Naomi Grim by Tiffany Nicole Smith Read Free Book Online

the
bleachers and the baseball diamond.
    There were twelve kids,
including Keira. They fell silent and stared as I approached. Keira sat on one
of the tables, talking to a guy, while another girl examined the silver studs
on Keira’s leather boots.
    Keira finally looked over in
my direction. “Hi, Nay. Everyone, this is my friend Naomi.”
    Everyone nodded and went
back to what they were doing. Keira stood and led me over to an empty seat at
the end of the table.
    “Nay, this is Fox and Lem,”
she said, motioning toward two boys sitting across from us. They both had several
face piercings, wore black lipstick, and dog collars. They nodded toward me.
    “So what’d you do to get
sentenced to this hellhole?” Lem asked.
    “Nothing, my dad’s job got
transferred. Why do you call it a hellhole?” I asked.
    “How long have you been here?”
Fox asked.
    “A week.”
    “Then you should know.”
    Keira was smart for sitting
with these guys. They seemed to hate school, but I believed most kids probably
felt that way. It didn’t mean they were in on planning the massacre. Still, we
needed to learn more.
    Keira and I exchanged
glances. “It seems okay to me,” I said. “I’ve met some nice kids.”
    Fox scoffed. “Please, you
haven’t been here long enough. Give it some time. The ones you think are your
friends will stab you in the back eventually. All you have to do is breathe the
wrong way and you’ll be an outcast.”
    “Oh.” I nodded.
    Lem squinted at me. “I’ve
seen you around. You were hanging out with Roxy and them.”
    “So, you noticed?”
    Lem nodded. “Yeah, you don’t
exactly . . . blend in. I mean, I’m pale, but you and your brothers—I don’t
know what the word is for it. You're pretty, though. That's why they let you
hang out with them.”
    I had never seen Lem before,
so I found it strange that he had observed me and known about my brothers.
    “Roxy used to be cool,” Lem
continued. “But not anymore.”
    “She seems nice,” I said
quietly.
    “Trust me, if those girls
can’t mold you into being just like them, you’re out. They're bitches. But
you'll find out soon enough,” Lem advised.
    I felt uncomfortable because
I liked Roxy and Paige. “Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but I need to go
grab something to eat.” I stood and slid my backpack onto my shoulders.
    Keira followed me as I left.
“So, what do you think?” she asked after we were a decent distance away from
the table.
    “I think we’d be smart to
stick with them.”
    Once inside the building,
Roxy grabbed my arm without warning, pulling me away from Keira. I hadn’t even
noticed her approach. “Meet me by my car after school. Dance team practice was
cancelled today. We’re hanging out at my place.”
    Before I could respond, she
was gone.
    * * *
    After school, I found Dorian
at his locker, putting books away. “Dorian, tell Bram I’m going home with some
friends.”
    He looked at me nervously.
“What? Where are—”
    “Just tell him. I’ll see you
later.”
    I found Roxy’s red
convertible in the west parking lot as she had instructed me to. She and Paige
were already in the car with the top down. “Hop in, Casper!” Roxy yelled as she
cranked the radio.
    I climbed inside, hoping we
would pull off before Bram saw me. Roxy stepped on the gas and we squealed out
of the parking lot. Roxy didn’t drive much better than Bram, but I enjoyed the
wind blowing through my hair. It was less than a five-minute drive to Roxy’s.
    She lived in a two-story
mint green and white house with a perfectly manicured lawn. There were no other
cars in the driveway, so I figured no one else was home.
    On the way upstairs, we
stopped in the kitchen. Roxy handed me a bag of tortilla chips and a bag of
cheese puffs. She handed Paige three glasses, and Roxy carried a two-liter
bottle of Coke herself.
    Roxy’s room was
bright—really, really bright. Fuchsia-painted walls with black and white
furniture and accessories. We