At First Sight Read Online Free PDF Page A

tell that this was definitely what Britt would call a Moment. The guy’s grip tightened on my arms, and he leaned a little closer. I could smell coffee and soap and some faint, spicy scent that I guessed was his aftershave.
    We were way beyond pinging by now; Icould feel the sparks flying between me and this guy I’d never met before, so strong that for one crazy moment I thought I might grab him by the face and kiss him. It was such an intense urge that I suddenly felt weirded out and was afraid I might start laughing or hyperventilating or something.
    â€œThe Beast,” I said abruptly, pushing back a little until he let me go. “Um, I mean, your T-shirt. I noticed it before. You like the Beast?”
    â€œThe Beast is the best!” His voice was enthusiastic. “So you’re into them too? That’s cool! I don’t know many girls who like that kind of music.”
    â€œOh, totally,” I replied. “Have you downloaded their new song yet? It rocks.”
    â€œI know, right? Probably their best since ‘Squid for Breakfast.’”
    â€œâ€˜Squid for Breakfast’? That’s only my favorite song of theirs ever!” I exclaimed.
    â€œMine too.” I still couldn’t see his face. But I was pretty sure from his voice that he was smiling.
    I was smiling too. Maybe all it took for me to pick up a guy was a little pitch darkness. Or maybe all I was waiting for was this particular guy. Either way, I had thefeeling that for once, maybe I was getting this right.
    The guy leaned a little closer again. “So are you going to tell me your name, or—”
    A small but intense beam of light suddenly blinked on out of nowhere, shining directly into his face. He squinted, raising one hand to block it. By squinting a little myself, I could make out the stern face of a middle-aged scientist lady in a lab coat and a name tag. The beam was coming from the tiny flashlight she was pointing at us.
    â€œDo you mind?” she snapped, her voice librarian-quiet but just as stern as her face. “This is a planetarium, not Makeout Point. Please take your seats before I have to report you to your chaperones.”
    â€œS-sorry,” I stammered.
    â€œWait,” the guy said.
    â€œNow!” Stern Scientist Lady barked. She grabbed me by the arm, dragging me off in the direction of the seats.
    â€œSo you never got his name?” Britt asked.
    â€œOr where he goes to school, or anything?”
    â€œI already told you a million times. No.” I slumped in my seat on the bus, playing with the fraying duct tape someone had usedto repair the back of the seat ahead of mine. We were on our way back to Potomac Point. In the back of the bus Johnny Munson and his slacker buddies were singing their own creative version of “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” I guess Mr. Feldman and the other teachers were pretty tired after the long day in D.C., because they weren’t objecting or even paying attention.
    The planetarium show had seemed to go on forever. I’d spent it hunched in the front-row seat where Stern Scientist Lady had stuck me. True to form, Britt had leaped immediately to the best-case scenario when I hadn’t returned, and had happily distracted herself throughout the birth and toddler years of the universe or whatever by imagining that Mr. Hottie McHot and I were tucked away somewhere making out or swearing our eternal love or at least getting to know each other better. So when I’d caught up with her during the mass exit looking bored and grumpy, she hadn’t been willing to believe it at first. Hence her asking me umpty-bajillion times what had happened.
    â€œNow I wish the trip had lasted longer,” she said, idly scrolling through her messageson BBB. “Maybe we could’ve tracked him down again. Or maybe he would’ve tracked
you
down. It sounds like he was kind of digging you until Doctor Killjoy came