Diamonds in the Rough

“Is everyone keeping in touch?” Savannah asked, thinking mainly about L.A. and Miami.

“For the first few days back we chatted on Facebook and stuff, but most of them are from California, New York, D.C. and Florida, so we’ve mostly split ways,” he said. “But enough about me—what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

The real answer: doing mounds of work assigned by tutors to catch up on Goodman academics. But she wasn’t telling Damien that.

“Hanging with my sisters at the pool,” she said casually. She had spent a lot of time at the pool, but she’d usually brought her homework with her. “I’ve also been getting my YouTube channel started.”

“How’s that going?”

“It’s going okay.”

“Cool.” Damien smiled, watching her like he really cared, and a thrill went up her spine. “I’ll check it out tonight.”

Her heart shrank at the realization that he hadn’t seen her videos. “Let me know what you think,” she said. Just because she’d been tracking (stalking?) him online all summer didn’t mean he’d been doing the same to her. He’d been too busy traveling the country—and spending time with L.A. and Miami—to know her YouTube channel existed. Even now, he probably couldn’t wait to get out of the lunch line to hang out with his real friends.

Savannah ordered and paid for her sandwich. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she said to Damien, gathering her plate in preparation to join Wendy and whatever friends of hers would be at that table.

“Hold up,” he said. “Where are you sitting?”

Savannah’s stomach fluttered at the idea that Damien Sanders cared about where she was eating lunch. But she didn’t want to tell him she was sitting with the anime club.

“She was going to join me and some of the other volleyball girls at our table near the pool,” Alyssa jumped in. “Tryouts are soon, and we heard Savannah plays, so we’re hoping she makes the team.”

Savannah glanced questionably at Alyssa, who smiled and tossed her long hair over her shoulder, as if none of this should be strange. Clearly she was being welcoming now only because of Savannah’s connection to Damien.

But did it matter? It had broken the ice between them. Sure, things hadn’t gone well in first period, but now that Alyssa wanted to be friends, she seemed like a fun girl. And Savannah would have more in common with the volleyball team than with the anime club.

“Do you and Alyssa want to eat with me and my friends upstairs?” Damien asked. “If her friends don’t mind, of course.”

“That sounds great,” Alyssa said quickly. “I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Okay.” Savannah couldn’t believe it. Sure, she was ditching Wendy, but when Savannah glanced around to find the other girl, a tall, lanky guy had joined Wendy at her table, so she wasn’t alone. She would understand. After all, Savannah—a sophomore—had been invited to sit at a table with seniors. And not just any seniors—Damien Sanders and his friends. Which hopefully wouldn’t include Madison, but it was too late to turn back now.

She tightened her grip on her water bottle to keep from shaking. “I thought the seniors went off campus for lunch?”

“We do sometimes,” Damien said. “But since today’s the first day back, most of us want to stay here and catch up.”

He led them upstairs to a group at the center table in the cafeteria, and introduced them to his friends. Savannah recognized two of them from Myst over the summer, but the others were new to her. As they ate, Damien and Alyssa were the only ones interested in talking to her—the rest of them were too busy gossiping about their summers—but that was fine by her.

At least Madison wasn’t sitting with them. But Damien kept glancing at the table where she was eating with Oliver and some of her other friends. Savannah’s heart dropped at the realization that he still wasn’t over Madison. But either Madison was oblivious to Damien, or she was an expert at ignoring him.

At the end of lunch, Savannah followed Alyssa to the trash cans. Alyssa was friendly and continued asking her questions—she was a completely different person from that morning.

Someone else called Savannah’s name, and she brightened at the sight of Nick Gordon pushing through the crowd. He glowed as usual, but there were also huge bags under his eyes.

“Hey, Nick,” Savannah said, relieved he wasn’t ignoring her, either.

“How’s your first day going?” he asked.

“It’s different from my old school, but it’s going well,” she lied, since she didn’t want to sound like a downer and tell him about how awful everything had been until she’d seen Damien in the sandwich line. “I met Alyssa in first period, and we both play volleyball. Do you two know each other?”

“We’ve seen each other around, but haven’t officially met,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Nick.”

Alyssa nodded, as if she already knew who he was, and shook his hand. “Nice to officially meet you.”

Nick smiled and turned back to Savannah. “Did your tutoring this summer pay off?”

“I hope so,” she said. “But it’s hard to tell on the first day.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he said. “And I’ve been checking out your YouTube channel when I have time. Your latest videos are great.”

“Thanks.” Savannah shrugged. He was probably only saying it to be nice, otherwise wouldn’t there be more people who agreed with him? “It’s good to know that at least a few people like the videos.”

“I bet one will go viral soon, and then you’ll be an instant hit.”

“That would be a dream come true.”

His blue eyes were so focused on hers, and her breath caught at how electric the air felt around them. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then Damien joined them, and Nick took a step back.

“Hey, man,” Damien said, as if he and Nick were friends. Which they weren’t—especially since Nick used to date Madison.

“Hey.” Nick slipped his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. “Didn’t see you around much this summer.”

“I was doing some traveling.”

“Bet that was fun.” Nick held Damien’s gaze steadily, and if Savannah didn’t know better, she would have thought they were having a macho territory battle over her.

“I need to get to my next class,” Savannah said, glad to have an excuse to get Damien and Nick away from each other. “Thanks for inviting us to sit with you,” she said to Damien.

“You’re welcome to join us whenever you want.”

“And if you want a change of scenery, you can sit with me and my friends, too,” Nick offered. “We sit out on the upper deck looking over the pool until it gets too cold.”

“Thanks,” Savannah said, not wanting to promise either of them anything. Were they really fighting over sitting with her? Or was she making this out to mean more than it did? “I’ll see you guys around!”

Alyssa linked her arm with Savannah’s as they left the dining hall. “I can’t believe you know Damien Sanders and Nick Gordon and you didn’t mention it!” she said, bouncing as she walked.

“I met them both this summer,” Savannah said. “It’s a long story.”

“What are you doing after school today?”

“Nothing so far.” Well, she was supposed to connect with Evie on Skype to tell her about her first day, but Evie wouldn’t mind waiting.

“Good,” Alyssa said. “You can come with me, Brooke and Jackie to Starbucks and tell us everything that happened this summer with you and two of the hottest guys in school. Judging from the way they just acted, I have a feeling this is going to be good.”

Chapter 2: Courtney (#ulink_7511a041-d283-52f2-90f0-adc7b4b42b4f)

“Thanks for having lunch with me,” Courtney said to Brett, taking a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich. The cheese was gooey and amazing—the dining hall at Goodman was a five-star restaurant compared to the cafeteria at Fairfield High. Brett had secured a table for them near the lake, beneath a tree and secluded from the main groups of students, which was just what Courtney needed.