Beautiful Disaster 01 Read Online Free PDF Page B

scanning the pages. He folded them away in his pocket, and then took another drag. “Good thing Morgan’s boilers are out. You’ll need a cold shower after getting ogled by that tall drink of water.”
    “The dorm doesn’t have hot water?” I wailed.
    “That’s the word,” Finch said, sliding his backpack over his shoulder. “I’m off to Algebra. Tell Mare I said not to forget me this weekend.”
    “I’ll tell her,” I grumbled, glaring up the antique brick walls of our dormitory. I stomped up to my room, pushed through my door, and let my backpack fall to the floor.
    “No hot water,” Kara mumbled from her side of the desk.
    “I heard.”
    My cell phone buzzed and I clicked it open, reading a text message from America cursing the boilers. A few moments later there was a knock on the door.
    America walked in and plopped onto my bed, arms crossed. “Can you believe this shit? How much are we paying and we can’t even take a hot shower?”
Kara sighed. “Stop whining. Why don’t you just stay with your boyfriend? Haven’t you been staying with him, anyway?”
America’s eyes darted in Kara’s direction. “Good idea, Kara. The fact that you’re a total bitch comes in handy sometimes.”
Kara kept her eyes on her computer monitor, unfazed by America’s jab.
    America pulled out her cell phone and clicked out a text message with amazing precision and speed. Her cell phone chirped, and she smiled at me. “We’re staying with Shep and Travis until they fix the boilers.”
    “What? I’m not!” I cried.
    “Oh, yes you are. There’s no reason for you to be stuck here, freezing in the shower when Travis and Shep have two bathrooms at their place.”
“I wasn’t invited.”
“I’m inviting you. Shep already said it was fine. You can sleep on the couch…if Travis isn’t using it.”
“And if he’s using it?”
America shrugged. “Then you can sleep in Travis’ bed.”
“No way!”
    She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a baby, Abby. You guys are friends, right? If he hasn’t tried anything by now, I don’t think he will.”
    Her words made my open mouth snap shut. Travis had been around me in one way or another every night for weeks. I had been so occupied with making sure everyone knew we were just friends, it hadn’t occurred to me that he really was interested only in friendship. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt insulted.
    Kara looked at us with disbelief. “Travis Maddox hasn’t tried to sleep with you?”
    “We’re friends!” I said in a defensive tone.
    “I know, but he hasn’t even… tried ? He’s slept with everyone.”
“Except us,” America said, looking her over. “And you.”
Kara shrugged. “Well, I’ve never met him. I’ve just heard.”
“Exactly,” I snapped. “You don’t even know him.”
Kara returned to her monitor, oblivious to our presence.
I sighed. “All right, Mare. I need to pack.”
“Make sure you pack for a few days, who knows how long it will take them to fix the boilers,” she said, entirely too excited.
Dread settled over me as if I were about to sneak into enemy territory. “Ugh…all right.”
America bounced when she hugged me. “This is going to be so fun!”
    Half an hour later we loaded down her Honda and headed for the apartment. America hardly took a breath between ramblings as she drove. She honked her horn as she slowed to a stop in her usual parking space. Shepley jogged down the steps, and pulled both of our suitcases from the trunk, following us up the stairs.
    “It’s open,” he puffed.
    America pushed the door and held it open. Shepley grunted when he dropped our luggage to the floor. “Christ, Baby! Your suitcase is twenty more pounds than Abby’s!”
    America and I froze when a woman emerged from the bathroom, buttoning her blouse.
    “Hi,” she said, surprised. Her mascara-smeared eyes examined us before settling on our luggage. I recognized her as the leggy brunette Travis had followed from the cafeteria.
    America