Page 47 of I Don’t Need Your Protection (Harrington Bay Academy #1)
Carly
You know what I love most about attending Harrington Bay Academy? My best friends! It was just the three of us since freshman year—Raven Mitchell, Sophie Reed, and me, Carly Simmons—but we now have a fourth member in our group, Addie Hayes. Together, we’re a force to be reckoned with.
“Oh my gosh, almost had it!” Raven groans before throwing her controller on the sofa.
We’re in the rec room after school. I’m at the dance game, Raven is at the Xbox, and Sophie is sprawled over the sofa’s armrest with her head buried in her book (like usual).
It’s such a treat to have her with us because she usually has tutoring after school.
And then there’s Addie with her boyfriend, Caleb Ashton.
The two of them have officially become boyfriend and girlfriend only a day ago, and they’re so freakin’ adorable.
Caleb used to be so serious and aloof because he didn’t want to get close to her, but now they are and it’s so fun to watch.
They’re sitting next to Raven, she against his chest with his arms wrapped around her middle.
Every so often, his lips brush against her temple.
It looks like she melts into a puddle each time.
I’m so freakin’ happy for them. None of us have ever gotten close to having a boyfriend before, so it’s awesome that Addie is finally experiencing it. I know we’re too young and can’t know our future, but one thing I’m certain about is the two of them. They’ll be together forever.
“Anyone want to challenge the great and mighty Dance Queen Carly?” I call out to my friends.
None of them respond. Sophie’s eyes are huge as she reads her book—I guess she’s in the middle of an intense scene?
—Raven is yelling at the TV screen because she keeps dying, and Addie and Caleb look like they’ve been transported to Love Land.
“Come on!” I call out. “Are you guys backing out of a challenge? All of you are chicken.” I start to cluck. “Addie is a chicken,” I continue to cluck and flap my arms. “I thought you’re the competitive one?”
“I’m kind of busy here,” she says as she pushes some hair out of Caleb’s eyes.
“Staring at your boyfriend?” I tease. “You know, he’ll still be here in five minutes.
In ten minutes. In an hour. In a week. In a month.
In a year…” My voice trails off when my words fall on deaf ears.
“What about you, Raven?” I ask. “It doesn’t look like you’re having fun with that monkey. Come dance with me .”
“I was this close to passing the level,” she grumbles as she narrows her eyes at the screen and pounds the controller buttons.
I’m about to call out to Sophie, but she is now lying upside down on the sofa with her face basically glued to the book. There’s no point trying to get through to that one. She’s long gone.
“All of you are chickens!” I say as I continue to cluck and flap my arms. “Chickens, chickens, bawk, bawk!”
“This is the recreation room,” a male voice says. “Where students like to unwind and have fun. You’ll find everything here, like arcade games, video games, board games, party games, a TV, and vending machines…”
I don’t really pay attention to the people who walked in, just continue calling my friends chicken and acting like one.
“Cool,” another male voice says. “This place looks really neat. I’m sure I’ll spend every non-school hour in here.”
Wait, huh? Why does that voice sound familiar?
When I glance at the doorway, I find two guys standing there. One of them I recognize as a senior and the other is…
I freeze with my clucking and flapping my arms and stare at him. No way…no freakin’ way. This is my worst nightmare.
My number one enemy stands only a few feet away from me.
Ryder Bennett’s brown eyes scan around the area and then land on me. He’s wearing jeans and a green T-shirt that exposes his muscles and makes him look…well, sexy. Objectively, of co urse. Because I hate his guts.
A humorous grin stretches across his lips as he takes me in, and then saunters over to me. His brows wrinkle. “What are you doing, Simmons?”
I glance down at my body and see that my arms are still in the “chicken” position. I quickly drop them to my side as my cheeks heat up. Then I glare at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t your brother tell you? I’m going here now.”
I gape at him. “You’re going here? As in, you’re a student?”
“Well, I’m not a janitor,” he says with a laugh.
“That suits you more,” I nearly bark at him.
With another humorous smile, he folds his arms over his chest. “Are you upset I’m attending your school? Didn’t anyone ever teach you to share, Carly?”
“You can’t share with evil people,” I mutter.
“Don’t worry, kid,” he says, using the nickname he always called me when I tagged along with my brother and his best friend.
They both hated it, but I’m only a year younger than my brother, and Ryder is my age.
They always treated me like I was five years younger than them, though.
“You’ll survive.” He winks and walks out of the room with his tour guide.
With the largest sigh I’ve ever released, I plop down near Raven, which is a little hard to do because there’s barely room left on the sofa, and smash a cushion to my face. “What has happened to my once decent life?”
“You really didn’t know he was coming?” Addie asks.
“No.” I lower the cushion and roll my eyes. “I bet my brother purposely didn’t tell me his best friend was invading my turf because he wants to mess with me. A bunch of jerks, the two of them.”
“Just ignore him,” Raven says as she continues to pound on her controller. “You don’t have to interact with him if you don’t want to.”
“Yeah, pretend he doesn’t exist.” Sophie turns the page of her book. “People like him like to get under people’s skin, but if you ignore him, he’ll get bored and move on to something else.”
“You think so?” I ask.
“It’s not worth getting worked up over him,” Addie says. “You’ll just make yourself miserable.”
“I agree,” Caleb says. “Continue living your life as though he’s not here.”
I twist my nose as I consider their words. Of course that’s easier said than done. Ryder Bennett has been a thorn in my butt the last few years. I have a feeling he’ll continue to mess with me for the rest of our time here.
How on Earth am I going to survive this?