Page 9 of Find Me

5

Copper Mountain wasa regular public high school. That was new for me. My old high school had been a private school for entitled rich kids. Copper Mountain sort of had the same feel as my old school, and I had no doubt the students would be the same, too, with their cliques and crap.

I should have been attending college right now—been done with all the drama high school entailed. However, the universe had chosen a different road for me to take. A longer, harder road, where most days I found it paved with broken glass and I was forced to walk it without shoes.

I pulled into the student parking lot. I was a little early, so the lot was pretty empty. Right away, I noticed Colt standing by his navy blue Dodge Charger. Last night, he had texted me that he’d be waiting for me by it. He gave me a little wave and I parked a few spots over from him. Grabbing my backpack, I hopped out. Colt walked over and his eyes widened as I came out from between the cars.

“Uh… hi,” I said shyly. Did my outfit look terrible?

“You’re really beautiful,” he blurted and rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed.

My cheeks flushed. No one other than my parents and my sister had said that to me before. I didn’t know how to handle it. My first instinct was to shy away by looking down. I resisted the urge.Be cool. Compliments are supposed to be flattering, not make you uncomfortable.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

His expression became pensive, like I’d done something he found interesting or strange. The side of his mouth began to twitch but he quickly covered it up by clearing his throat. “Are you ready for the tour?” he asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets of his ripped jeans.

I tried not to stare at how nicely his dark blue T-shirt hugged his broad chest and muscled arms. I wondered if he played sports to be that fit. It took effort but I was able to avert my gaze before I got caught and gave the wrong impression. Colt was being a nice neighbor by showing me around and I was only looking for friendship. I nodded, then dug through my bag for my schedule and held it out to him. “Can you show me where my classes are, please?”

He took my schedule to look it over and we made our way out of the parking lot toward the school’s entrance. “We have a few classes together. AP English, calculus, and gym. Creed shares a few classes with us too and he’s in your art class.”

“I’m guessing Creed is your walking, talking carbon copy?”

That made him chuckle. “Yeah, he’s my twin.”

Hearing him say the wordtwinhad me reaching for Shayla’s cuff. One day, when I came across moments like this that reminded me of her, it wouldn’t hurt so much. I hoped that day came soon. Until then I needed to keep moving forward.

Colt showed me where all my classes were and where my locker was. The halls were quickly filling up with other students. Walking through them, I noticed quite a bit of students staring. A lot of girls smiled at Colt. Not that I could blame them. And I received a few curious glances.

“Colt!” someone yelled, catching our attention. Colt and I paused in the hall and turned. A guy with raven, slicked-back hair and light green eyes was heading toward us. The guy hadfootball playerwritten all over him and it wasn’t just the letterman’s jacket that gave him away. This guy was tall and definitely drank the Kool-Aid at the gym. “There you are. What’s up, man?” he said to Colt. They greeted each other by doing that handshake hug thing guys do. “I saw Creed outside. He said you ditched him for some chi—” He stopped talking when his stare moved to me and his green eyes did a slow perusal from my head to my toes before he plastered on a charming smile I was sure he used on all the girls. “Well, hello, gorgeous. You must be new?”

Oh, jeez.

I tilted my head slightly and smirked. “What was your first clue?”

The jock’s brows shot up in surprise and Colt laughed. “Shiloh’s immune to your charm, dude. Just be nice and introduce yourself or she’ll chew you up and spit you out before you even know what’s happening.”

I folded my arms under my breasts. “I’m not that bad,” I mumbled, making Colt laugh some more.

The jock looked back and forth between us before he plastered on that charming smile again. “I’m Ethan. Football god, who not only scores touchdowns on the field but also in the bedroom,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Colt groaned, shaking his head at his friend’s antics.

At first all I could do was blink at Ethan. Then my head fell back, laughing. He was too much. “Nice to meet you, Football God. I’m Shiloh.”

After our unforgettable introduction, the three of us fell into friendly conversation, which mostly consisted of them asking me questions. I told them I was from Alaska, even though I was really from Maryland. They asked me why I had moved here, and I came up with a lame excuse that I wanted to escape the cold when really, I’d closed my eyes and pointed at a map of the U.S. and my finger had just happened to land on Arizona.

“Do you like football?” Ethan asked.

As I was about to answer, a group of students approached, made up of a few of Ethan’s fellow letterman jacket-wearing jocks, a couple of pretty girls clinging to their arms, and Colt’s twin, Creed. My eyes immediately locked with Creed’s. Him and Colt were mirror images of each other apart from a few subtle differences. Creed’s pale blond hair was shorter than Colt’s and styled into a faux hawk. Creed’s demeanor was guarded, stone-like, where Colt seemed softer, friendly. I looked back and forth between the two of them and began to feel that overwhelming sadness again.

Shayla.

I wondered if they had the same connection her and I’d had? Like a part of your soul walking this earth alongside you. I had always been able to feel when she had been close or if she had been upset.

Locking eyes with Creed again, I fought internally to push back my turmoil. His eyes intensely bored into mine as if he could see right through me and see my pain. Feeling exposed, I looked away. I thought I heard someone say something, but the bell rang, and everyone dispersed toward their classes except for Creed, Colt, and me. They both stood there watching me.

“Shiloh?”