Some Kind of Normal

She followed my gaze and glanced over her shoulder. “Everly Jenkins? Really? I heard she’s got her V pin stuck to her chest like glue.”

But I was already walking toward the one girl who mattered. The one girl who’d given me nothing but attitude today. The one girl I wanted to touch and kiss and throw my arms around.

She was the only girl I wanted, and I frowned as the guy beside her straightened and looked up, right at me before he offered his hand and Everly took it.

Caleb Martin. Damn.

They headed into the night.

“No effing way,” I muttered, dodging a tackle from one of my old teammates.

“Where you going?” Nate asked, holding up his guitar. “Let’s jam.”

“Can’t.”

Caleb Martin didn’t belong anywhere near Everly Jenkins, and I had no problem letting him know it. Some might argue that because I hadn’t come to the party with Everly, I had no right to get up in her business. Maybe I didn’t, but I was pretty sure about one thing.

I wasn’t leaving without her. She just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter Twelve

Everly

I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, but that was pretty hard to do considering my heart was beating so fast I thought that I was going to pass out.

Caleb Martin was going on and on and on about his daddy’s cottage and a lake and a boat and a Fourth of July party.

What. Ever. God, he liked to listen to himself talk. And Hailey wasn’t any better. She was sitting in Link’s lap, listening to whatever was on his mind as if he was Jesus giving a sermon. I had to admit that they looked cute together, but still…she should be paying attention to what was going on with me. At least a little bit.

Because what was going on with me was pretty pathetic. I didn’t know how to act like I didn’t care that Drive-In Girl was practically mauling Trevor, so I prayed that no one would notice.

Not that anyone other than Caleb was paying attention to me. I felt like I was in sixth grade all over again. Playing with the big boys and having no clue.

I exhaled. Good. Breathe. You can do this.

I nodded when Caleb asked me if I liked to water-ski. Um, no, but it seemed easier to just agree with whatever he was saying. He’d been pretty much glued to my side since we arrived nearly half an hour ago. Which was weird. It’s not as if we ran in the same social circles, but then, I guess I presented a bit of a challenge. I knew what some of the guys in town thought of me, and I knew that they considered “nailing the pastor’s daughter” as some sort of win.

Whatever. It used to bother me, but now it seemed so immature and silly, considering all the other stuff going on in my life.

The bonfire glowed red, and I stared into the flames because I didn’t know where else to look. Why had I agreed to come to this party?

Oh. Right. Because Hailey convinced me that I needed to. You know, because it was going to be fun. A blast. A totally epic party, I think she’d said, adding that as a bonus, I could show Trevor Lewis what he was missing.

I’d told her I didn’t care what Trevor Lewis thought.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a skimpy top from her closet.

Her enthusiasm, coupled with the fact that my parents were home but not speaking to each other, made my decision way easier than I would have liked. So I let Hailey dress me up and do my makeup. The end result was that I looked a little on the trashy side and felt a whole lot uncomfortable.

“Do you want to walk a bit?”

Hailey and Link’s lips were locked together. “Sure,” I found myself saying. It’s not like I was going to be missed here anyway. I felt like an idiot nursing a red Solo cup of Jack and Coke, and I don’t care what Hailey said—it was just as gross cold as it was warm.

Caleb grabbed my hand, and we trudged in the opposite direction of Trevor and Drive-In Girl. We walked past a couple who were half undressed and pushed up against a tree and another couple whose moans made them sound like a bunch of wild animals caught in a trap. Seriously? Pride, people.

It didn’t take long for the forest at the edge of the clearing to swallow us up.

“This is much better,” Caleb said.