The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

Author:Ashley Woodfolk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2018-03-06T05:00:00+00:00

BRAM IS BORED so he sees how long he can stand on his head. (SPOILER ALERT: he passes out.)

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Yara and a bunch of other girls I only kinda recognize are leaning against my locker when I get out of last period, and for a second, I’m really confused. I look behind me to see if it’s possible that they’re waiting for someone else, but then Yara waves and smiles. I notice Paige, a redhead who’s also on the cheerleading team, holding a cupcake carrier, and I remember why they’re waiting for me.

“Shit. It’s today, isn’t it?” I ask as I unzip my backpack and dump all my books into my locker.

“Yep,” Yara says. “We’re heading over there, like, right now.”

She reaches out to straighten my collar, like we’re besties; like it’s not weird as hell for her to be touching me. But I’m so surprised that I don’t move away. She smooths it down with her delicate little fingers.

“Are you nervous? You look like you’re freaking out,” she says, stretching her eyes wide. A few of the girls giggle.

“I’m not fucking nervous,” I say, shouldering my bag again.

“ ‘I’m not fucking nervous,’ ” Paige repeats, and it should piss me off, but the impression is pretty spot-on. I crack a smile.

“Bram always said his mom liked you better than anyone he’d ever dated. Including me,” Yara says, tucking her hair behind her ear. The studs in her lobes sparkle in the sun coming through the closest window. “Don’t be nervous.”

“Are you nervous?” Paige says to Yara. “This is gonna suck for you too. I mean, you loved him. You were with him through everything, all the way till the end.”

That pisses me off. But Yara just looks down. Then she changes the subject.

“This is weird, right?” she says as we walk to the parking lot. I shrug, because, yeah, it’s weird as hell, but I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m still processing what Nico told me, about Bram being his dealer, but I want to take advantage of being here with Yara, too.

We’re taking a few different cars, so the girls branch off in different directions, but Yara waves me toward her 4x4.

“You don’t drive, right?” she asks. I shake my head. “Do you talk?” she continues with a grin. I nod. I thought it would be hard talking to her, but it seems like it might be really easy. You know those people who are charming without even trying? Genuine and annoyingly nice? That’s Yara. It’s like I can’t be an ass to her, no matter how badly I want to.

“I talk sometimes,” I say eventually.

“Well, don’t worry. I won’t make you,” she teases.

We climb into her truck and buckle up.

“I know this is weird, but we should just try to be there for Ms. Lassiter today. Her first birthday without him? That’s bigger than you and me. The thing is—” Yara starts, squeezing her hands together, as if she’s nervous. But she doesn’t really get to finish because Paige appears out of nowhere and taps on her window.

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