A Small Town Dream Read Online Free PDF

find yourself and spread your wings summer novel she hadn’t bothered to finish.
     
    But what was so magical about this book? Apparently it had changed Parker’s life, and Mr. Gleason had warned her it could change her life. It was also in a category all its own:
     
    It had been thrust upon her by a boy.
     
    “Well, this will either be boring or very interesting,” she said. She opened the cover, skipped the dedication and the author’s notes, and began to read the first page.
     
    I first met Dean not long after…
     
    She froze, not even halfway into the first sentence. Something in her world ground to a halt, a bit like déjà vu, but not. She’d never experienced anything like that before. Maybe I’m just tired , she thought. But she’d promised, so she tried to shake off the feeling and continue reading.
     
    I had recovered from…
     
    There it was again. That feeling . More words began to jump off the page.
     
    …serious…won’t…talk about…miserably weary breakup…feeling that everything was…
     
    “Dead.” S he said the word aloud, needing to hear it to make it real.
     
    There was something there. Something in that opening that both frightened her and spoke of possibilities, of things to come. Of meeting this Dean person, and though knowing nothing about him, going with him on an adventure like none she had ever experienced.
     
    “All right, then,” she whispered to the book. “Lead on.”

 
5
     
    She closed her locker door, then gasped when she saw Parker standing there.
     
    “You scared the— wits out of me, Parker! What is wrong with you?”
     
    He ignored her. “Did you start it?”
     
    “What—?”
     
    “The book , did you start it?”
     
    She collected herself and started walking down the hall, doing her best to control herself. She had indeed started reading it. She had, in fact, finished it in one sitting.
     
    Parker followed close behind her, waiting for an answer. She stepped back between a row of lockers.
     
    “Yes, I finished it.” He burst out laughing, then lifted her off her feet into a hug. She didn’t stop to think, just hugged him back and held on. He set her back down, and they stayed in a loose embrace. “I couldn’t stop! I read all night long. I haven’t slept a wink!”
     
    “I knew it. I just knew you’d just love it.”
     
    “It’s crazy, and at places, I was out of breath, like I’d been running or something. It was so—I don’t know. I really don’t have words.”
     
    They babbled back and forth, topping each other’s sentences, but hearing every word, all the while remaining in their embrace.
     
    “If you weren’t my best friend, I might be jealous.”
     
    At the sound of Connie’s voice, they turned. They didn’t guiltily break the embrace, just looked at each other and laughed. Connie walked toward them. “What’s going on here?” There was no anger or jealousy in her voice.
     
    “This book .” Annie broke the silence and pulled it from her backpack. “Parker told me about it and I read it and... Connie, you have to read this book.”
     
    “I dunno know, Annie. If it makes me want to steal my best friend’s boyfriend, it might not be my kind of book.”
     
    “I’m not—!”
     
    “I’m kidding, sweetie. What’s the book?” Annie handed it to Connie. She looked it over. “Oh, yeah, this one. I didn’t think it looked that interesting.”
     
    “Oh, it is !” Annie’s excitement bubbled over. “It really is.”
     
    “Well, I guess I’ll have to read it then.”
     
    “Really?” Parker stepped toward her. “You’ll really read it?”
     
    “Of course,” she said, hugging him. “I didn’t know it meant that much to you.”
     
    “It does,” he said and kissed her. “I love you, Connie.”
     
    Annie stood back, watching her best friend with her boyfriend, her someday-husband kiss, connect and be happy, and it filled her with joy and... Something else. Jealousy ?
     
    “I have to get to