Breathe for Me Read Online Free PDF

me.
    He raises an eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to help me out a little here. What are you interested in?”
    â€œUm,” I say, tearing my eyes away from his and studying the black tips of my gloves. “I like studying history.” God, I’m so awkward. This is embarrassing. I wish I could be more open, but fear freezes my tongue.
    â€œThat’s right. I remember now from the library. Let’s choose a famous person or time period and write a poem about that,” he suggests. He scratches some notes on his paper, then says, “Any particular era you want to focus on?”
    Mrs. Scott comes over to our desks, leaning over between us. “Make sure you guys choose your topic quickly. You need to have an idea no later than Friday.”
    I nod in assent. She walks to the cluster of desks beside us.
    Dominic leans closer to me, his cheeks lightly flushed. “I know you’re not comfortable with me, but you asked me to be your partner. So can we try to be friends?”
    â€œFriends?”
    His mouth splits into a wide grin. “You know, friends. Pals. Compadres .”
    I roll my eyes, chuckling. “I know what friends are.” I pause for a moment, swallow then whisper, “Yes.”
    He nods, turns his attention back to the notebook, seeming to understand when I need a moment to myself. “Okay, let’s figure out our topic.”
    Reality sets in. I have another friend. As long as we stay that way, everything should be fine.

    The last bell of the school day rings. I scramble to get my stuff together, run to my locker, then dart out the front doors. The heat smacks me hard as soon as I’m outside, but I ignore it as best as I can and make my way back home. Only a minute until I hit the grassy area where the bird was.
    A small prayer lumps in my throat, but I’m too afraid to whisper it.
    It’s probably not normal for someone to get so upset over a bird. Well, Jane would have cried for hours about its death, since she always had a soft heart. But I work hard to keep everyone and everything around me at a safe distance. So when something slips below my armor, it takes hold and won’t let me go. Samantha was one of the first here in New Orleans who made me want to take the risk and open up. This bird managed to slip in there too, even within just a few minutes.
    I reach the tree. The grass is empty, the bird gone.
    I exhale slowly. At least it’s not suffering here. Hopefully the bird was taken to an animal hospital.
    I release the prayer into the air and continue home. Dominic and I decided to go to our homes, finish our homework and meet in the enclosed garden of my apartment complex this evening. It felt too intimate to invite him into my place, and he said his older brother was having a bunch of friends over to his house and therefore would give us no space to work. So this was a good compromise.
    I make it home, my steps light and easy, my spirits heartened. Homework isn’t overwhelming, so it takes me no time at all to finish it. But as it gets closer to the time to see Dominic, the butterflies take over my stomach in ever-increasing strength. I make a roast beef and provolone sandwich for dinner, picking at it, forcing my nervous belly to hold down at least a few bites.
    The temptation to call Samantha is strong. It would be good to get her advice about how to be more natural around guys, even if they are just friends. But I know if I show her I have any interest in Dominic, she’ll never let it go, and I’m not 100% sure I’m ready to talk about it yet. Besides, he and I are friends, nothing more. And our meeting is only about a school project. There’s no need for me to be nervous.
    Still, as I stand in front of my bathroom mirror and run a comb through my thick waves, I can’t seem to soothe my erratic heartbeat, my shaking hands. I slip a light-tinted gloss across my lips and step away. I’m not going to get