Chapter 1

“Yes, mom. We’re fine, everything’s fine,” I said with a smile as I stared at my two best friends, Dia and Asia, who were having a conversation across the table before my eyes darted to the huge window next to me. It was still pouring outside and it didn’t seem like it was going to let up anytime soon so my decision for us to wait for it to let up before we leave the diner wasn’t a very good one.

“Are you sure? I can be on the next flight there if you need me there,” my mom replied and I shook my head sideways like she could see me.

“No, no, it’s fine. Really. We have food, money, no adults to supervise us and we’re dropping by the supermarket to grab some whiskey on our way back home. Woo-hoo, woo-hoo!”

“No supermarket will sell alcohol to you. You’re eighteen.”

“I have a fake ID,” I replied and Dia and Abigail shot me a look that said ‘really?’ while mom let out an exasperated sigh.

“You’re a clown,” she muttered, knowing I was joking, and I let out a laugh as I pictured her shaking her head on the other end of the call. “You girls shouldn’t go too crazy because we’re not there though. I’ll have Mrs. Beckett keep an eye on you and drop by to check on you every weekend.”

I groaned and let my head loll back because if Mrs. Beckett was still the same woman I knew before my family and I moved to London, she would give mom and dad a detailed description of everything she sees going on in our house. “Guess I have to change my mind about that party I wanted to throw this night,” I joked and mom clicked her tongue. “Is dad there with you?”

“No, he took Booker and Daya to the ice cream shop. What about Dia and Abigail? Are they with you?”

“Yeah, we’re at a diner,” I replied as I glanced out the window again, wishing I was home so I could curl up under my blankets. It was dark outside and if the rain didn’t stop soon, we would go home in it because we were already tired of staying here.

“We should have brought the car,” Abigail muttered as she and Dia shot me a look because I was the one who insisted that we walk to the diner, and I pursed my lips.

“Isn’t it like past seven over there?” mum asked while I raised my hand to my face, shielding it from Abigail’s and Dia’s hot stare which threatened to set me ablaze, and they kicked my legs under the table.

“Ow!” I immediately pulled my legs away from theirs and reached down to rub the spot Abigail had kicked while pouting at the both of them.

“Is everything alright?”

I cleared my throat and sat upright. “Everything’s fine. It’s just raining heavily. We’re waiting for it to let up.”

“Oh, okay. Text me the moment you guys get home, okay?”

“Okay mum.”

“I’ll let you go now. I’ll call you again later. Bye, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said while staring at a black car that just pulled into the diner’s parking lot through the window next to me before my mom hung up.

“Can we go now?” Abigail asked the moment I pulled the phone away from my ear, drawing my attention to her, and I gave her a nod before Dia signalled to the waitress to come over so we could pay.

We were free to leave the diner after a couple of minutes and we gathered our stuff before heading towards the diner’s door. “Do you actually have a fake ID?” Abigail asked when I opened the door and I snorted in response, walking out of the diner. “Is that a yes?”

“No.”

“Wait, the house key isn’t in my pocket,” Dia said as she stopped in the doorway with her hands in the pockets of her jeans and my mouth fell open. “It’s probably in the booth. I’ll be right back.”

She immediately went back into the diner before Abigail and I could say anything and I wrapped my arms around myself when a gust of cold wind blew past us.

The air was thick with the sweet smell of the rain and I jolted when the sudden boom of thunder rolled across the street. “Should we just order an uber?” I asked Abigail as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and she raised a brow at me.

“Your place is only five minutes away and we’ll still get drenched while running from here to the car and while running from the car to the house so...”

A sudden squeal from someone behind us made us turn around and I saw a couple of soaked people - three boys and two girls - rush up to the building from the black car that I had seen pull into the parking lot earlier. Abigail and I stepped away from the diner’s door before a birdlike squawk drew my attention back to the group and my heart jumped in my chest when I saw the face of one of the boys.

Hell.

It was Tyler… Tyler Carson. Also known as the boy that made it his job to torment me before my family and I moved to London and the reason I was ecstatic when my parents told me we would be moving.

Tyler stiffened the moment he saw me and surprise washed over his face while I slowly took a deep breath. His rich brown hair was short and thick with the texture that you know would be curls if he let it grow out and they complimented his olive skin. His brows were sooty and his lips, currently slightly parted, were lush while his eyes were light brown.

He hadn’t changed much. He was still that handsome boy that made my breath hitch despite the fact that he had forced me into hiding numerous times at school so I wouldn’t have to endure any embarrassment or get upset.

“Holy shit. Mary Coleman!” one of the boys suddenly announced and I took in the faces of the people that were with him. The two boys were Tyler’s best friends - Noah Beckett and Shane Brady - and they helped Tyler torment me before I moved while the two girls were Candi Sparks and Lana Norton.

I wasn’t surprised to see Candi with the three boys because before I moved, she always stuck to them- especially Tyler - like glue, but I was quite surprised to see Lana with them because the both of us along with one of our friends, Asia, used to be a clique.

When I moved to London, the three of us still talked a lot but after three weeks, Lana completely ghosted me. She stopped talking to me, blocked my number and blocked me on social media. I had been worried that I had done something wrong but I found out that she had stopped talking to Asia too and she started hanging out with Candi and her crew.

The reason I was surprised was she knew how much they hurt me and she even consoled me when they made me cry but here she was, standing next to Noah with his arm draped around her shoulder like she was some sort of accessory. I wasn’t angry with her though and I wasn’t sad. I was just glad that I found out about her getting new friends last year but I did want to know if she was sleeping with or in a relationship with one of the boys because the reason Candi followed the boys around was because she was sleeping with Tyler and she wanted to become his girlfriend.

I also wanted to know if Tyler was already dating Candi and the thought of them being in a relationship made my stomach knot but then I got rid of the thought. I don’t care if they’re together… I don’t.

“Do my eyes deceive me?” Shane said, squinting his blue eyes, and Lana was like a deer caught in headlights as she stared at me.

“Mary,” she said in a small voice. She sounded breathless and I had no idea if it was because of the short distance she had run from the car to the diner’s door or because she was extremely surprised to see me. “You’re back.”

The surprise on Tyler’s face had been replaced by displeasure and he was scowling. I was totally familiar with that look. The I-hate-you-so-much-and-I-can’t-stand-you look. Before I moved away, it always felt like someone crushed my heart whenever I received that look but right now, I felt nothing.

Abigail moved to my side with a smile on her face as she kept her phone back in her pocket before she nudged me with her elbow. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to them?” she whispered as she took in the faces of the people in front of us and the smile slipped off her face when she saw Lana. “Isn’t that Luna?”

I instantly let out a snort while thunder boomed overhead and I leaned closer to Abigail. “It’s Lana,” I whispered back just as Shane stretched his arms out and began to walk towards me.

“What?” he said. “No ‘I missed you’ hug for your favourite people?”

If this happened a year ago, I would have taken multiple steps backward and probably ran away from them but I was no longer that girl that cried whenever Tyler and his henchmen harassed me so I stood my ground.

That surprised him for a moment and he stopped moving towards me, tilting his head to the side as he dropped his outstretched arms. “So it’s a ‘no’?” he asked while the diner’s door opened and Dia stepped out with the house key in her hand.

“It was on the floor,” she said and glanced at the group standing in front of us for a brief moment. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah,” I replied while staring at Tyler who hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he and the rest saw me. “Yeah, let’s go.”