had a thing for her, because "I mean, how could he not? Look at me."

 

Being around them was nauseating. 

 

Ashley just laughed and encouraged her to make a move on him while squirming on Chad's lap, her football boyfriend.

 

"Right, Tay-Tay? She should totally just jump his bones!"

 

I shrugged, and prodded at the warm sludge on my cafeteria tray. "I don't know. I wouldn't."

 

"Why not?" Jeanette pouted, her brown doe eyes looking at me confused.

 

"Isn't he's married?"

 

"So?"

 

"And isn't sex with a minor is illegal?"

 

"Only if we got caught." She winked at me, and I offered a smile back. Luckily she wasn't able to tell it was forced. None of them could. Probably because they were so used to doing it themselves.

 

I turned to look at Ashley, but she was sucking on Chad's ear lob and giggling. She ran her painted nails through his blonde hair and I went agape.

 

I'm all for slutting it up. It's your body, do with it what you please. No one should be able to tell you otherwise…but really? In the cafeteria? In front of everyone?

 

Chad looks over at me, his eyes a bright teal. They look needy, desperate.

 

Please, lord, just go to the nearest bathroom like a normal high school student.

 

I was completely flabbergasted by everyone's behavior, but it was clear that Ashley and her minions were the "Queen Bees" of the school, so I hadn't planned on just walking away in fear of having to deal with their fury. That was until Chad smiled at me, and winked.

 

I gasped, and tore my eyes away from him.

 

What? Did he…Did he really just…No! He totally did not just wink at me like that while my cousin's giving him a disgusting slobbery hickey!

 

Slowly, I peered over my shoulder for a second time to look at Chad. Ashley was still gnawing on his neck like a fucking vampire, and Chad was still looking at me with crazed eyes. Only this time, he slowly licked his lips. He probably thought he looked irresistible right now. But I was literally holding back the erg to slap him across his flushed face.

 

That was the last straw.

 

I grabbed my lunch tray, and walked away.

 

 

~    ~    ~

 

 

I scanned the full cafeteria, unsure of where to sit. Do I sit down at an empty table? Or do I sit down with another group of people? If so, who should I go to? Should I ask to sit? Or should I just sit down and confidently introduce myself?

 

Quick, think of something! The longer you stand in the center of the cafeteria just looking at everyone, the weirder you seem.

 

I swallowed the large amount of wetness forming in the back of my throat and tried to focus on my breathing. My heart was pounding, and my cheeks were growing warm. In about point five seconds everyone would see me turn a brilliant shade of red.

 

"Hey, you?"

 

I cautiously turned, studying the people around me, trying to find out who it was that yelled.

 

"Behind you."

 

I turned around and became face to face with the cutest Goth girl I'd ever seen. Her hair was black, but had lavender ombred tips. Very different, very beautiful. Her eyes were a bright icy blue, like Chad's, only hers were more friendly. They were outlined in black kohl pencil, making her look very feline. She had thin lips, a pixie nose, and a pointed chin. She was wearing a little black dress that had very little detail, but she also wore lavender Doc Martens to matched her hair as well as added a little edge to her plain outfit. Overall, she was very pretty, but also very different looking from everyone else here. I assumed being different and living in a small country town probably made being yourself really hard, but she didn't seem to care. She seemed happy, bubbly, and confident.

 

"Are you the new girl? I haven't seen you around before, and this school's really tiny so…"

 

I smiled and let out a silent breath. I was already more comfortable talking to this mystery girl then I was with Ashley and her friends all day. She seemed extremely genuine. 

 

I held out my hand, "Yeah. My name's Tatum."

 

She swatted my hand away quickly, making me jump in surprise. "I'm sorry. I don't like being touched."

 

"Oh, I'm sorry."

 

"No you're fine. You didn't know. But you should come sit with me."

 

Left without any other options, I followed her as she pranced over to a table. She quickly sat down, and gestured for me to sit next to her. Only one other individual was sat at this table, a boy.

 

He wasn't "Goth" like his little companion, but he too looked different from everyone else that attended this school. He wasn't wearing khakis and loafers and button downs like the majority of the rich, pretty boys. Instead he was dressed very casually in jeans, vans, and a wholey maroon t-shirt. He also had tattoos covering his whole right forearm, diamond studs in both ears, and a bandana wrapped around in tousled brown hair.

 

I was immediately intimidated, but not because he was angry looking or anything. But because he was extremely handsome in a very rugged way. His hands were large and looked rough. Brown stubble was visible on his square jaw and cheeks, and his eyes were a light hazel color that I'd never seen before.

 

He sat back in his seat, feat propped lazily on top of the lunch table.

 

"My name's Carter. And this is Gage." The girl clarified with a smile, then pushed at Gage's feet, making them fall to the floor.

 

 I listened to Carter as she spoke, but I didn't look at her. I just slowly sat down, eyes locked on Gage's narrowed ones. He had this sneaky smirk plastered to his face, like he was up to no good, and I didn't like that. He made me feel like I was being observed under a microscope. Carter noticed.

 

"Don't be intimidated. He's honestly a softie." she assured me with a smile, then threw a piece of food at him. He was knocked out of his trance immediately, a genuine smile plastered to his face. In two seconds he went from scary to adorable. A chuckle escaped his lips, "What?!"

 

"Stop staring at her like you're going to mount her."

 

My eyes went wide, "Wait what?"

 

Gage chuckled again, and folded his arms