Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (42 page)

I bent down to pick it up and realized it wasn’t my
name scrawled on the front, it was Lucas Tate’s. His loopy handwriting was
barely legible. Why did I have his book? I shoved it into my locker and ran
outside to meet my friends; I’d figure it out later.

They were at one of the far picnic tables. Since it
was still warm outside, a lot of the tables that were placed throughout the
schoolyard were occupied with other students that wanted to enjoy the sunshine.

I strolled toward them, in no hurry, enjoying the heat
of the sun on my face and the scent of grass as the janitor chugged along the
football field on his riding lawn mower. The low purr of his motor, mixed with
the temperature, made it feel like springtime. But we weren’t so lucky; it was
only a matter of time before the air would turn cold. “Hey, guys” I said,
sitting down next to Emma.

Derrick was on the other side and I wouldn’t be
surprised if they had been staring into each other’s eyes. They both had a huge
crush on each other, but neither of them would admit it. The only reason I
could think of for them to hold back their feelings was that we all had been
best friends forever. Whether that was the reason or not, I had no idea.

“I heard you were late again,” Emma mumbled, her mouth
full of ham sandwich.

I opened my lunch, taking out the pepperoni and cheese
sandwich, saving the apple and caramel snack cake for later. “I wasn’t that
late and besides, it wasn’t my fault. I bumped into someone and had to pick up
my books.” I didn’t mention that I was running late before that happened.

Derrick opened his mouth to speak, except I wasn’t
listening. I just realized why I had Lucas’ book. It was him that I bumped
into. That explained the fast departure.

Lucas Tate was his twin brother. And by his, I mean
Logan Tate, the most popular guy in school, although nobody could figure out
why. He was kind of a jerk, but got away with it because of his looks. He was
the type of guy you could stare at all day, but hoped wouldn’t speak. He was
also the boy who starred in my dream last night.

Emma waved her hand in front of my face. “What are you
thinking about?”

Snapping out of my own thoughts, I looked over at her.
“I just figured out who it was I bumped into this morning.”

Derrick glanced at me, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“What do you mean, you just figured it out? How could you not know, were your
eyes closed?” He smirked at his own joke.

I blinked at him. “Ah…no, but he ran off before I saw
who it was. When I was putting my books away, I realized I had an extra one,
with Lucas Tate’s name on it.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Well, that explains it.” She
looked away from us as Martin Macpherson, star quarterback and the object of my
six-month-long crush in tenth grade, rushed by, chasing after a fellow team
member, Rudy Myer, who cradled a football. She gave me a knowing glance as my
cheeks heated from habit more than actual interest and then continued. “He
never talks to anyone.”

She was right. Lucas was Logan’s twin brother, but
they were nothing alike. Logan loved to be the center of attention while Lucas
went out of his way to avoid it. The only people I ever saw him with were his
two best friends andy Taylor and Kyle Roberts. They were good guys. I had a few
classes with them and we’ve talked some.

Lucas was different in another way from his brother.
He wore glasses and kept his coffee-colored hair long, almost reaching his
shoulders, as if he didn’t care what it looked like. Logan’s was always cut
short and styled to perfection and he always dressed in the latest styles.
Lucas, however, wore sweatshirts and jeans almost every day.

I was deep in thought when I heard Derrick’s voice.
“What is wrong with girls in this school?”

“What are you talking about?” Emma asked, tossing back
her long red curls and batting her thick lashes over her olive-green eyes. Why
didn’t Derrick see when she was flirting?

“Look at Allison Morey over there flirting with Logan.
He treats people like crap and stupid girls like her still hang all over him,
just because he’s a pretty boy.” He shook his head. “I just don’t get it.”

While he was ranting, I glanced over to where Logan
was sitting with his friends and sure enough, there were a few girls flaunting
themselves at him.

“Don’t ask us, you don’t see me or Sarah over there,
do you?” Emma defended us as girls who went to this school. I really couldn’t
tell them that I was dreaming about him after this. It was true what they were
saying and I was not interested in Logan at all. Well, only to look at maybe.
But why would I dream about him?

“Oh my God, Sarah. I forgot to tell you.” Her green
eyes were alight with excitement. “Guess who I saw this weekend when I was
shopping in Langton with my mom.”

I stared at her, my mind blank. I had no idea who it
could be. “The president?”

She chuckled, waving her sandwich at me. “No, dummy.
Stephanie.”

Just the sound of her name gave me the chills. “Lucky
you.” I grinned, thinking about the last time I saw her at the beach. My brown
hair was still short after my unwanted cut, but styled in a cute spiky bob. My
friends and I were enjoying a day of sun. Her mouth popped open in shock when
she noticed me. Derrick, who knew about what had happened, draped his arm
around me and whispered in my ear as though we were a couple. Of course we
weren’t—he was my best friend—but she didn’t have to know that. A few of his
buddies were also there, dressed only in swimsuits, showing off their tanned
muscular bodies.

To her, it looked like I was surrounded by three hunky
guys all vying for my attention. So I wasn’t surprised that she stared at me
coldly, shooting daggers in my direction. I just smiled and waved at her,
making her so angry, she stomped off the beach with her puppets following her.

“Who’s Stephanie?” Derrick asked, but before I
answered, his eyes widened. “Isn’t she that witch who cut your hair?”

Since he caught me with my mouth full, I just nodded.

“You really need to get back at her.” He shook his
head, staring down at his soda can.

I swallowed. “Why, she’s a spoiled rich snob. I don’t
care what she thinks.” I took a sip of my drink. “Besides, wouldn’t that be
stooping to her level?”

“Who cares, she deserves it,” he shot back at me. Emma
and I exchanged glances as he creased his brows in thought. “You know what you
should do?”

I chuckled, never having seen this side of him before.
“What?” I asked.

“Dye her hair green or her skin blue. Hell, a little
hair removal in her shampoo bottle would do her some good.”

Who knew he could be so vindictive and utterly
girlish? All that was missing from his suggestions was hair pulling. I raised
an eyebrow instead of answering. He shrugged. “So I watch too many cheesy chick
flicks, it’s your fault.”

Emma laughed at him then turned to me. “So Sarah, what
are you going to do about Lucas’ book?”

Derrick glanced at her and answered for me. “What’s
the big deal, just go up and tell him that you have it. He’s sitting right over
there.” He gestured with his hand. I looked over to where he pointed. Lucas was
sitting with Andy and Kyle two tables away. I hoped he hadn’t heard us talking
about him.

Emma was glaring at Derrick like he’d lost his mind.
“She can’t just go over there, he won’t talk to her.”

“What’s the big deal?” he asked again, shrugging his
shoulders.

“You are such a guy.” She tossed the crust from her
bread down on the table. Emma was the only seventeen-year-old I knew who still
didn’t eat the crust on her sandwich.

I decided to interrupt them. “Oh my God, it’s not a
big deal, I’m going.” They could bicker back and forth for hours if I let them.
I just wished they’d finally kiss and get it over with.

I stood up and headed over to where Lucas and his
friends were sitting. I could feel Emma and Derrick’s gazes on my back.

As I approached their table, Kyle and Andy smiled and
nodded to me. Andy asked if I was finished with my homework for our chemistry
class and I said yes. While we were talking, Lucas never looked up from the
paperback he was reading. “Lucas?” I couldn’t keep the slight tremble out of my
voice. Nothing; he still didn’t look up. “Lucas!” I said a little louder.

Andy and Kyle just shrugged. “Dude!” Andy smacked
Lucas’ shoulder.

He finally glanced up at me, his glasses falling
forward a bit. He pushed them back then glared at me with his deep hazel eyes.
He was quite good-looking when you were close enough to notice. He was tanned
and his long brown hair suited him, giving him a rugged look. He had a strong
jaw and a sprinkle of freckles along the bridge of his nose.

“What?” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

I was a little flustered at his annoyed expression.
“Um…I don’t know if you know me? My name is Sarah”

“I know who you are,” he interrupted.

“Well, you dropped your book when I bumped into you
this morning. I didn’t bring it with me, but if you want to meet me at my
locker, I can give it to you.”

He looked at me like I was speaking a different
language. “Why don’t you just bring it with you to history next period and give
it to me there.”

I was shocked. “You’re in my history class?”

Now he looked even more annoyed. “I sit behind you in
the back corner and you probably didn’t notice me because you’re always talking
to Emma.”

I felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly replaced
by irritation. Why would it matter to him if I always talked to Emma? To my
knowledge, he didn’t even know I existed before today. “Fine, I’ll do that.” My
voice was cold, but I didn’t care.

I nodded to the other guys and walked back to our
table. “You were right. I shouldn’t have gone over there. He’s weird.” I told them
what happened.

As I knew she would, Emma gloated with an “I told you
so.”

Acknowledgments

Again, I have many people that helped with this new
novel. First, I would like to thank my mother, my sisters Debbie and Brenda and
my cousin Tracy for being my guinea pigs and reading this for me. Their input
was a great help.

To Ashley Stoyanoff, author of
The Souls Mark:
Found
, for all of her pre-editing and advice.

Again to my husband, Brad and children, Josh and
Megan, for being patient with me while I was locked up in my room writing. I
love you all.

And to Stephanie Mooney for creating such a great
cover and Christine LePorte for doing the final edit.

About the Author

Christina Smith grew up in Kingston Ontario, Canada
and after getting married, moved to a small rural town in the country. She
lives there with her husband, Brad, two kids, Josh and Megan and their dog,
Bailey. Even though the house is peaceful, surrounded by nature and the
occasional deer, she’s still a city girl at heart. She misses civilization and
visits with her mother and two sisters.

She spends a lot of free time writing and has numerous
ideas for future novels for both young adult and adult fiction.

Catch up with Christina for more information about her
books on:

Twitter @CSmithbooks

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/christina.smith.7161953
or Christina Smith-Author

Christina’s website: www.christinasmithbooks.com