Unleashed by Nancy Holder

there was something about him that kept drawing Katelyn’s attention, and she felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach every time their eyes met. Maybe it was the green of his eyes, or the arty, interesting company he kept. His friends obviously doted on him. He was the center of their attention.
    Or maybe she liked it that she was the object of Trick’s attention. Each time she tried to dart a discreet glance his way, he was looking at her. He intercepted every one of her looks, each time, and his smile got bigger and bigger. At first she was mortified, and then she just laughed.
    “What’s so funny?” Cordelia asked her, and Katelyn shifted her focus back to Cordelia and her friends.
    “Nothing,” she assured her.
    Trick was good with the afternoon off. On the morning drive in, Katelyn had announced that she had plans after school and wouldn’t need a ride.
    But now she was a little sorry that they wouldn’t be riding home together.
    Then it was time for art, and the girl in the sweatshirt smiled at Katelyn again. When Katelyn smiled back, the girl picked up her sketch pad and a piece of charcoal and moved to the empty chair beside Katelyn, directly beneath the ticking school clock.
    “I’m Paulette,” she said by way of greeting. “How’re you doing?”
    “Pretty well,” Katelyn replied.
    “For someone who had to move from L.A. to here ,” Paulette said with an eye roll.
    “It’s not so bad,” Katelyn replied, but her voice cracked, and they both smiled.
    “Look, I know how bad it is.” Paulette offered her another friendly smile, then looked down at her sketch pad and drew a long, curving line.
    Katelyn let her shoulders sag. “It is kind of … um …”
    “Rustic? Quaint?”
    “Wolf Springs is quaint.” Katelyn decided to try to draw a wolf. How to start? A triangle for the head? She thought about the little town, with its old-fashioned streets. “It would make a great tourist attraction.”
    “Too hard to get here,” Paulette said. “Too far from civilization, and bad roads. So.” She glanced at the parking lot. “You’re driving in every day with Trick.”
    Katelyn wasn’t surprised by the comment. She figured people were speculating about her. “Yes.”
    Katelyn looked up to see her reaction and was jolted to see that Paulette had gone all blushy.
    “Lucky,” she said shyly.
    Katelyn was caught off guard. It was the opposite of the reaction Cordelia had had. And if Paulette was crushing on Trick, that meant he wasn’t a total outcast. She felt a flare of jealousy, then was surprised at herself.
    I hardly know him .
    “Do you know who slashed his tires?” Katelyn asked.
    “No. Do you? Did he tell you?” Paulette stopped drawing as she waited for Katelyn’s answer.
    “No idea,” Katelyn confessed. “But I don’t know who anyone is around here anyway.”
    Paulette nodded. “It was probably Mike Wright. Trick had a run-in with him and his friends a while back. They’re such jerks.”
    Katelyn shivered. She was right about Mike. She wished she’d stayed off his radar.
    “Not Trick, I mean. Trick’s not a jerk.” Paulette sighed wistfully and went back to sketching. “You eat lunch with Cordelia Fenner.”
    Katelyn nodded, feeling a little creeped out. Yes, she was the new girl, and yes, people were curious about her, but she was beginning to feel a little stalked.
    “Never liked her,” Paulette said, biting off the words. “You should be careful.”
    Katelyn’s brows rose in surprise. She hadn’t expected her to say anything like that about Cordelia.
    “She acts so sweetsy-sweetsy. And I stress the acts ,” Paulette went on. Then she gave Katelyn a slow, measured look. “She and Trick can’t stand each other.”
    “Why not?” Katelyn was struggling to make sense of everything she was hearing.
    “It might be something that happened in kindergarten, for all I know. People around here hold grudges. Maybe it’s because there’s not much else to do.” Her