Bang Read Online Free PDF Page B

and she’s pressing her lips together.

    BANG
    “Oh my dog,” I say. “You haven’t told them?”
    “Told them what?” Trey asks.
“Well,” Rowan says, “since I have you both here, I’m
    going to need some help covering my shifts. You both owe
    me plenty.”
“What’s going on?” Trey says in an outdoor voice.
I stare at Rowan. “Do you have any scope of realization
    over what you are about to unleash upon us all? They’ll
    call the freaking cops! Report you as a missing person!”
Trey pulls the car over on the side of the road. “What.
    Is. Happening!” he shouts, eyes ablaze.
I turn my attention to Trey. “Rowan has a boyfriend in
    New York and she’s going to see him over spring break.”
Trey whirls around, eyes bulging. “What?”
Rowan’s gaze settles somewhere to the left of and
    below Trey’s jaw. She starts biting her lip. “I’m going,” she
    says weakly.
“You’re fifteen!” he says. “Mom is going to blow a
    freaking gasket. Who is this loser?”
Rowan gets her courage back. “He’s not a loser! He’s—
    his name is Charlie.”
“Charles something something Banks,” I interject.
“The third,” Rowan adds, which is news to me. “His
    parents invited me. They paid for my ticket but I already
    told them I’ll pay them back when I get there.” She adjusts
    her collar. “We met at soccer camp.”
“He has a live-in tutor,” I offer.
“Not live-in,” Rowan says.
“She’s met his parents.”
Trey blinks. And then he shakes his head. “You little
    creep,” he mutters, checking his mirrors and pulling back
    onto the road. “Why can’t I ever find a Charles something
    something the Third?”
I face forward. “So you’re okay with this?” I ask him.
He gives a bitter laugh. “Fuck,” he says. “Why the
    hell not.” He punches the gas a little harder than usual
    and pulls into the school parking lot. “Why the hell not,”
    he says again. He parks a few rows from Sawyer’s car and
    looks over his shoulder at Rowan as he turns off the car
    and pulls out the keys. “You’re going to be the one who
    actually survives this family, aren’t you. The only one.”
Rowan just stares at him, and then he’s out and slamming
    the door, shoulders curved and head bowed to the wind.
We get out. “What was that all about?” she asks as
    Sawyer gets out of his car, sees me, and heads toward us.
I shrug, but I think I know, because I used to feel it
    too. Trey’s jealous. “I think maybe he wishes he had something you have,” I say. But I don’t take the time to explain, because Sawyer is standing on my shadow and his ropy
    lashes are about to lasso me in.
Gag. That was bad.
Ten
    Rowan melts into the sea of students and
    Sawyer is pulling me to the side of the school building.
    “When,” he says.

    “What?”
“When can I see you? I need to see you. After school?

    Say yes. Say yes. Say yes.”
“I—” I begin, and the rest of the automatic sentence,
have to work , drops away. His cheeks are flushed with the
cold. “Okay,” I say.
“Okay?” He sounds shocked.
“Yes,” I say, grabbing some of Rowan’s boldness before
it dissipates. “I—I’ll join a group. Volunteer.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Alibi. Just thinking out loud. Don’t you
have to work?”
“I switched with Kate.”
Kate. The cousin in college. Kate with the funky
blond hair whose life I saved. “Right. Excellent. Rowan
will cover for me. Okay.” I take a breath and decide
specifically not to think about what my father will do to
me when I don’t come home. Trey will help. As we walk
into school together I start reading posted signs on the
walls for the first time in my high school career. “Pep
Club? No, no way. Too much Roxie and BFF Sarah.
Psych Club . . . a-ha-ha-ha, no comment.” I keep looking. And then I turn to see Sawyer watching me, that
little smile on his lips. “Do you play chess?” I ask.
    “Um, why? Is this a trick question to determine if I’m
too awesome for