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Amber Blake is having dreams, and they just might be the key to saving her best friend, Mark.
Unfortunately, she's too preoccupied pretending to hate the boy next door, Carter Hayes. Secretly hoping to rekindle what once was, Amber atte...
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It's ten thousand degrees out here and Mark still isn't picking up. The sun beats down on my exposed legs — I'll be looking at some weird tan lines by time I get home. Hitting his speed dial once again, I hold the phone up to my ear. The line rings three times before going to voicemail. I snap it shut and stuff it back into my pocket, my leg bouncing with anxiety.
Everyone is basically gone at this point. It's Friday so I'm not surprised, but it leaves little to distract me from Mark's lack of response. There's no breeze to cut through the August humidity, and I just know I've sweated my hair out. I don't need a mirror to confirm it's a frizzy mess.
There's only one place I know that can offer shady relief, plus help calm my fraying nerves, so I send Mark a text to meet me at the log instead. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I head around the side of the school that leads towards the back lot. I get halfway across the sizzling asphalt before catching a glimpse of red. Carter's truck sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the few black cars still in the lot. I'm not sure what to make of it. He didn't mention anything about driving me home, and besides, he's nowhere in sight. If I weren't so pissed at him, I might care enough to worry about him too.
Ignoring the urge to check it out further, I power on to the edge of the lot. Stepping carefully to avoid tripping, I work my way down the path to the log, but a figure in the clearing makes me pause. Mark still hasn't texted me back, but I know he couldn't have snuck past and beat me here. Someone else found our log, which I didn't think was possible. Who the hell runs around in the woods besides us?
But there he is, the disappearing man. Carter sits with his back to me, oblivious of my presence. He looks less tense than earlier as he stares off into the woods, his shoulders relaxed for once. Part of me wants to turn around and leave him alone.
But I'm still pissed, so it would be out of character.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Carter jumps about a foot in the air, looking as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Flipping around so we're facing each other, he scowls. "I could ask you the same thing. How do you even know about this place?"
