Page 1 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

ChapterOne

GIA

Gia 14

Timothy 17

“You planto lie there and bleed out, or what?”I crossed my arms and glared down at Timothy Hurst.

I knew exactly who he was.Our families had been feuding since before indoor plumbing.He’d always been too many grades ahead of me to notice I existed.

He squinted up, one eye already swelling.“You said the principal was coming.Is he almost here?”

I blinked.Even with blood running down his face, he somehow still looked annoyingly like he had stepped out of one of those thirst-trap edits girls reposted with way too many drooling emojis.His long legs were stretched out in worn jeans.Dark blue eyes peeked out from messy dark hair that curled around his ears.

“You’re lying there to get caughton purpose?”I pressed my tongue against my teeth to hold back saying something ugly.

I’d shouted a warning about the principal coming to stop the fight, and it had worked.Not because I needed the big bad junior to notice me.And definitely not because I went around doing nice things for people.

Nobody would accuse me of that.Around school, I was “a problem,” “trouble,” or “bad news,” depending on who was talking.I landed in detention at least once a week for running my mouth, and most people knew I usually got my way one way or another.

But Timothy had surprised me today.Famous for his temper and refusal to back down, he’d picked a fight on purpose just to draw a notorious senior away from a band geek.Right before the bell, the senior had been seconds from stuffing the poor kid into a trash can in front of half the school.The band geek was an insufferable know-it-all.Nobody liked him.Me included.But that kind of humiliation crossed a line.Apparently, Timothy thought so too.

Or maybe I’d just been stupid enough to believe that.

“You’re ruining my plan.”He dragged an arm across his eyes, smearing blood from the cut on his cheek.

“The principal isn’t coming.He’s at wrestling practice.The vice principal might wander out eventually, though.She loves handing out suspensions.”

“You lied?”He pushed himself upright with a wince, staring at me like I’d betrayed him somehow.

My stomach sank, hard and ugly.For a minute there, I’d thought somebody with a reputation as bad as mine had done something decent for no reason other than it being the right thing.Turns out he’d just been looking for another way to raise hell.

“I said it to stop the fight.”I lifted my chin.“You’re welcome, by the way.”

He stared at me for a beat.Then huffed out, “You stole my day of vacation.”

“How disappointing for you.”

He almost smiled.Almost.

“I’m Gia.”

“I know who you are,” he said.“Regina McClary.”

I felt that one in my bones.“Only someone with a death wish calls me the R-name.”

His mouth twitched like he was fighting a laugh.“Pretty sure it’s Regina.”

“It’sGia.People who want to be socked in the balls call me the other name.”I glanced to his crotch with intention.

“Noted.”His tone suggested the opposite.

He looked me over slowly and deliberately, like he was trying to decide if I was worth the trouble to keep noticing.

“Tell you what,” I said.“Instead of sitting in detention, which is far more likely than getting a suspension, meet me at the old oak tree tomorrow.Eight a.m.”He would knowexactlywhat tree I meant.It stood a bit off the road at the division of our family lands.

He narrowed his eyes.“Why would I do that?”