Angel Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

take on a more reasonable way of looking at the obvious.
    Maybe I was a crutch to get him through his first day?
    No, no. He seemed so sincere.
    Could someone that gorgeous really be that nice?
    Why am I such a moron?
    My thoughts turned to panic as I mentally jumped from one scenario to the next. I made it down the hall to third period. I was feeling claustrophobic with all the possibilities and nonpossibilities jumbling themselves in my head, and still he was nowhere in sight.
    The bell rang. Fourth period.
    I felt jittery. English class passed by in a blur thanks to my elaborate doodling of wings in the margins of my notebook. It was sheer luck I was never called on.
    Bell.
    I forced myself not to look for him. Claire and Ryan appeared to be lost in some tender adolescent huddle at her locker. I rolled my eyes and walked away.
    At lunch, I sat brooding, picking at my sandwich and a measly bag of chips, which Claire happily ate for me when she noticed my nonexistent appetite.
    I felt bruised. Dejected.
    The end of the day had finally come and I gathered my books from my desk. As I walked slowly to my locker, I reached the inevitable and unwanted conclusion that my mind had played some serious tricks on me yesterday and today I was obviously and understandably being avoided.
    My hopes were crashing when…
    “Hi, Teagan.”
    Instantly, my heart tripped at the sound of his voice.
So much for being rational.
I slowly turned to find myself face to face with a set of blue eyes, and all my worries melted down through my sneakers into the tile floor beneath me.
    “Hey.”
    “I’m sorry about lunch. I never realized a meeting with a guidance counselor could last an eternity.”
    “Let me guess. Transcripts with Mr. Dean?”
    Garreth nodded, sincerity gleaming in his eyes as he rolled them. Mr. Dean was notorious for dragging on and on in his especially annoying, especially nasal monotone voice.
    “That’s okay. I knew you were here. I saw your car.”
    It had taken only seconds for me to open my mouth and sound like a total idiot. Bravo. I quickly tried to blink away the love-sick gleam I felt clouding my eyes. Yet here he was, speaking to me as if I were the only girl in the school, and my world felt surprisingly complete.
    He leaned casually against the row of lockers, appearing as if he had just come from a modeling shoot. The sleeves of his tan button-down shirt were rolled up just past his elbows and I tried not to stare at the fabric straining against his well-defined arms. Beneath the shirt was a black T-shirt, untucked, over slightly worn jeans, frayed at the hems, that wisped over smooth brown Timberlands. He had the look all girls dreamed their boyfriends could achieve, one that brought on immediate breathlessness. He swept his sandy hair out of his eyes as he leaned in closer to speak to me and I swore he could hear my pulse bouncing into the metal interior of my open locker, echoing out into the crowded hallway for all to hear.
    “Let me make it up to you,” he offered. “Spend the afternoon with me?”
    He smiled so sweetly, but I didn’t know what to say. Today was early dismissal and I knew I would either end up being bored or doing homework. Still, in all truth, Garreth was a stranger to me. I could almost hear Claire whispering in my ear, “If you get to know him better, he won’t be a stranger, now will he?”
    I chewed my bottom lip and looked around. Through the window opposite my locker I could see the buses at the curb, the lines of poor defenseless kids lining up to be driven home. Across the parking lot were the
other
kids, the smiling ones, the laughing ones, the thank-God-it’s-Friday ones. Brynn was rolling down her windows as her friends piled in, all laughing and free for the weekend.
    I looked at Garreth and something close to trustworthiness gleamed back at me. Something felt right.
    “Sure,” I answered. “But I can’t stay out too long.”
    I glanced at the battery level on my cell