Aftershocks Read Online Free PDF Page A

know me.
    “Oh,” I deadpanned, less than thriled with her announcement.
    “Realy?” Nicky said, taken aback by my nonchalance. Of course she didn’t know that I’d slept with Jack over Spring Break.
    In reality, Jack was a pretty amazing guy. Not only was he gorgeous and the quarterback of our school’s footbal team, but he was also in the running for valedictorian. There were rumors that he was being courted by several coleges for both his athletic and academic abilities.
    He was also realy nice and funny and sweet. I should have been excited, but I knew better.
    “He’s stil in love with Kerry, Nic,” I said, as I swung into a parking space outside of Macys. As if repeating my conversation with Wyatt from the day before, I listed out al the girls that Jack had ‘liked’ in his attempts to get over his ex-girlfriend.
    “Okay true,” Nicky said. “There is the rumor that Kerry broke up with Jack for a colege guy she met at the beach.”
    Kerry was a year older than us, and I knew she and Jack had planned to stay together when she started at Boston Colege, but it seemed they hadn’t even made it to the first day of classes. Kerry had moved on from high school guys, and Jack was left to ponder why he wasn’t enough for her. Maybe I should cal him. Poor guy.
    “And quite possibly Jack might have been drunk, beligerent, and in tears, fighting with Kerry two weeks ago at a party,” Nicky continued, making me feel worse for not being a better friend. “And yes, from what I could hear, he was begging and she was trying to tel him it was over. And for the past few weeks, he may have engaged in some random hook-ups to ease his broken heart, but last night he was not that drunk, not beligerent or in tears. Nor was he hooking up with anyone, but he was asking about you.”
    Nicky took in a deep breath of air, opened her door and grabbed her bag off the floor with a flourish, as I processed al the information that had just flown out of her mouth at warp speed.
    “He’s desperate,” I said, wondering if Jack realy was lonely like Wyatt had said.
    “Wel, he didn’t seem desperate last night,” Nicky said, and I wondered what she was holding back. “He seemed – sexy and smoldering.”
    “Nic, it’s Jack West. He’s always sexy and smoldering.”
    “Yes, but last night he was sexy and smoldering and wanting you.”
    “Nic,” I said desperately, knowing she was exaggerating.
    “Okay,” she said, sighing as she held the door open for us. “So maybe I was sitting on Tyler’s lap, and Jack came over and he was a little drunk and he might have asked about you. He started going on and on about how you never cal him and never come out anymore and he misses you. He said, ‘tel my good girl to cal me’, and he said it realy suggestively.”
    I groaned. Jack had always caled me his good girl, and he always sounded suggestive. It did not mean he liked me.
    He’d created the nickname when Alexis had started the rumors that I was a giant slut. Jack knew the rumors were ridiculous since I’d been a virgin at the time, so he’d started caling me his good girl to make me feel better and the name had stuck. Yeah, so I guess it was sort of sweet, although now it just felt mocking since he knew I was no longer a good girl – thanks to him.
    “So, he doesn’t like me,” I said, ascertaining what was realy going through Jack’s mind the night before. Since we’d hooked up a few times in the past when he was single, he was hoping I was available. “He just wanted someone to take his mind off of Kerry. Am I right?”
    Nicky shrugged as she stopped walking and picked up a pair of knee high black boots, inspecting them from al angles. She set them down and moved on to the next table, picking up a pair of plum balet flats.
    “Technicality,” she said, holding the flats up. “You should get these.”
    I knew when she changed the subject that it was closed which was fine by me. I didn’t much care if Jack wanted to