Trouble From the Start Read online

  Dedication

  For every girl waiting for her first kiss,

  her first boyfriend, her first love . . .

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: Avery

  Chapter 2: Fletcher

  Chapter 3: Avery

  Chapter 4: Fletcher

  Chapter 5: Avery

  Chapter 6: Fletcher

  Chapter 7: Avery

  Chapter 8: Fletcher

  Chapter 9: Avery

  Chapter 10: Fletcher

  Chapter 11: Avery

  Chapter 12: Fletcher

  Chapter 13: Avery

  Chapter 14: Fletcher

  Chapter 15: Avery

  Chapter 16: Fletcher

  Chapter 17: Avery

  Chapter 18: Fletcher

  Chapter 19: Avery

  Chapter 20: Avery

  Chapter 21: Fletcher

  Chapter 22: Avery

  Chapter 23: Avery

  Chapter 24: Fletcher

  Chapter 25: Avery

  Chapter 26: Fletcher

  Chapter 27: Avery

  Chapter 28: Fletcher

  Chapter 29: Avery

  Chapter 30: Fletcher

  Chapter 31: Avery

  Chapter 32: Fletcher

  Chapter 33: Avery

  Chapter 34: Fletcher

  Chapter 35: Avery

  Chapter 36: Fletcher

  Chapter 37: Avery

  Chapter 38: Fletcher

  Chapter 39: Avery

  Chapter 40: Fletcher

  Excerpt from The Boyfriend Project

  Back Ads

  About the Author

  Books by Rachel Hawthorne

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Chapter 1

  AVERY

  “You can’t just stand here, Avery. You have to get out there and flaunt it.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what Kendall Jones, my best friend since forever, thought I had to flaunt.

  “It seems a little late for all that,” I told her. “We only have a week left until we graduate.”

  “Which is exactly why we’re here,” she said, removing the clip from her red hair, retwisting the curling strands, and securing them back into place. “Jeremy and I had our pick of three parties tonight. I knew this one would have the most people.”

  Because it was totally without chaperones. Scooter Gibson’s parents were out of town and he had the key to his family’s lake house so here we were, standing out by a magnificent pool, catching glimpses through towering trees of the moonlight dancing across the calm lake waters. Laughter, screeches, the din of conversation, and raucous cheers as girls stripped before diving into the pool competed with music blasting from speakers on the patio.

  “I feel like a party crasher,” I told her. “It’s not like I was invited.”

  “You’re with us. It’s cool.”

  “I shouldn’t have come.”

  “You’re never going to get a boyfriend if you just stay at home.”

  I had been staying at home more since Kendall and Jeremy Swanson hooked up over spring break. They invited me to go almost everywhere with them, but I often simply felt out of place.

  Kendall wrapped her hand around my upper arm. “Look, Avery, I want you to have what I have. But if that doesn’t happen, you still need to go on a date. You can’t start college never having been alone with a guy. You’ll feel awkward.”

  As though I could feel any more awkward than I did now, standing around, experiencing a rush of hope that I might find a boyfriend of my own every time a cute guy glanced my way, only to be disappointed when he turned back to his friends. I longed for some guy to think I was special enough to kiss.

  At seventeen I wasn’t kissless but my one kiss had happened at band camp sophomore year. I still shuddered when I remembered the tuba player pressing his puckered, chapped lips to mine. We’d gotten trapped with a spin the bottle game. I’d thought I would be perceived as cool if I acted like I was up for anything. Instead I discovered that some things just aren’t worth it.

  “You just need to get out there,” Kendall continued. “Let guys know you’re interested.”

  How was I supposed to do that? Wish a flashing neon sign? Not that I thought it would make any difference. I knew these guys, and they knew me. If we hadn’t clicked after twelve years of being in school together, what made Kendall think it would happen tonight?

  Jeremy was the newest kid in town, and it had taken six months for him and Kendall to start dating, although I noticed the sparks between them way before that.

  “Yeah, okay,” I said with far more enthusiasm than I felt. “I can put myself out there.”

  She gave me a quick hug. “You deserve to be as happy as I am.”

  “Here we go,” Jeremy announced, rejoining us and handing us each a plastic cup.

  Jeremy’s family had moved here in the fall when his dad got a job transfer. He’d been bummed about not graduating with his friends. He’d started hanging around with us, and the three of us grew close. One night when we were all planning to go to a movie together, I’d faked being sick because I suspected he liked Kendall as more than a friend, and I was in the way. That night he’d kissed her, and the rest was history.

  “Mmm,” Kendall sighed, snuggling against him. “This tastes like an orange dreamsicle.”

  It did, but it also had a little kick to it. I had a feeling that it wasn’t a melted ice cream bar. The two he’d brought each of us earlier had been strawberry something or other.

  Jeremy slid his arm around her. He was tall enough that her head fit perfectly into the nook of his shoulder, like fate had made them to go together.

  “Let’s dance,” he said in a low voice near her ear.

  She looked at me, one brow arched. “He could be out there.”

  “Who?” Jeremy asked, clearly baffled.

  “The right guy for Avery,” Kendall said.

  “Oh, yeah, he could totally be out there.” Jeremy shifted his gaze to me. “Just avoid the house. It’s make-out central in there. Don’t want someone to get the wrong idea about what you’re looking for.”

  “I’m not even sure what I’m looking for,” I admitted.

  “Someone nice like Jeremy,” Kendall said. “And you’ll have a better chance of meeting him if we’re not here. Have fun!”

  She handed me her drink and they wandered off. Self-consciously I glanced around. Everyone else was already separated into groups, based on common interests—which usually involved gossiping about someone not in the circle. I didn’t really feel like barging in. But I also didn’t want to stand here alone like a total loser.

  I ambled over to the nearest group of girls. They were giggling hysterically. While I’d missed the joke, I laughed, too, and tried to look like I was part of their gab-fest. Melody Long stopped laughing, which caused the others to stop as well, because she was the alpha in the group. Flicking her long blond hair, she turned ever so slightly and looked at me as though she was considering tossing me in the pool.

  “Hi, Melody,” I said, plowing ahead, even knowing that I was about to ram into a brick wall. “Isn’t this a fun party?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Are you wired?”

  “You mean feverishly excited about being here?” I smiled brightly, refusing to let on how much her barb had hurt. It wasn’t the first time someone had hinted that I might be a narc. “You bet.”

  Blinking, she stared at me blankly. It was the same look she wore when we had a pop quiz in history.

  “One of the definitions for wired is feverishly excited,” I explained, realizing too late that I was making the situation worse, doing my Merriam-Webste