The Curvy Girl Club: Books 6-10

Curvy Girls Can't Date Bullies

Chapter One

The house was so quiet my footsteps echoed on the tile. My phone was just as silent in my hand. I kept waiting for a call. A text. Something. But I was running out of time. I pulled open the front door and walked onto the porch.

How could both my parents forget my last first day of school? Last year, Mom rolled out a breakfast buffet for my older sister, Ginger, and had her stand on the porch for a picture while tears rolled down my mom’s cheeks.
But today? My last first day?

Crickets.

I had a contraband pop tart in my backpack for breakfast to prove it.

To be fair, my mom was in LA with my little sisters while they filmed their first movie, and my dad was working, but I hadn’t even gotten a text message. No requests for so much as a selfie.

Just for myself, I extended my phone and turned the camera on me. After tucking a loose red curl behind my ear, I smiled for the picture. I didn’t want to remember this day as the one when my parents forgot about me. As the confirmation that I would always be less important than my sisters. But so far, we weren’t off to a great start.

Not only was it weird to drive without my sister at my side, but I also took Mom’s minivan. She got a brand-new car to shuttle the twins around, and I inherited the “mom car,” which wouldn’t have been bad at all if the rest of my classmates weren’t driving sports cars. The second I reached the school and looked around the Emerson Academy parking lot, I could tell it would be a horrible first day—if not, year.

I pulled into my designated spot farther from the building—my parents hadn’t paid extra for a closer spot—and looked around for my friend Nadira. Unfortunately, her car was one I didn’t see. I sent her a text telling her I’d meet her inside and got out of the van.

The sun shone brightly in my face outside of the tinted windows. At least the weather was nice, but then again, it usually was in our part of California. I saw a girl from the basketball team leaning against a car’s bumper with her boyfriend and waved. She grinned back and wiggled her fingers at me before getting lost in him again.

I wished I had a guy to walk inside with me. Maybe this would be my year for romance. My sister Ginger had met her boyfriend after second semester started, and they were still completely in love.

Feeling a little more hopeful, I readjusted my backpack and continued toward the doors. The loud guffaws of stupid guys sounded a few feet behind me, but I ignored them. No doubt freshman boys discovering their armpits could make fart sounds.

“Stop, please,” a girl’s voice said, and my stomach went cold. I turned on the spot to see Ryker Dugan and a group of football players surrounding Faith Kelley.
My blood boiled as I watched his friends pretend to corral her like a cow while Ryker sat back and laughed.

“Get out of the chute, heifer,” his friend Grant said.
She fell to her knees amidst their prodding. Of course no one in the parking lot did or said anything. Ryker was the king of this school. Senior wide receiver, rich as the dessert aisle at my parents’ store, and hotter than sin.

I’d spent the last year watching him bully my sister and wishing I could do something to stop him. But Ginger always stood up for herself. When he said something mean, she fought back harder. Faith was too nice, and they were crushing her.

I dropped my backpack to the ground, my fists clenching, and stormed up to them. “Stop it!” I yelled forcefully. “Now.”

Ryker turned his gray eyes lazily on me, his lips forming a perfectly pouty smirk. “Who’s going to make us?”

This close to him, I realized how much taller he was than me. At least six inches, which was rare considering I stood at five-nine. Still, I put my hands on my hips and stared him in the eyes. “Me.”
He laughed, a deep, derisive belly laugh that his friends echoed.

My cheeks got hot, and I wished more than anything my light skin didn’t show my blush so quickly.

Ryker took another step forward, then another, so his face was only inches from mine, but I didn’t step back. I wasn’t going to be just another girl to back down from his power trip. This was ending, and it was ending now.

His head lowered, and his eyes flicked from mine to my mouth. My stomach swooped in response, then my lips curled in disgust at him and myself. Ryker might have been attractive, but he was ugly inside.

Those full lips parted, and my breath caught in my chest. What was he doing?

He bypassed my mouth and leaned in, his breath teasing my ear. “You think you’re going to save her? Who’s going to save you?”

I sneered, stepping back from him. “I am.”

His eyes danced, lighting for the first time since I’d seen him that morning. I looked away from him, breaking the spell, and met Faith’s scared eyes instead.

“Let’s get out of here,” I told her, reaching for her hand.

Ryker put his hand on my arm. “You sure you want to start this battle?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, I’m starting a war.”