Aven's Dream Read Online Free PDF Page B

was throwing at his house while his parents were out of town. I didn’t pay much attention since I wasn’t invited—for obvious reasons.
    When the classroom fell silent, I turned my attention to Mr. Anderson, who was walking back to the front of the classroom. A second later, my gaze locked onto the stranger behind him. I stopped breathing and stared at the newcomer’s face. His face was beautiful. Perfect. But it was his eyes that drew me in. They were a bright, penetrating blue that made my heart skip in my chest like I had been shocked with electricity.
    “Will Kincaid,” Mr. Anderson muttered, staring at a slip of paper. “I’ll have a syllabus and textbook for you at the end of the period. Try to follow along as best you can.”
    I frowned. The guy who had just walked in was a student ? I had been sure he was college-age or older. An older sibling visiting someone … or a student-teacher maybe.
    “You can take the empty seat over there behind Aven.”
    I jumped when Mr. Anderson pointed at me, my cheeks flushing bright red. I watched breathlessly as the stranger walked toward me. For some reason, it felt like I wasn’t sitting right in my seat. I pulled myself up straighter as I listened to my pulse pounding in my ears. Feeling him take the seat behind me, I breathed in and then regretted it. His aftershave was … like chocolate chip cookies, but not. Tasty? I had to bite down on my lip to focus on what Mr. Anderson was saying. The scent was strangely mouthwatering, but I couldn’t place it. Whatever it was, every guy in school could definitely use a bottle of it.
    What the hell is wrong with me ? I wondered desperately.
    Halfway through the class period, Mr. Anderson asked a question that stumped even Doug Cho. To redeem myself from the day before, I reluctantly raised my hand, ignoring Allison Monroe when she muttered, “ That’s a surprise .” After answering—correctly—I went back to scribbling notes, but my pulse wouldn’t slow down. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins as I watched the clock. My thoughts were swimming, and I felt distracted and dizzy. I needed to talk to Sean. But what was I going to tell him? That I was having a panic attack over someone I had barely seen? No way. He would tease me relentlessly.
    Just before the bell was about to ring, Mr. Anderson looked around the room and announced that anyone able to answer his next question wouldn’t have to take the test on the second unit the following week. The last time, he had asked a question from the extra credit reading. Scott Adams, one of Jason Everett’s friends, raised his hand and asked if we could use our books. Mr. Anderson exhaled.
    “No, Scott. That’s why it’s called a pop quiz.”
    Jason elbowed his friend in the ribs.
    “What event took place fifty-five years before Abraham Lincoln, the guy on the penny and the five-dollar bill, issued the Emancipation Proclamation and could be said to have foreshadowed the Civil War?”
    This wasn’t in chapter four; it was in the first section of chapter five. Mr. Anderson was checking to see if anyone had bothered reading ahead. The classroom remained almost completely silent. I was pretty sure I knew the answer. What I wasn’t sure about was if I could get my voice to work if I opened my mouth. I watched as the second hand on the clock ticked, and when the bell finally rang, I shoved my book and binder into my backpack. Standing unsteadily, I avoided turning around, even though every ounce of my attention was still focused behind me as I made my way past Mr. Anderson’s desk.
    Mr. Anderson looked up and said he appreciated my full attention in class. Smiling crookedly, I hurried toward the door. Unable to stop myself, I turned to catch sight of the new student once more, but he had already disappeared. Mr. Anderson looked bewildered as well, a textbook and an extra copy of the syllabus sitting on his desk.
    By the time I got to my locker, I remembered that