 by Pepper North.jpg)
Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER 1
In the beginning
Third grade began as all years did. A class full of unique personalities and abilities burst into a cheerfully decorated room to meet their teacher and see who would be in the same class. In one particular classroom, students paused at the doorway looking for the new teacher at school. Would she be nice or strict?
Their worlds were upended when they found a quirky-looking male teacher wearing a big bow tie. Meeting them with a big smile, Mr. Chamberlain encouraged everyone to find the desk with their name on it. Clumped together in small groups, the students slowly slid into their assigned seats.
Maisie, Amber, Harper, Beau, and Colt discovered they were group five, arranged the farthest from the teacher’s desk. Despite the boys giving each other cootie shots when they found out they were sitting with girls, the group bonded quickly and spent the rest of the year begging him to let them remain together. Thankfully, the phenomenal teacher responded to their good behavior and positive support for each other and hadn’t separated them.
Avondale High School – Home of the Dragons
Beau
Crossing his fingers that Colt would remember the special play they’d been rehearsing in private all month, Beau drew back his arm and launched what he hoped was a perfectly timed rocket toward one of his best friends. Beau held his breath as the football seemed to hover in the air before dropping.
Yes!
Beau watched Colt pluck the ball out of the air and take off for the end zone. With total confidence, Beau knew Colt would make it, win the game and the state title. No one could catch Colt at full speed.
As the crowd went wild and the team swarmed to celebrate with Colt, Beau hung back. He wanted Colt to have his time to shine. Beau watched him race toward the head cheerleader who waved her pompons with boundless excitement. They would have made an incredibly beautiful couple, but Colt’s heart had always belonged to the curvy blonde in the stands. Harper was his perfect match.
Beau focused on the slight figure sitting next to Harper. Maisie bounced with excitement, celebrating Colt’s catch before turning to look for someone on the field. When she found Beau, their eyes locked together as silent communication zinged effortlessly between them. Maisie nodded, saluting him for the throw that made all this happen. Returning the gesture, Beau tried to memorize the picture of the beautiful teenager with pink cheeks from the chill of the fall air. He knew it would all change soon.
Colt
“There’s a reserved pool table at Murphy’s for us,” Amber suggested.
“Why are we hanging out here? Let’s go.” Colt was immediately all in. He was done hanging out with people who liked him just for scoring the winning touchdown.
When a thought flickered into life, he turned to Beau. “Think it will piss your dad off if you hang out at the bar tonight?”
“Not a chance. I rocketed that ball fifty yards before you carried it a few yards into the end zone. He’ll be on the phone with every Ivy League coach everywhere, sharing footage,” Beau answered with a self-deprecating laugh before hesitating. “Just don’t let anyone buy us a round of beer.”
“Like my dad would allow that,” Amber scoffed. “Your dad’s political clout, combined with the fact he’d lose his liquor license, will have him focusing a security camera on us to prove we guzzled only soft drinks all night.”
“I could eat about a dozen of his giant pretzels right now,” Colt confessed, rubbing his flat stomach.
“I hadn’t thought of that! Training is over. Bring on the cheat meal of the century,” Beau cheered. Wrapping his arms around Maisie’s and Amber’s waists, he steered them away from the bonfire as Colt walked with Harper behind them.
Amber
Amber climbed into the back of Beau’s flashy convertible, despite Maisie’s protests. “I need to think through a new cheer. I’m so tired of the old ones and basketball season is gearing up. You guys sit in the front and talk.”
She watched Maisie slide into the soft leather seat and try to disappear from view. When they’d been kids, whose family made more money hadn’t been important. As they’d gotten older, her sweet friend had excelled in academics, wearing the worn second- or third-hand clothing that her family could afford. It didn’t make any difference to her friends, but the judgmental people in town hadn’t ever let her forget just how poor her family was. Amber hadn’t ever seen Maisie angry until Beau had bought her a winter coat with a month of his allowance.
“Take it back!” Maisie demanded, shoving the soft fabric jacket back at her seventh-grade friend, who waited to see her reaction to his gift.
“Don’t you like the color? They had pink, too, but I thought you’d like the blue better,” Beau had offered, his expression revealing his confusion.