Serial Hottie (2 page)

“Who are you waving at?” a shrill voice called out from behind me.

Angela. The dreaded older sister. Just the name makes me shudder. She’s only a year older than me, but that’s enough to make her think she’s better than me in every way possible. I hate her because she’s way pretty and wears a lot of skirts and stuff, and she hates me because I’m basically the opposite—a pale, skinny, redhead, who’s taller than half the boys in school and could beat any one of them in hockey.

Angela barged into my room so suddenly that I jumped sky high at the sound of her voice. “What?” I yelped as I whirled around to face her.

“Why are you blushing?” she demanded the moment she saw my face.

“I’m not blushing. I’m just… It’s hot in here. What do you want?”

She watched me suspiciously for a moment and then put the pieces together. “Oh, my gosh!” she shrieked. “You were watching the new guy work out, weren’t you?” She pushed me out of the way to take her own peek at the window across the street, which was now empty, and added, “Did I miss him take his shirt off already?”

Good to know stalking runs in the family. I was going to deny it and play dumb, but I was still so stunned by him catching me that I blurted out a “yup” before I could stop myself.

Angela sighed in regret, but then pulled herself away form my window and turned her evil eyes on me. “Well, well, well, is Ellie Westley finally crushing on a boy? It’s about time.”

“What? I don’t—”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Ellie.” Angela rolled her eyes as she cut me off. “He’s totally gorgeous and you’re almost sixteen. I was starting to worry that you’d never realize what boys are for.”

I’d already had enough embarrassment for one day with the whole being caught spying thing. I didn’t need Angela making it worse with some sort of welcome to womanhood speech.

“What are you doing in my room?” I yelled.

“Sheesh, I was just looking for my black clips.”

“Do I look like someone who would use your hair clips?”

“You should. You actually have really nice hair if you would just brush it once in a while.”

I couldn’t help reaching up to grab my ponytail defensively. “I brush it.”

When Angela saw the frown on my face, she studied me for a moment then sighed. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this but, why don’t we go shopping today and get you a skirt and a swimsuit and you can come with me to the lake tomorrow.”

“Excuse me?” Never in all my fifteen years and eleven months of existence had such a statement come out of Angela’s mouth.

“Listen. I know you miss those loser friends of yours, but maybe them being gone is a good thing.” I was shocked because she actually sounded sincere. Well, sincere for her anyway. “If you’ll promise to not be quite so…
you
.” There goes the sincerity. “I’ll let you hang out with my friends and me. With the J’s out of the way, we might have a decent chance of turning you into a girl this summer.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Had Angela gone mental? Was I not the only one going crazy from the summer break? Well Hell would have to freeze over before I agreed to a make-over, and considering it was like a hundred degrees outside, I pushed Angela into the hallway and slammed my bedroom door screaming, “I don’t have your stupid clips!”

“Freak!” Angela yelled back through the door. I guess she was mad that I wouldn’t let her play like I’m her Barbie.

Well, whatever! Just because my best friends were all boys, and I liked to play hockey, and I’d never been kissed before, didn’t mean I wasn’t a girl. And for the record, I didn’t have a crush on the new guy. I just thought he was really hot. But even if I did, it wouldn’t have been my first. I’d had crushes on boys before. Not any of the J’s of course, but last year I totally liked my biology partner Eric Sherman. That didn’t work out so much since we dissected frogs and I mentioned I was disappointed that there wasn’t any blood. But still.

Feeling ready to punch something, which is basically how I feel every time I have to interact with Angela, I cranked up the My Chemical Romance and climbed out my bedroom window onto the roof of the garage where I like to go when I need space. I assumed that’s where I’d spend the rest of my day because my life was just that exciting.

I actually didn’t stay out on the roof that long, because Mrs. Haskins pulled up in front of my house. “Ellie, honey,” she called to me through the open passenger window, “are you free to watch Cameron this evening?”

“Sure Mrs. Haskins. What time do you need me?”

“Six o’clock okay?”

“Should be fine.”

“Thanks Ellie!” She started to drive off, but then stopped again. “Oh, and Ellie?”

“Yeah, Mrs. H?”

“If you see Bruno, would you mind hanging on to him till I can come get him?”

“He got out?” I couldn’t help the surprise in my voice. It’s not like Bruno is a little Chihuahua who could sneak through a hole he dug under the fence. He’s a 70-pound boxer. He’d never hurt a fly, but still not the kind of dog you’d want cruising the neighborhood on his own.

“Bob forgot to shut the gate after he took the trash to the curb this morning.”

I laughed because that was just like Mr. Haskins. That man would forget his shoes in the morning if Mrs. Haskins weren’t there. “You want me to help you look for him?”

Mrs. Haskin’s eyes lit up at the offer. “Oh, would you?”

“Sure. Let me just put on my skates and I’ll do a few laps through the greenbelt for you.”

“Oh, Ellie.” Mrs. Haskins sighed in relief. “What would I ever do without you?”

More like what would I do without the Haskins? I’m saving up to by a car as soon as I get my drivers license, and the Haskins’ add to my car fund more than any other family in the neighborhood. They pay really well and only have one kid—a baby who’ll be in bed by seven-thirty. Plus, they always have the cupboards stocked, and they get all the movie channels. It’s almost a crime to take their money. “See you in a while Mrs. Haskins,” I called with a big friendly grin.

Not that looking for Bruno was all that exciting, but I was more than happy to slip on my rollerblades and go for a good skate. I’d been in the house too much this week and could use the exercise. So, as Mrs. Haskins continued to drive down the street calling out for her dog, I headed in the other direction toward the greenbelt like I’d promised.

I live in a subdivision called Brookhurst. I don’t mean one of those new “housing developments” where you have to put a potted plant or a flag by the mailbox just so that you can tell which house is yours. I’m talking about a real neighborhood. The kind of place where there may be a house here and there in need of a paint job, but the trees are mature enough that they actually produce shade. Real estate people like to use the term ‘character’.

It’s the type of place where everybody knows everybody, and for some reason once you move in you stay until you croak. Which is exactly why the new guy moving in was so exciting, and also why I couldn’t stop thinking about him as I rolled around the neighborhood.

I went down every path in the entire neighborhood but didn’t see any trace of Bruno. Since Michigan is hot and muggy enough to be mistaken for a rainforest in the summer, I only did one lap and then called it quits. I got to my driveway and ripped off my helmet to wipe at the sweat that had gathered under it.

No sooner did I toss the helmet in the grass than I heard the sound of paws thudding toward me. Not only does Bruno love me because I feed him junk sometimes while I’m babysitting, but he seemed particularly excited at the moment because of his current freedom. He came barreling at me at full speed.

“Bruno, no! Stay! Bad dog!” I called when I realized he wasn’t going to stop. But it was too late. Bruno jumped up and knocked me right off my skates.

Everything happened so fast. I crashed back against my driveway
hard
, and for a second, things went totally black. When I came to my ears were ringing, my head was pounding, and I felt like I was going to vomit at any moment.

Then, just as I’d suspected would happen, a giant tongue attacked my face.

Bruno only got the chance to give me one good lick before he yelped and fell limp beside me. That’s when I looked up to see the new guy staring down at me with the most intense eyes I’d ever seen. And, get this. He was holding a Taser. “Hi, Ellie,” he said in a strong, deep voice. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Well of course I screamed. The psycho just killed the Haskins’ dog. I screamed loud enough that the J’s probably heard me all the way at camp. Then I tried my best to push the new kid away from me, but he was too strong. I would have freaked out that such a hot boy was touching me, except I was too busy freaking out that such a hot boy was touching me! Pinning me to the ground, actually.

“Easy there, Ellie,” New Guy ordered me and then did the weirdest thing ever. He took off his shirt.

Not that I didn’t appreciate what was under his shirt, but I screamed again. Well what was I supposed to do? The guy comes out of nowhere, kills a dog, pins me to the ground, and takes his clothes off? Oh yeah, and he knows my name. How does he know my name?

It wasn’t until he wadded up his shirt and plastered it against the back of my head that I realized maybe he wasn’t attacking me. Once I understood this it finally dawned on me how much pain I was in.

There was a pounding in my head like nothing I’ve ever felt, and it seemed to match the rhythm of my heartbeat. The thud, thud, thud was echoing in my ears and making my brain want to explode, but it was soon overpowered by a much worse sound. One that was unfortunately all too familiar, and makes my head ache even when I haven’t just cracked it on the driveway.

“Ellie! What the freak is with the screaming? I’m on the phone!” Angela was saying until she got to the driveway and saw what was going on. The shriek that followed was blood curdling.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be all right, but she’s going to need stitches.”

I was startled because the voice came from so close to me. It’s like I’d forgotten the new kid was there, and when I looked up I was surprised to see his face just a foot from mine.
They’re blue
, I thought as I finally got a really good look at his eyes. I’d been wondering all week what color they were. It was hard to tell from my window.
Deep, dark, ocean blue. Gorgeous, just like the rest of him.

He looked down at me suddenly with the same amused grin he’d given me from his bedroom window, which I thought was strange. But maybe I was looking at him cross-eyed since he held a finger up in front of me and slowly waved it from side to side. The motion made me nauseous.

“She might have a concussion, too,” he said, still grinning at me. Is a concussion funny? It certainly didn’t feel funny. “We should get her to a hospital. Are your parents home?”

“They’re both at work,” Angela replied in a frantic voice.

She came rushing to my side as if she were completely freaked out, but I noticed the way she put her hand down on New Guy’s forearm as she pretended to care about my well-being. I smirked at her fingers clinging to his skin.
Obvious much, Ang?

Angela was suddenly glaring at me for some reason, and the new guy laughed. It was quite irritating because the situation was anything but funny. I would have told him just where he could shove that laugh of his, but I started seeing these big, dark spots floating all around me, and sort of forgot that I was annoyed.

Plus, he didn’t fall for Angela’s
CosmoGIRL!
techniques for getting his attention. He looked down at the hand on his arm and immediately removed it. That earned him a couple brownie points with me until he took her hand and placed it on the shirt he’d been pressing against my head. “Hold this,” he instructed and then got to his feet to let my sister tend to me.

I was going to school him on just how not smart it was to leave a dying girl in the hands of my sister, when I saw him scoop up something huge into his arms, and I remembered what happened.
Bruno! How could I have forgotten about Bruno? He totally killed Bruno! He’s a dog killer!

I wanted to yell at him, but he’d already disappeared inside his house. He came back a minute later with keys in his hand instead of a dog, and a new shirt on—to both my sister’s and my disappointment. “You know where there’s a hospital?” he asked Angela, handing her the keys to his BMW.

“Uh, just a mile or two from here,” Angela said, staring at the keys in her hand.

“Good. I’ll get her. You drive.”

The next thing I knew I was being scooped carefully off the ground. My head responded with a vengeance, and I groaned when everything started to go black around me. Unfortunately I didn’t get to pass out because Angela screamed again. “There’s so much blood!”

I could feel the new guy shrug his shoulders beneath my weight and then he said, “I’ve seen a lot worse.”

“You’ve seen
worse
?” Angela asked, vocalizing my exact thoughts.

New Guy didn’t explain himself, though. “She’s got plenty left. Trust me.”

Angela frowned but New Guy just swept past her, not bothered in the least by my weight—which is a lot more than you’d think considering how skinny I look—and asked her to open the car door for him.