Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (39 page)

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.”

Again, I
have many people that helped with this new novel. First, I would
like to thank my mother and my sisters Debbie and Brenda for
listening to my constant talk about the book.

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

Again, thanks
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.

To my mother in
law Donna for her reading, pre-editing, and input.

And to
Stephanie Mooney for creating such a great cover, and Christina
Hickey for doing such a great job at editing.

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.

Visit
Christina’s website www.christinasmithbooks.com for more
information about her books.