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“What? Did I hear my name?” Kiera asked when she finally came up for air. She looped her arms around Ryder’s neck as he let her slide back down to the ground from where he’d been holding her off her feet around the waist.

I forced myself to look away. My cheeks burned with embarrassment for watching such a private moment that had been so openly displayed.

I have no idea why seeing Ryder Yates kiss another girl hurt so much. I didn’t even know him. He’d asked for my name once, and that was it, our entire history described in one sentence. But I’d been so hopeful and the deflated little balloon of wishful thinking seemed to take up more space inside me than when it had been fully expanded and full of optimism.

“This is Grace.” Todd introducing me to Ryder’s girlfriend dragged me back to the horrible moment. “She just transferred here from Hillsburg.”

I don’t know if it was the mention of Hillsburg or just plain me that turned her off, but Kiera wrinkled her nose in disgust. “So what’re you doing here?”

I opened my mouth but Todd answered for me. “Her mom got remarried. Her new stepdad lives in town.”

That seemed to perk Kiera’s attention. “New stepdad? From Osage? Who’d your mom marry?” She seemed highly insulted to learn something had happened in her town without her knowledge.

“Barry Struder. He’s a den—”

Kiera’s gasp cut me off. “Dr. Struder?” She almost gagged on the name as her entire face pinched into a grimace. “Eww. Your new stepdad is that creepy dentist who lives over on the west edge of town?”

Ryder and I spoke together. “Kiera,” he hissed in a reprimanding undertone just as I clutched my rose necklace to my throat.

“He’s not creepy,” I railed.

“What?” Kiera asked her boyfriend, completely ignoring me.

“I doubt she appreciates you calling her new dad creepy,” Ryder gritted out from between his teeth.

“Well, he is. He comes to every home game and doesn’t have any kids in school. Not until now anyway,” she added, sending me a condemning look for causing that fact.

“A lot of adults in town come to our games without having children in school,” Ryder argued. “It’s called local support.”

“Yeah, but those people actually watch the game. Dr. Struder sits by the students and stares at us cheerleaders the entire time.” She shivered and distorted her face again. “He’s a total perv. One time I couldn’t find my money fast enough to buy what I ordered at the concession stand, and suddenly he was right there behind me, offering to pay for my food.”

“How does that make him a pervert?” I demanded. “Sounds like a nice, charitable action to me.”

Kiera snorted. “Charitable? Yeah, right. Who knows what he would’ve asked me to do to pay him back. I said, ‘No, thanks,’ and escaped with my life intact.”

I could not believe my ears. Ryder Yates’s girlfriend was a total witch. I gawked at her a moment longer, waiting for the horns, tail, forked tongue and cloven hooves to make an appearance. When I realized she could keep them cleverly hidden, I spun away and stalked off.

“Way to go, Kiera,” I heard Todd admonish. A second later, he appeared at my side, taking hold of my elbow. “Wait up, Grace.”

I didn’t pause but kept right on storming toward my next class, wherever that was. “I don’t care what she says. Barry’s a nice guy. He treats my mom right and has been nothing but kind to me.”

Todd winced and scratched his goatee. “Yeah. I’m sorry about Kiera. She’s…well, she’s Kiera.”

I softened and offered him a smile, though I still wanted to go back to Miss Perky Cheerleader and scratch out her eyes. “You don’t have to apologize for her.” The witch should apologize for herself.

He looked like he wanted to grovel some more, yet the whole incident had nothing to do with him, so I cut him off before he could start.

With a hopeful arch of my eyebrows, I lifted my class schedule and sent him a pleading smile. “Hey, you don’t happen to know where room one twenty is, do you?”

His shoulders eased and relief washed across his features. With a grin, he snagged my sheet. “Sure. I can take you there myself.”

Chapter 7

“Today, I want us to delve deep into the symbolism of color in literature.”

My last class for my first day at Southeast was Literature with Ms. Holderread. Glad I didn’t have to stand in front of another couple dozen pair of eyes as the teacher announced me as the new kid any more for the rest of the day, I relaxed enough for my muscles to unclench. I sat in the far row closest to the door, waiting for the last bell to ring, wishing I could escape forever and never see Ryder Yates, or his girlfriend, or any of his crew ever again.

I wasn’t a big reader; literature meant absolutely nothing to me. But when Ms. Holderread mentioned color, I glanced up, instantly intrigued.