Something New Read online

  SOMETHING NEW

  AMANDA ABRAM

  Copyright © 2020 AMANDA ABRAM

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Books By This Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Ugh, I don’t want to marry anyone in this class,” my best friend, Lauren, moaned next to me. She folded her arms over the top of her desk and buried her face in them.

  I rubbed small circles on her back to provide some comfort. I didn’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to marry anyone in this class, either. Well, except for one person.

  My gaze flickered across the room to Elijah Porter, my boyfriend for over ten months now. When our eyes met, he grinned and held up a piece of college ruled paper in front of his face. MARRY ME? it read in big, bold letters.

  Blushing, I grabbed a pen, opened my notebook and scrawled the words, YES, PLEASE! across one of the pages before ripping it out and holding it up for him to see.

  Elijah widened his grin and gave me a double thumbs-up. Immediately after, his best friend, Dylan Meyers, snatched the piece of paper from his hands. After reading what was written on it, he rolled his eyes, crumpled it up, and threw it in Elijah’s face.

  Elijah and I exchanged exasperated looks before I returned my attention to Lauren, who was now fake sobbing into her arms.

  “Why?” she asked, her voice muffled. “Why did I have to get stuck in the class with all the losers?”

  “Hey,” I said defensively.

  Lauren lifted her head to look at me. “I’m obviously not talking about you, dork. Or your boyfriend.”

  “What about Dylan?”

  She made a face. “Dylan’s not a loser, he’s just annoying. I’d rather marry a loser.”

  I knew by “loser”, Lauren meant there were no football players. It should have come as no surprise to her. The football players at our school weren’t the kind of guys who thought too much about their futures beyond, well, football. They all had big dreams of playing in college and then getting drafted onto their favorite teams. They weren’t too concerned about anything beyond that. They certainly weren’t concerned with anything we were learning about in this class.

  Life Economics was a new class added to the curriculum this year. It was only offered to juniors and seniors, and most of us only signed up for it because we assumed it would be an easy credit. For the first semester, we went through a lot of the basics regarding budgeting, finances, job searching, etc. But our teacher, Mrs. Andrews, informed us before we left on Friday that things were about to get interesting.

  Because today, we were all getting married.

  Well, sort of. Mrs. Andrews hadn’t exactly referred to it as getting married, but that was essentially what we were doing—pairing up with a partner and then working together to do all the miserable but important things married couples did, like balancing budgets and coming up with meal plans or something.

  When the bell rang, Lauren sat up straight in her seat. “I wonder if we’ll be allowed to marry someone of the same sex?” She turned to me. “Will you marry me, Cassie?”

  “I’m marrying Elijah, dummy,” I said in a hushed voice as Mrs. Andrews stood from her desk.

  “Oh, that’s right.” Lauren pouted and slouched back in her chair.

  “Okay, class,” Mrs. Andrews said, silencing the room. “Today’s the big day. Who’s ready to start planning their lives as an adult?”

  When nobody responded, she grabbed a small bowl off her desk and held it up. “I’ve decided to go old school with this, and have you pick your partners’ names randomly out of a bowl. I’ll have this half of the classroom pick, and whoever you get will be your partner for the next few weeks.”

  A feeling of dread filled my stomach. We weren’t allowed to pick our partners? But I had been looking forward to being pretend married to Elijah ever since this project was announced.

  “Unfortunately,” she went on to say, “we have an odd number of students in the class, so one of you will have to do this project on your own—with some modifications, of course. So, before I start having anyone pick names, is there anyone who would like to volunteer to do this solo? Otherwise, we’ll have to rely on the luck of the draw.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, Lauren raised her arm so fast she was lucky it didn’t pop out of its socket.

  “I volunteer!” she exclaimed.

  Mrs. Andrews raised her eyebrows in surprise. I guess she wasn’t expecting anyone to raise their hand. She must not have overheard any of Lauren’s ranting about how none of the guys in this class were marriage material.

  “Thank you, Lauren, I’ll remove your name.” Mrs. Andrews began fishing around the bowl, looking for the piece of paper with Lauren’s name on it.

  Lauren beamed over at me.

  Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I stared at Elijah’s profile across the room, silently urging him to look at me. To see if he was as bummed about this as I was.

  “Found it!” Mrs. Andrews exclaimed. She held up the piece of paper for us to see before setting it on her desk. “Okay, after this half of the room picks their names, I’ll have you all meet with your partners, and then we’ll go over the first assignment.”

  She walked over to the first kid on the other side of the room and held out the bowl. He pulled out a piece of paper and then Mrs. Andrews moved onto the next.

  I watched as Dylan reached his hand into the bowl with a disinterested look on his face. The look dissolved once he read the name on the paper. I didn’t bother trying to decipher his new expression because Elijah was up next, and I wanted to see his reaction to whoever he got.

  Once the piece of paper was in his hands, he unfolded it and read the name. The slightest bit of a smile tugged at his lips and a feeling of relief washed over me.

  He must have gotten my name.

  As Mrs. Andrews moved on, Dylan turned around in his seat and said something to Elijah. I couldn’t read lips, so I had no idea what he was saying, but I could tell from the scowl on his face that he was not happy.

  “Isn’t this awesome?” Lauren whispered to me, pulling my attention away from my boyfriend and his grumpy best friend.

  I blinked over at her. “Isn’t
what awesome?”

  “The fact that I don’t have to marry any of these meatheads!” She triumphantly pumped her fist into the air.

  “Yeah, but now you’re stuck doing this project on your own.”

  “Eh, who cares? It’ll be worth it.” She leaned in closer. “Who do you think Elijah got?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s me. He didn’t have much of a reaction when he looked at the name, but I think I saw him sort of smile.”

  Lauren snorted. “Who do you think Dylan got? He looks pissed.”

  I shrugged. I didn’t care who Dylan got; I only cared who Elijah got.

  When the last of the names were finally picked, Mrs. Andrews returned to the front of the room and said, “Okay, everyone, get acquainted with your partners.”

  As half of the class began to unenthusiastically get out of their seats, some of the girls on my half of the classroom perked up in anticipation, probably hoping one of the cute boys had picked their names. Not me. I was too busy wondering why Elijah hadn’t jumped out of his seat yet and made a beeline for me.

  Instead, he sat there for a moment, staring at the piece of paper in his hands.

  I watched as mostly everyone else in the class met up with their partners and a feeling of unease settled in the pit of my stomach. I was so distracted by staring at Elijah, I jumped slightly when somebody entered my peripheral vision and set something on my desk in front of me.

  I tore my gaze away from Elijah and directed it at the object: a piece of paper with my name on it. Confused, I blinked up at the person who had put it there.

  Dylan.

  My mouth dropped open in surprise. Wait. Dylan had my name? But I could have sworn I saw Elijah smile at whatever name he’d picked, and that was supposed to have meant he’d picked me—his girlfriend.

  Swallowing hard, I ignored Dylan’s stare and turned once again to look over at Elijah. He had finally gotten out of his seat and was now making his way over to the girl who would be his partner—his “wife”—for the next month.

  I felt like I was watching him in slow motion as he walked toward the back of the room. No, I thought to myself, not the back of the room. Please, not the back of the room.

  At the back of the room sat a small group of cheerleaders: Tiana Palmer, Meg Larson, Jada Blair, and Hannah Bowen. When I saw that Tiana, Meg, and Jada were already conversing with their partners, my heart sank in my chest while I watched Elijah walk right up to Hannah and give her the piece of paper that apparently had her name on it, not mine.

  Lauren must have been watching too, because I heard her inhale sharply next to me before muttering, “Well, that sucks.”

  Yes. Yes, it did. Not only was Hannah Bowen one of the prettiest, most popular girls at our school, she was also Elijah’s ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend who had dumped him and broken his heart last year. The ex-girlfriend who had taken him months to get over.

  The ex-girlfriend who was now his wife.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Hey,” I heard a voice say above me.

  When I didn’t react right away, the hood of my sweatshirt was suddenly pulled up over my head and then yanked down over my face.

  Fuming, I swatted Dylan’s hand away and pushed the hood off my head. I quickly smoothed out my hair and stared up at him.

  “What?” I demanded.

  He pointed at the piece of paper that had landed on my desk.

  I grabbed it and crumpled it up in my fist as my attention returned to Elijah and Hannah across the room.

  Dylan sighed and took a seat at the now-empty desk next to mine. “We haven’t even been married for two minutes yet and you’re already checking out other guys.”

  Ignoring him, I crossed my arms over my chest and forced myself to look away from Elijah.

  Hannah had always been a sore subject for me. She and Elijah started dating in eighth grade and they were together for over two years. They were childhood sweethearts everyone thought were destined to marry each other one day. Or, at the very least, go to senior prom together. But then, last year, Hannah caught the eye of a senior at one of our rival schools. A quarterback. He was a little bit taller than Elijah, a little more muscular, and a lot more popular. That was all it took to make Hannah realize that Elijah wasn’t the one she wanted to be with anymore, so she broke up with him.

  He was heartbroken for a few months after the breakup. His friends all tried setting him up with other girls, but he wanted nothing to do with any of them. But then one day, he and I got paired together for a biology project. We spent a lot of time together working on it and getting to know each other in the process, and by the end of it all, he asked me on a date. It turned out we had a lot in common.

  Despite the fact my relationship with Elijah had been going well for the last ten months, a little part of me was always expecting him to wake up one morning and realize he was still in love with Hannah. In my worst nightmare, she would wake up, and realize the same thing about him.

  And now, they were going to be pretend-married, and my nightmare had the possibility of becoming a reality.

  “Earth to Cass.” Dylan snapped his fingers in front of my face to get my attention. “Will you marry me, or what?”

  I sighed and slumped in my chair. “Do I have a choice?” I gave him a curious glance. “Hey, why didn’t you ask to switch with Elijah after you picked my name?”

  He blinked and opened his mouth to reply but said nothing. His eyes darted down to the top of his desk, where he proceeded to examine a scratch on the surface of it.

  “Okay,” Mrs. Andrews said from the front of the classroom. “Now that you all have paired up, I will be handing each one of you a packet. The first page will tell you what your profession will be for this project, and the annual salary that you’ll be making.”

  She started down the first aisle of desks, dropping a packet onto each desk she passed. “Your first assignment will be to add up your combined household incomes and come up with a budget based on your weekly net pay. Your packets will include extra instructions, as well as a list of other expenses you will need to keep in mind when budgeting. Take the rest of the period and start working together. Tomorrow, we will be having a special guest from the bank here to pre-approve you all for house loans, so think about what kind of house you would like to buy.”

  Everyone began conversing as Mrs. Andrews finished handing out the rest of the packets. Lauren squealed next to me when she opened hers.

  “A lawyer!” she exclaimed, beaming. “Cassie, I’m a hotshot lawyer making a hundred thousand dollars a year! What did you get?”

  “I’m a…” I opened my packet and glanced at the top page. “Barista.” I frowned. “Making twenty-one thousand a year.”

  Was this a cruel joke that Mrs. Andrews was playing on me? I was already a barista in real life. I worked part-time serving coffee at Java Jade’s, a local coffee shop, after school most days. Was this what I was destined to do with my life?

  “Don’t worry, sweetie.” Dylan casually draped an arm across my shoulders. “I’m an engineer making eighty thousand a year. I’ll keep us afloat.”

  I pried his arm off me and quickly snuck another glance over toward Elijah to see if he was looking in my direction. To see if maybe he seemed jealous that his best friend and girlfriend had been paired up to play house. But he wasn’t looking over at me. Instead, he and Hannah were laughing at something; the tips of her fingers resting gently on his forearm.

  With a frown, I began tapping my pen against the top of my desk.

  Lauren, sensing my annoyance, leaned toward me and whispered, “Don’t freak out about this, okay? Guys don’t like it when girls are insecure in their relationships.”

  “Truth,” Dylan agreed with a nod.

  I shot him a glare. “Did I ask you?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I guess we’re past the honeymoon phase already, huh?” With a sigh, he leaned over to me as well. “Look, nobody knows Elijah better than I do. We’ve been friends sin
ce we were born. Believe me when I tell you he’s not going to like it if you suddenly turn into a jealous girlfriend. You’re going to need to trust him.”

  “I trust him. I don’t trust her.”

  “Her boyfriend is in college now,” Lauren said. “There’s no way she’s going to go back to dating high school boys. Not even one she used to be in love with.”

  She knew as soon as she said it that she’d chosen the wrong words. In love. Elijah and Hannah used to be in love. It was easy for Dylan to tell me to trust Elijah and to not be a jealous girlfriend, but it was hard for me to follow his instructions.

  “Hey.” Dylan nudged me with a pencil. “Let’s just focus on our project for now, okay?”

  “Okay.” Picking up my packet, I flipped through it, pretending to read the information inside.

  For the rest of the period, I kept my eyes glued in front of me and tried to focus on our task and not what was going on in the back of the room. By the end of class, Dylan and I had come up with a basic budget plan and were well on our way to becoming a successful married couple. As soon as the bell rang, I gathered up my stuff and bolted from my chair to go see Elijah. I wasn’t even going to wait for Hannah to leave his side.

  “Hey,” I greeted him, hooking my arm through his. “How’s married life?”

  “It’s okay,” he replied with a grin.

  “What did you get for a profession?” I asked him.

  “Doctor. Sports medicine.”

  “Ooh, that’s cool.”

  “And I’m a fashion designer,” Hannah chimed in.

  “Oh yeah?” I forced a smile. “That’s cool, too.”

  The upsetting thing was that I could picture Elijah as a sports medicine doctor, and Hannah as a fashion designer. I could see them as a power couple where Elijah would treat famous football players’ injuries, and Hannah would design dresses for their supermodel wives.

  “How about you?” Hannah asked. “What did you get?”

  I was hoping neither of them would ask.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Dylan answered, walking up behind me. “I’m making enough money for the both of us. Cass can stay home and be a housewife.”