Bad Read Online Free PDF Page B

of fruit. It was almost funny.
Too bad Mom and Dad can’t afford to send both of us here,
she thought. Aside from the psychobabble, Heather would have loved to hole up for a while and forget about the rest of her life.
    Â 
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]
    Time: 3:57 A.M.
    Re: While you were sleeping
    Gaia,
    Did you know that you have a tendency to snore? It’s not one of those chain-saw snores. Just a light, pleasant buzzing as you breathe. I know this because I’m listening. And I’m looking at you. In case you didn’t know, you’re beautiful when you’re asleep. So beautiful that it was imperative I
tell
you.
Right now.
But I figured you might get cranky if I woke you up. I thought it would be best to log on and send an e-mail rather than risk your wrath by waking you up. Then again, if I woke you up, maybe we could . . . never mind. Isn’t it illegal to transmit pornography via the Internet?
    Good night, Sleeping Beauty.
    Â 
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]
    Time: 7:45 A.M.
    Re: Physics notes
    Hey, Ed,
    I would wait to talk to you at school, but things are . . . whatever. . . . I thought e-mail was a safer form of communication. Also, to be honest, I don’t really know if I’ll be going back there. To school, that is. I mean, I thought I would quit, and then I changed my mind, and then . . . never mind. Okay. By now you’re thinking, who the hell is this person, and what has she done with Gaia Moore? To be honest: I don’t know. Anyway, I just wanted to say what’s up.
    If you don’t feel like actually speaking to me, a simple e-mail response will do. Okay. I’m going to check for new mail now. Who knows? Maybe there will be a message from you.
    â€” The artist formerly known as Gaia Moore
    Â 
    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Time: 12:45 P.M.
    Re: Didn’t see you at lunch
    H.:
    Where were you? Not in the cafeteria. Not in the library. Not in the ladies’s rooms. (Okay, I don’t know that for a fact. I took it on faith when the numerous girls I asked assured me that was the case.) I know you’re worried about everything, and that makes me worried about you. So that makes today a great big worry fest. Maybe we all need prescriptions for Prozac. Yes! Great idea!
    Love,
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Shred

the whole truth
    She stared back at him, uncomprehending. Her heart began to pound. Maybe this
was
fear. . . .
    Â 
    IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE’S ELBOW IS
in my ear,
Gaia thought in the split second before she opened her eyes.
    Hockey-Mask Guy
    Gaia turned her head and found herself staring at Sam’s sleeping face. A shadow of stubble covered his cheeks, and his lips were slightly parted. Gaia wanted to reach out and touch the strands of hair that fell over Sam’s forehead. But she didn’t want to wake him. She just wanted to soak it in— this moment, this place, this boy... everything. She nudged the comforter that covered her body and peered beneath it. She had on her nicest pair of underwear (no holes, elastic unbroken) and one of Sam’s oversize white T-shirts.
    A smile spread across her face. She’d deliberately chosen to wear her nicest underwear because she’d thought that Sam might see it. And he had.
    Everything had gone according to plan last night.
Better
than according to plan. After she’d managed to peel herself off the pavement after beating the shit out of that couple, she’d staggered over to Sam’s dorm to find him arriving at the same moment—looking happier than she’d ever seen him. And then he’d swept her into his arms, like the most perfectly scripted moment....
    Sighing, she brushed her fingers over her lips. Theywere tender and felt a little swollen. How long had she and Sam lain awake last night, making out on his grimy, narrow, dorm-room bed? Hours? Days? Months? Of course,