Gamed (A Standalone Romance Novel) (Bad Boy Romance) by Claire Adams Page A
Authors: Claire Adams
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time I go home, I feel like I need body armor to deflect all the
high school reunion crap. People are always telling me how great I look now. As
if I was a total slug then or something," Trent said.
"It was just
really hard that no one wanted to remember the real Sienna. My sister was more
than some peppy go-getter, you know? She had ups and downs just like everyone. It
was like watching a real 3D person turn into a 2D photograph right in front of
me," I tried to explain.
"Oh, speaking
of photos, you need to go online and check out the pics of me at the art show. There's
this one where I swear I look just like the guy from that movie you like. You
know, the cool one with the suit and sunglasses?"
"Trent! I'm
talking about my sister's funeral."
"I know, I
know, sweetie. I get it. I'm just trying to lighten the mood. When are you
coming back to campus?" he asked.
"I don't
know. My parents want me to stay another day or two, but-"
Trent interrupted,
"Sounds good. I mean, you need family time and all that. Come over right
when you get here, okay? Miss you!"
I listened to the
dial tone and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. Trent was
right, though. I needed to lighten my mood, and staying with my parents one
more day was not going to help.
I packed my bags
before breakfast. My father was the only one downstairs; my mother's bedroom
door was shut tight again.
"Would it be
okay if I headed back to campus soon?" I asked my father.
"That's a
good idea. You probably have a lot of catching up to do," he said. He was
packing his briefcase to head back to work. He missed my head and kissed the
air as he walked to the garage door.
#
I got to my dorm room just before lunch. Darla had already left for class and I
was glad for a moment alone. As soon as I had driven onto campus, I was flooded
with memories of Sienna. I had to take a detour just to avoid seeing her
dormitory.
I threw my
overnight bag on the bed and opened it. Instead of carefully putting everything
away, I decided to just dump it into my laundry basket. I had only been on
campus twenty minutes, but I was already itching to get back in the car.
There were
messages written all over the white board on our door. Notes were taped along
the doorframe. Inside, Darla had carefully arranged a wild display of cheap flowers
purchased at the bookstore. It looked like half of campus had decided to leave
me condolences. I hated to think what Sienna's door looked like and vowed not
to go there.
Instead, I started
to think about leaving campus all together. Sienna was the only one that had
kept me on track. Even my college advisor had started suggesting I look at
other majors. Without my sister driving me, there was no way I was going to
earn my degree in nursing. I did not have the heart for it.
Sienna
was going to be the heart surgeon , I thought. Had I somehow imagined I would be a nurse in
the same hospital? What had I been thinking?
It had all been
decided for me. I remembered the conversations over my college applications. I
had said very little. I loved the sound of UCLA and at the time, it had not
mattered what got me here. Now, all I could think about was getting out.
The sickly sweet
smell of the carnations and daisies made me nauseated. The few cards that I
could see all talked about Sienna like she was a perfect angel. Am I so wrong for wanting to remember my
sister the way she actually was?
I still had time
to make it to class, but the whole rest of the day stretched out before me like
a minefield of memories. I would look for Sienna everywhere. She had helped pick
out the quilt on my bed. She had given me my desk organizer. Sienna always
waved to me before gross anatomy. The memories froze my blood faster than
seeing a real ghost and drove me from my room.
"Quinn! I
didn't expect to see you back so soon."
I stopped short of
running my lab partner over. Her smile wobbled at the wild look in my eyes, but
she caught me in a hug anyway.
"Yeah,
high school reunion crap. People are always telling me how great I look now. As
if I was a total slug then or something," Trent said.
"It was just
really hard that no one wanted to remember the real Sienna. My sister was more
than some peppy go-getter, you know? She had ups and downs just like everyone. It
was like watching a real 3D person turn into a 2D photograph right in front of
me," I tried to explain.
"Oh, speaking
of photos, you need to go online and check out the pics of me at the art show. There's
this one where I swear I look just like the guy from that movie you like. You
know, the cool one with the suit and sunglasses?"
"Trent! I'm
talking about my sister's funeral."
"I know, I
know, sweetie. I get it. I'm just trying to lighten the mood. When are you
coming back to campus?" he asked.
"I don't
know. My parents want me to stay another day or two, but-"
Trent interrupted,
"Sounds good. I mean, you need family time and all that. Come over right
when you get here, okay? Miss you!"
I listened to the
dial tone and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. Trent was
right, though. I needed to lighten my mood, and staying with my parents one
more day was not going to help.
I packed my bags
before breakfast. My father was the only one downstairs; my mother's bedroom
door was shut tight again.
"Would it be
okay if I headed back to campus soon?" I asked my father.
"That's a
good idea. You probably have a lot of catching up to do," he said. He was
packing his briefcase to head back to work. He missed my head and kissed the
air as he walked to the garage door.
#
I got to my dorm room just before lunch. Darla had already left for class and I
was glad for a moment alone. As soon as I had driven onto campus, I was flooded
with memories of Sienna. I had to take a detour just to avoid seeing her
dormitory.
I threw my
overnight bag on the bed and opened it. Instead of carefully putting everything
away, I decided to just dump it into my laundry basket. I had only been on
campus twenty minutes, but I was already itching to get back in the car.
There were
messages written all over the white board on our door. Notes were taped along
the doorframe. Inside, Darla had carefully arranged a wild display of cheap flowers
purchased at the bookstore. It looked like half of campus had decided to leave
me condolences. I hated to think what Sienna's door looked like and vowed not
to go there.
Instead, I started
to think about leaving campus all together. Sienna was the only one that had
kept me on track. Even my college advisor had started suggesting I look at
other majors. Without my sister driving me, there was no way I was going to
earn my degree in nursing. I did not have the heart for it.
Sienna
was going to be the heart surgeon , I thought. Had I somehow imagined I would be a nurse in
the same hospital? What had I been thinking?
It had all been
decided for me. I remembered the conversations over my college applications. I
had said very little. I loved the sound of UCLA and at the time, it had not
mattered what got me here. Now, all I could think about was getting out.
The sickly sweet
smell of the carnations and daisies made me nauseated. The few cards that I
could see all talked about Sienna like she was a perfect angel. Am I so wrong for wanting to remember my
sister the way she actually was?
I still had time
to make it to class, but the whole rest of the day stretched out before me like
a minefield of memories. I would look for Sienna everywhere. She had helped pick
out the quilt on my bed. She had given me my desk organizer. Sienna always
waved to me before gross anatomy. The memories froze my blood faster than
seeing a real ghost and drove me from my room.
"Quinn! I
didn't expect to see you back so soon."
I stopped short of
running my lab partner over. Her smile wobbled at the wild look in my eyes, but
she caught me in a hug anyway.
"Yeah,
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