The Lie: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 2)

The marching band is playing for a packed stadium. Sadie is jumping up and down beside me, wearing one of the matching tops the three of us bought for the game—all Rebels red. I love calling it that.

She’s pointing at Hunter, and I smile at her as she winks at me. Then she points at one of the guys in the band, but I can’t figure out who as I try to scream over at her. My voice is drowned out by all the noise. Everyone’s excited to watch the game tonight.

Friday night lights.

Even better—it’s homecoming.

Everyone and their mom is here. It’s a huge turnout, and I didn’t want to miss it, especially since Hunter and Roman have no family but me here. I’ll be their support system. Their family.

Eventually, the chaos dies down a bit, and the cheerleaders are doing their thing. I watch Hunter; he’s laughing with Grady and Emerson. Grady seems more himself tonight which makes me happy. I can’t see Roman at first, then I spot him. He’s sitting alone, and it breaks my heart to see him so down. I wanted to braid his hair for the game, but he wouldn’t let me.

He did paint my cast black today. I’d been surprised at lunch when he came up and nodded for me to follow him. He took me out to the grassy area where we’d been sitting together before the accident. I know he hasn’t been sitting here without me; I’ve been checking.

Pulling out a small paint container and a paintbrush, he got to work. I tried to talk to him. After Saturday and that kiss, I wanted to push for a little more. But he only gave me a few grunts and didn’t hug me. I’d been sad about the no hug thing. I wanted a Roman hug so badly.

The cheerleaders finish their routine on the field, and the guys are all getting ready. Hunter’s ass is looking mighty fine from where I’m sitting. He looks over and he sees me, and I blow him a kiss. I know he’s trying to concentrate, so I haven’t been trying to get his attention. This is an important game for him and for the entire school.

Music starts playing, and I see Hunter dancing along while listening to the coach. He’s an amazing dancer. Coach moves back a little, and Zack and Leo start dancing beside Hunter. I hold in my laugh as the coach eyes them, and they don’t seem to notice, or they do and don’t care. The three of them are doing some dance all in sync, like they’ve been practicing it for weeks. It’s quite funny. Coach isn’t impressed, but I see him crack a smile and shake his head when they finish.

“Are you a good dancer?” Cadence asks me.

I chuckle. “Hunter’s dancing skills are way above mine. I have some rhythm, but I can’t do that.” I stare down at him with dreamy eyes. I know I look like a lovestruck fool. But that’s because I am.

“Is Leo single?” Sadie randomly asks.

“I’m not sure. What about the marching band guy?” I ask, and her cheeks turn red. “No way. Sadie. Who is it? You were pointing, and he was …marching.” I giggle. I couldn’t follow her gesture because they were moving, so I’m not sure which one caught her eye.

Cadence doesn’t waste a second in jumping into the conversation. “Tyler Hall—he’s a senior.”

I don’t know him, but now I want to, if he’s making Sadie’s cheeks turn Rebels red. I have to bite back a smile. Maybe I should stop calling the color red Rebels red.

“You have a photo? His Instagram?” Everyone has Instagram.

Cadence is on it before I can even finish, and Sadie groans, her hands on her face.

“No, don’t get embarrassed. You pointed…now you need to tell me. How long have you had a crush on him?”

“Since I was a freshman.” My eyes meet hers and she smiles now. “He’s so cute and smart. I fell over in the hallway, and he helped me up. Asked if I was okay and smiled at me.”

Aww…that’s so sweet.

Cadence shows me his photo, and he is cute. He has that Harry Styles look about him—not the fashion, but his face and hair.

“Why don’t you ask him to the homecoming dance?” Sadie looks at me like she’s going to be sick. Shit. I hold my hand out to hers. “It’s okay, don’t freak out. Maybe we can ask Hunter.”

They both look at me with a puzzled expression.

“He knows, like…everyone.” I wave my hand around to emphasize it. “I can’t even walk to class without him saying hello to everyone we pass. I’m sure he knows Tyler.”

They give me looks like they don’t believe me, but I leave it. I’ll get Sadie a dance with Tyler. I’m going to be her wingwoman at the dance tomorrow.

The game gets off to a great start. Our offense starts, and Jace snaps the ball and passes it to Roman for a running play. I cheer, screaming out his name. He doesn’t get far, but that’s okay.

They set the play up again, and it’s the same. Roman runs, pressing past the Wildcats defense. “Go, Roman, go,” I scream at the top of my lungs.

Holy shit, Roman’s sprinting down the field, and the Wildcats can’t catch him. I’m holding my breath. Run, you got this.

Touchdown for the Rebels.

I jump and scream, hugging Cadence and Sadie. I’m so excited. With a start to the game like that, we’re gonna win…

The Rebels have this.

The Rebels didn’t have it. They lost, thirty-nine to seventeen. The Wildcats must have noticed the tension between Jace and Grady, and they played on that. As the game went on, Grady changed on the field. Whatever they said to him noticeably affected his game. It was hard to watch. I wanted to go out there and kick their asses.

“So, how many stars do you want on your cast?” Cadence asks as she finishes up drawing the moon on there. The silver looks amazing; she’s really good at this. Apparently, she likes to draw anime. She’ll have to teach me once my arm is healed. It would be fun to get back into drawing.

“Make it two. I only have one star-crossed lover.”

Sadie giggles. “I can’t believe you’re trying to hook up with Roman while you’re dating Hunter. Like, holy shit, you’re crazy. In all the best ways. I love this. Do you think he’ll show?”

I hope so because I want to see him. I want to dance with him and Hunter.

“I’m not holding my breath. It’s pretty much impossible to predict what Roman will do. Also, I’m not trying to hook up with him. He’s mine, like, as in the forever type of mine.”

He just refuses to see it and keeps trying to sacrifice himself for me. I don’t need saving—he does.

There’s a knock at the front door. I look down to where Cadence is finishing the last star, and I jump up off the bed. With a twirl, I show the girls the cast as I walk out the door. “Looks amazing, thank you.”

I carefully walk down the stairs; my dress is long, and I don’t want to trip and fall. I smile, my heart overflowing with giddy happiness. I’m so excited to watch Hunter’s face when he sees me in this dress, but that better not be him now. He promised I’d meet him there. Sadie’s driving us…then he can drive me home after.

Opening the door, I find two red roses on the step. I freeze. My hand still on the door handle, I just stare at them. The last one wasn’t from Hunter, and I’d thought it might have been from Roman, but Hunter didn’t seem so convinced that Roman was sneaking over and dropping off roses on my doorstep.

Jace? I looked over at his house. The lights are on and his parents are home. I see Jace’s car but not Grady’s.

Fuck, I think Hunter might be right. But why the hell is Jace giving me roses? I take them inside and upstairs, and the girls squeal at them.

“Are they from Hunter?” Sadie asks.

I shake my head and place them on my nightstand. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I reach for my heels and start putting them on.

“Roman?” Cadence sits beside me and does up the straps of her small heel.

“No, Hunter thinks it’s Jace.”

I see the puzzled expression on Sadie’s face.

“This isn’t the first rose. I got one last Saturday. Now I have two more.” I’m trying to find the meaning behind them. Why is he giving me two tonight? Is that Jace’s way of saying sorry and he wants me to be his…what? Friend? Girlfriend? Not happening.

“But let’s not think about that. I spoke to Hunter, and he knows Tyler and said he will ‘set it up.’”

Cadence squeals so loudly my ear rings. I rub it and she mutters, “Sorry,” but then she jumps up, wobbling on her heels, and jumps a few times. “This is it, Sadie. You have to dance with him. Maybe go on a date with him?”

Sadie has her arms wrapped tightly around her waist and is shaking her head and mouthing, “No.”

We’re both nodding yes, but it doesn’t seem to help. Maybe I overstepped and she’s not ready for this. Or maybe she’s just an introvert and needs a little push?

“Okay, what if we do nothing and nothing happens, and he graduates, and you never get to find out if he was your forever, and now you’re forty, alone and sad because you never took the chance at the homecoming dance to be with the sweet and cute Tyler Hall?”

Cadence snorts. “You paint a pretty picture there, Mila.”

I shrug. “I try.” Then I poke my tongue out at her.

Sadie paces a few times and, finally, she stands straight with a smile on her face. “I can do this. If he wants to dance with me, I will.”

I smile and let out a deep breath. “Oh good, because when I said Hunter will set it up…” They both look at me, and I smile. “Tyler’s going to come up to you and ask you to dance. He’s expecting you to say yes, so please don’t say no. Hunter said he’s kinda shy, so please tell me now if you’re going to say no so I can give the guy a heads-up.”

Sadie holds her hand over her mouth and shakes her head, then nods, then shakes, and I’m confused if that’s a yes or a no.

“Yes, I will say yes.” And she jumps around with Cadence.

Standing up, I walk around the room in my heels. I prefer my sneakers; these things will be killing me by the end of the night.

“Let’s go get our dance on,” I call out behind the girls as we all file out and down the stairs. At the last moment, I change my mind and ditch the heels. Cadence laughs as she watches me slide my foot in my sneaker and sigh.

“I told you, the higher the heel, the greater the pain.” She tsks at me.

I shake my head and smile up at her as I slip my other foot in. “My mother taught me, pain is beauty. I’m used to wearing heels for all her stupid functions. I don’t know why I even bought them, to be honest. Old habit, I guess. I forgot I can be my own person here. If my mom saw me wearing sneakers, she would drop dead.” And that’s the truth.

I double-check my small bag—I have my phone, purse, keys, lip gloss, and eyeliner, just in case. You never know when you need to touch up, and I did my favorite smoky eyes. God, if Mom could see me now.

Closing the door behind me, I bounce over to Sadie’s red coupe, something I never could have done in those death traps women call heels. Cadence is in the back so I can sit up front. My dress is too tight to squish back there and not rip the slit higher. As I get to the car door, my phone starts to ring. I open my bag and see the caller ID.

Roman.

I quickly answer and put it to my ear. “Roman?” There’s no sound at first, then I hear his dad, yelling, and something smashing. Shit.

“Roman?” My throat grows thick as my hand flies to my chest to stop my heart from beating out of my chest.

“Please, are you okay?” I choke out.

Why doesn’t he say something? He never calls me. Why is he calling me now? Does he need me? I hear him breathing, his voice deep and raspy, like he’s been screaming for hours.

“I love you,” is all he says. Then it disconnects.

“Roman,” I scream at the phone as I try to call him back, but it goes straight to voicemail. Fuck. Shit. This is bad.

Two sets of eyes are on me, and my hands shake as I search my bag for my car keys.

“We can drive you,” Sadie calls out, and I shake my head.

The last thing Roman would want is two other people from school seeing where he lives. Plus, with the three of us turning up dressed like this, the scary guys there would have the time of their life. Like they won a prize at the damn fair.

“No, go to the dance. I will go see if he’s okay, and I’ll meet you there.”

Please be okay, please be safe, Roman. I’m coming for you.

…I love you too.