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were filled with warmth. Even now, she couldn't wait for her mother to come home so she could play with Chloe, who always liked helping her in the kitchen (as much as a four-year-old could).

With the sauce finished, Kira turned to the pasta, stirring the batter while she relived her first day. One of the amazing things about cooking was the therapy it provided. She could think about Luke, who at first glance she had figured to be the overly cocky yet oddly lovable boy. But there was something else there too. When he looked at her, it was almost like he saw something she didn't understand and maybe didn’t want to know. In a way, she was reminded of Cy, her ex-boyfriend in New York. They had only dated for a few months—it wasn’t love or anything, just fun for both of them. He had the same look as Luke, with bright blond hair that looked resolutely sun bleached. He had been overprotective of her, something that got old quickly. When she turned sixteen, he appeared out of nowhere and took over her life. While the constant calling to check in was cute at first, Kira had grown more and more frustrated. Moving home was the perfect excuse to dump him. Luke seemed more laid back, but there were traces of protection in his wannabe-knight manner. Could she see herself dating him?

Kira considered it, pondered the idea of a crush, but her mind slowly wandered from his familiar eyes to the icy blue ones belonging to Tristan.

Her hands stopped mixing at the thought of him. He was too much of a distraction, even for cooking. His brooding eyes held pain and love, his dimples added a cute boyish factor, and his hair hung just low enough to make her want to run a hand through it. She could tell just by looking at him that he had put up barriers and was full of secrets—ones that Kira would love to unmask. He was the kind of boy you wanted to comfort and to kiss, the kind you knew would break your heart yet hoped against all odds wouldn't. The bad boy with a soft heart, the sort of trap a girl knowingly jumped into.

Stop it, Kira told herself and began kneading the dough to get out her frustration. They had barely said two words to each other, not nearly enough to begin crushing; especially when all she knew about him was that the one person she hoped to call a friend hated him.

"Kira, Kira!"

She was shocked out of her thoughts by the four-year-old now attached to her leg. Kira looked at the dough. She had kneaded it far more than necessary and more than enough to let her sister play with the now soft putty.

"Want to help me make dinner?" She asked, lifting Chloe onto the marble countertop next to the sink.

Her mother came in seconds later and kissed her on the cheek. "How was your first day?"

"Oh, fine."

Her mother sank a little—clearly, she wanted more details. "Any friends yet? Any guys? Now that you're home I’d hope to get some more information out of you."

"Well, there was this one guy," Kira began telling her mom about Luke and how he had saved her. She could tell her mother was enjoying the teenage gossip she had missed out on while Kira had been up north, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak about Tristan. For now, he would be her secret.

Damn you, she thought. If you’re causing me this much trouble now I can only imagine what will happen if we ever have an entire conversation.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

When Kira arrived at school the next day, Luke was waiting for her outside the entrance. She was happy for the escort but wanted to try walking herself to class to test her memory of the layout. Luke let her lead, which resulted in two miss-turns and a five-minute tardy to class, but she had still gotten them there on her own, which was something.

In no time, Kira’s morning classes whizzed by, and she was sitting with her newfound friends in the cafeteria, feeling like she had an actual place in the school.

"Dude, Wonder Woman is definitely hotter than Catwoman," Luke said to Miles. The two had been in a heated debate since their teacher had mentioned comic books in chemistry class.

"No way man, Catwoman is totally badass and she wears a leather costume. Leather!"

"Okay, Wonder Woman wears a bathing suit, has super human stamina, and can fly," Luke argued, mouth hanging open in disbelief that they were even still talking about the subject.

"Catwoman has a whip."

"Wonder Woman has an invisible flying plane."

"Dude, leather plus whip plus hint of evil wins every time."

Dave decided to chime in with, "Luke, I think Miles has you there."

"Ladies? Come on, help me out." Luke peered over with puppy-dog eyes. A slight pout graced his lower lip.

"Speaking as a completely heterosexual female, I have to say that Catwoman is definitely hotter," Kira spoke up, hoping to end the completely absurd debate. "Now, here’s a real question—Batman or Superman? I have to go with Superman every time."

At that, Miles spit out his drink. "You have got to be kidding me."

Kira laughed and let the new debate continue now with male subjects who were of much more interest to her. But when Miles and Luke began spitting words at each other, most likely forgetting to breathe, she tuned them out.

Letting her gaze wander over all of the different groups around the cafeteria, Kira eventually allowed her eyes to slip out the window to the one person she was secretly searching for. But when her view landed on the misfits' table in search of Tristan, all four of them were looking at her. Jerome, John, and Diana held their gazes for a moment before looking away, but Tristan continued staring.

Kira’s breath caught. She didn’t understand or want their interest. Well, she secretly wanted Tristan’s but not the others. She smiled at him, trying to change his sort of gloomy stare for a flirtier one. But he just looked away, confusing her more.

Luke nudged her, pulling her gaze from the window. "Come on, it’s time to go to class."

They walked together, winding through the sunlit hallways, and sat down quietly until Mr. Bell walked in, flustered. Hastily, he started to lecture.

During class, Kira looked over her shoulder to catch all of the misfits staring at her once more. She held Tristan’s eyes again, only breaking contact when Luke tapped her shoulder to pass her a note. He sufficiently distracted her with funny notes for the rest of class, but the hairs on the back of her neck remained standing for the entire period.

"Luke, why do they keep staring?" Kira asked as they followed everyone out of the room.

"Don’t worry about it. It’s just because you’re new. I’m sure it will wear off soon."

But despite his reassurance, it didn’t.

Every day for the rest of the week, Kira was under scrutiny. The misfits would only look away when she finally turned to meet their gazes. Kira was confused, but more than anything, annoyed.

"I’m going to confront them," she told Luke after school let out on Friday afternoon. Her first week was complete, but she felt like things were only just beginning.

"Kira, leave it alone." He shook his head, exasperated with the conversation they had had every day this week. "The more it bothers you, the more they do it. They’re jerks. If you ignore them, I’m sure they’ll stop."

"I can tell from your voice that you don’t believe what you just said. Do you know what’s going on?" Kira made Luke stop walking before they reached her car, which was only a few steps away. She wanted to delve deeper into what Luke was obviously hiding from her.

"Nothing, it’s just who they are." He turned away, unable to meet her eyes, and continued his stroll.

"Well, we’ll see next Monday. If I catch them staring again, I’m going to talk to them. I’m not really one to stand idle when I’m annoyed."

"I’m starting to realize that," Luke said in a resigned voice and leaned against the trunk of her small car. "Do what you want to. I doubt I could stop you anyway."

Kira laughed. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Luke. We are definitely starting to understand each other."

He put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against the car, and smiled. The playful mood finally returned to their conversation, the way it always did. "Hey," he said, as though suddenly remembering something he forgot to tell her. "You have to come to the beach with us tomorrow. Apparently, it’s a school tradition. The entire senior class goes to Folly Beach and has a sort of picnic-type event."

"Sounds great."

Kira jumped from his grasp and dug through her purse for her car keys. When she found them, they said their goodbyes, and Kira stepped into her car, more than ready for a mellow Friday night with the family.

The next morning, Kira was jarred awake by a booming alarm, dragging her out of that perfect place between being asleep and being awake, when everything seemed so serene. She flopped her hand on the clock to shut it off, stretched her muscles, and then rolled over to see sunbeams filtering through the yellow sheers on her window.

Beautiful, she thought, still trying to hold on to that limbo.

After a few minutes, she was finally awake enough to stand and start preparing for the beach. Flinging the curtains aside, Kira let the sun warm through her before heading toward the closet to find the perfect bikini and cover-up combo. The white bedazzled two-piece might be too flashy, and her new brown one didn’t really go with her hair, so Kira decided on her new kelly green bikini that would definitely flatter her hair and maybe even her eyes. She threw on her favorite beach cover-up, a pink and green polka-dotted strapless dress she picked up last summer, and flip-flops to prevent from seeming too fancy. After a look in the mirror, Kira decided it was New York chic meets low-key beachy.

She had told Luke she would bring a picnic basket, eager to let some new people taste her food. After making a killer pasta salad and cold cut sandwiches with her special sauce—a hint of mayo, a hint of mustard, and a little something secret—she was ready to go. Kira walked outside, waiting for Luke to pick her up, and was shocked to see a huge pickup careen around the corner with Dave and Miles lounging next to surfboards in the bed of the truck. Kira opened the paint-flaked passenger side door to a giggle-fest between Luke and Emma, and hopped in beside them.

"What is going on in here?" she asked. "Something I should be telling Dave about?"

"Nothing, nothing." Emma finally calmed down enough to breathe, but her face was red from laughing so hard. "One of those things that’s only funny if you saw it."

"What? Come on, I have to know."

"For a minute, in the rearview mirror…" Luke coughed to keep a new round of laughter at bay. "It looked like Miles and Dave were making out." He and Emma broke down again.

"Do I need to drive?" Kira said in a jokingly condescending voice.

"No, no, I got this." Luke composed himself and revved the engine.

The drive to Folly Beach didn’t take long, especially with Kira, Luke, and Emma singing country at the top of their lungs while Miles and Dave stuck their heads through the back window to occasionally join in as back-up singers.

When they arrived, Kira was amazed at the quintessential surf town she had never known existed just a short drive outside of Charleston. Beach shacks and inexpensive hotels lined the shore, while surf shops and local restaurants called in most of the crowd.

They parked and practically ran down the rickety wooden boardwalk that led them through the dunes and onto the sand. The long flat beach was already lined with students from their high school. Some held not so discreet brown paper bags with bottle rims poking out, while others had coolers masking mixed drinks.

Dave, Miles, and Luke dragged their surfboards along the beach behind Emma who was scouting a location. Kira followed, soaking in the view. Fluffed clouds softened the bright blue sky, which faded into the deeper blue waters of the ocean before her. She let the sun warm her skin, itching to lie down on a towel and not move for hours.