Page 9 of From Angel to Rogue (Four Foxes #6)

LAN

I only joined the band because of her.

And I would’ve regretted that decision if it wasn’t for how much I enjoyed playing music with the guys.

Because she disappeared the entire summer.

Vanished into thin air like she didn’t even exist.

We practiced almost every day at hers and her twin soon became my best friend, but in all that time, I never even caught a glimpse of her.

In passing conversations, her mother and brother would mention she was in her room. I even heard her speak to them from her door, but she never came out.

It was almost as if she was deliberately avoiding me.

Only a thin curtain separated us and I kept glancing at the red embroidery on her lace blue curtain every night, like she would magically open it and grace me with her beautiful green eyes.

It’d been two months since I last saw her. Summer was coming to an end, and tomorrow, I knew I would be seeing her since it was the first day of freshman year. And that wasn’t something she could miss, right?

I hoped we would even get put in the same class.

“Are you going to the party with your lousy friends?” Serena asked, cocking her hip against my doorframe.

“They are not lousy and yes, I’ll be joining them in a few.” I frowned at the thin line that formed over her lips. She didn’t keep her hatred a secret. She hated the fact that I joined a band.

When I met Ser a few years ago, she suggested we could be recital partners.

I had always wanted to be a concert pianist; that was my true dream, so I agreed but never promised her anything.

Ser was a brilliant violinist and a good friend, but she held it over my head that I was part of the band now.

“I just don’t understand why you would leave me for them!” she snapped, gritting her teeth.

I sighed. “I never left anyone for anyone, Ser. My plans changed, that’s all. But I gotta go now,” I mumbled, grabbing my leather jacket. I was going to be early but who cared? I just didn’t want to linger for Ser’s wrath any longer.

I pressed a kiss on her forehead before I rushed out, not waiting for an answer.

Only the sound of my boots slapping on the sidewalk echoed through the night. It was a lone, cold night now that summer was blending in with fall.

“Landon,” a sweet, familiar voice called out to me just as I rounded the edge of the street. It was followed by the heavy thud of footsteps approaching me.

Confused, I turned around to see a blur of blond running toward me.

“Landon.” Katy waved a hand. “Wait for me.”

My feet thinned the distance between us, and with a huff I caught her. Her hands pressed on my chest as I held a loose arm around her.

“Landon,” she breathed, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

And all the air left my lungs.

Her green eyes gleamed in the moonless night.

The golden light from the lone streetlamp cast a radiating glow on her beautiful face.

The first thing I noticed was that she was different, much different from the last time I saw her.

The softness in her round face was replaced by a sharp edginess, her hair intentionally styled and her makeup carefully done to bring out the red of her lips.

The line of her jaw smoothed to her delicate, long neck, and her prominent collarbones peeked out from her tight black cami.

She wore a layered, checkered skirt, ankle-high boots, and a stylish leather jacket.

So unlike the soft girl who wore a pretty sundress and looked at me shyly.

Either way, she looked beautiful.

And I must say seeing her was the best fucking surprise ever.

“Katy, I haven’t seen you all summer,” I blurted, leaning closer to get more of her beautiful rose scent. She still smelled the same.

“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “I was a bit busy.”

I nodded and before I could say anything else, she asked, “Are you going to the party?”

“Yes.”

“That’s where I was going too,” she said. “Why don’t we both walk together?”

“What about Matty?”

“He said he’s not really in the mood and wants to sleep before school tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes. “My typical brother. So shall we go?”

I agreed with a little too much enthusiasm and laced my fingers with hers before she could protest. And instead of blushing like I had hoped, she slid me a sure smile as we made our way to the party.

And I felt like a guy who had just won the fucking jackpot.

KATY

I was fighting every cell in my body to keep my cheeks from turning red like a silly girl. I matched his steps with confidence, keeping my head held high and my back straight.

Something I naturally wouldn’t do.

Instead, I would’ve just clung on to his arms with a giddy smile plastered on my face, but I fought against it.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that being or becoming a cool, popular person wasn’t easy.

The planning and research were probably the easiest parts. The execution, on the other hand, was making me shake in my new leather boots. I thought I was prepared. After two months of rigorous training, I thought I could handle this.

And till now, I was doing a pretty great job, but I wasn’t used to faking a persona.

Deep down, I hated that I had to stoop to manipulation to make a guy like me.

I made my plan as simple as it could get.

The first was losing all my extra weight, which made me almost cry to sleep from hunger.

But I soon figured running for an hour before the crack of dawn, skipping dinner, and sticking to just one milkshake per day worked wonders.

My milkshake was my treat because nothing could ever make me give up Louie’s chocolate milkshake. They were world-class.

And after two months, I achieved my goal weight by losing twenty pounds, and as long as I kept eating under my intended weight, I could maintain this figure.

The second, I changed my entire wardrobe and learned how to do makeup, which wasn’t something I liked doing, but I bit through it.

The third was probably the weirdest, where I practiced in front of the mirror to speak without blushing, act confidently, and school my silly expressions.

Because boys liked girls who were confidently aware of their self-worth but still carried an air of mystery and intrigue. At least that’s what the girls on social media said.

“You have changed,” Landon commented. “Did the aliens abduct you and bring you back looking like this?”

“Maybe,” I fired back. “I was well, you could say, figuring out my style this summer.”

“I figured,” he deadpanned. “At times, I really did think the aliens abducted you.”

“That’s not the story of every small town, Mr. Greige.”

He cocked a brow. “How did you know my last name?”

Because I eavesdropped on every single conversation you had with my brother and kept my ears trained on your bedroom window all the time like it was my new favorite hobby. “My brother mentioned it once.”

“Ah, it’s actually Greigewood. But it’s kinda a secret, but I’ll let you in on it.” His brown eyes slid to me. “I just go by Greige so people wouldn’t connect me.”

“Why is that?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

Surprise swept through his face. “The Greigewoods?”

“No, why are they like famous or something?”

“Or something. But it doesn’t matter.” He smiled, tugging me closer to him, and I liked it.

I made a mental note to google his family name. Judging from his weird living arrangement and the price of all his clothes, they could be someone important. Since learning about fashion, I could identify some of the pieces he was wearing, and they were all above the average price point.

“How are you liking Bellevue?”

“I think it’s soon becoming my favorite place on earth,” he said, looking right at me.

I didn’t ask why because I secretly wanted the reason to be me.

The party was in full swing by the time we got there. The first official house party for us freshmen. Emmie and Mikey were already there chatting with a bunch of boys and girls I didn’t recognize.

Instead of going to them, Landon grabbed a few cans of Coke, diet for me because I couldn’t afford the extra calories, and walked us to a quiet corner in the backyard. And for the first time in my life ever, I felt all those eyes on me.

Not just on Landon, the cool new kid in town, but also on me.

Like I wasn’t invisible anymore.

Like how they all stared at Sabrina on her first day of school. The kind of attention I always craved people would give me. I didn’t know if it stroked my ego or added to my confidence, but I liked it a lot more than I should.

“Here.” Landon dusted off an empty log seat.

“Thank you,” I mumbled shyly. Even though in the back of my mind I kept reminding myself that I should be different, I couldn’t help but be myself.

I flushed, knowing some eyes were still on us, but being beside Landon offered me a weird sense of comfort.

“Did you not wanna go say hi to Emmie and Mikey?”

“No, I’ve said enough hi to them this summer,” he muttered, taking a slow sip of his ice-cold Cola. “Plus, I walked in here with the prettiest girl in town. I would be the dumbest person on earth if I left her alone for the wolves.”

Heat scorched my cheeks before I could stop myself. “I’m not the prettiest girl in town.” Did my makeover really work?

He smirked. “Says who?”

“Says me.”

“Well.” He leaned closer, his lips an inch away from my ear. “I would love to prove you wrong.”

“You’re only saying that to be nice because I’m your best friend’s sister, and there is no escaping me.”

“I thought I was your friend before that,” he countered with a grin.

He remembered that? “Technically, yes.”

“Not technically but a yes.” He grinned, and I felt butterflies flutter round and round in my chest.

Soon, the chatter of the party became a nonexistent background music as Landon and I talked about anything and everything. It was so easy to talk with him, like I was talking with my brother…Like I was talking with a best friend.

I thought having a friend meant we needed to have something in common, but Landon and I were opposites in every possible way.

He liked sour candies, and I liked sweets.

He liked classical music, and I liked rock.

He liked the color gray, and I liked red, and he had almost traveled the entire world, and I’d never been outside Bellevue.

But our lack of similarities didn’t create a gap. Instead, it brought us closer together.

I didn’t even know how the time slipped, but soon, it was eleven.

I wanted to linger longer and talk about mundane things with him all night long, but I had a strict curfew.

Instead of staying back, Landon walked me home.

Even at this age, he was doing all the gentlemanly things that made me go weak.

“So I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Landon whispered, rubbing a thumb along the back of my hand.

“Okay,” I muttered, smiling shyly. “I’ll start walking around seven thirty. If I see you, then we can probably walk together. Wait, do you know where the school is?”

“No.” He shook his head with a small grin on his lips. “And I’ll be out right at seven thirty.”

“Okay.” I nodded, smiling. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, rushing to my porch. I peeked over my shoulder to see him still standing there, watching me with his arms casually folded while his eyes glowed in the darkness.

I smiled wider, waving before I darted in and softly shut the door behind me.

Suddenly, I was super excited to start high school.

My heart was still thundering in my chest when I entered my room.

I pressed my cold hands to my heated cheeks, and when I looked up, I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Landon watching me through the window with a smirk.

Shit, I totally forgot I left them open when I stalked him getting out of his room earlier today, just so I could catch him leaving for the party I knew he would be going to tonight.

That was the only reason I went too.

Not knowing what to do, I quickly dropped my hand. My cheeks burned brighter as I slowly walked over to my window and nodded to him before I drew the curtains closed.

Completely.

I like you, but I really need my privacy . Nothing was more embarrassing than your crush catching you in your silly girl moment.

It was only when I cuddled closer to my sheets that night did I realized that I had completely forgotten to follow along with my cool Katy manual.

Did Landon notice it? If he did, he didn’t say.

Maybe I could just be myself around Landon. He didn’t seem to mind. I was thinner and prettier now, so maybe I was naturally interesting. Maybe as long as I maintained my body and appearance, I could just be myself with him.

That was my last thought before I fell asleep.

The following morning, in my prettiest red sundress and glowy makeup, I stepped out of my house, and just like he said, he was waiting in the same spot I left him last night.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips.

A smile that matched his.

And that was how Landon and I became best friends.