Broken (The Outsiders Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that I would cry over a thing like that,” Ryan adds a minute later. He rubs the back of his head and lets out a nervous laugh. Then, he glances sideways at me. “You know what I mean.”
    I nod. “I won’t say anything, man. I’m not into betrayal. I know too much about its grasp.”
    Ryan looks up as we turn the corner into my apartment complex. It isn’t the nicest place. I mean, I don’t have a lot of money left. But the guy at the desk told me that he knew of a few jobs. And he let me stay for free this month; he said it wasn’t fair to take a kid’s money. Especially when neither of us knew when I would be getting more of it. It was a nice gesture, and it made me stay here. If this town was full of the people in Atlanta, I would’ve been kicked out for telling them that I didn’t have a job. So I’d take what I could get.
    Ryan clears his throat , interrupting my thoughts. “This place ain’t bad, Carter. And I’m sorry for getting all heavy on you. I swear I ain’t looking for a bromance or nothing. K? Friends?” Ryan asks as he holds out his hand. He smiles and winks at me jokingly.
    I laugh and take his hand in mine so we can shake on it. “Yeah, man. Friends.”
    “Now let’s go up and see what you got up here, man. You got furniture and junk in there already?” he asks as he jogs up the stairs.
    “The place came furnished,” I say as we head up to my apartment.

 
     
    4
     
    The next day drags on. World History is kind of interesting. The teacher, Dr. Roberts, lectures all period. But he does a good job of making it fun. It’s like he’s telling us a story, the way he turns it all into one big soap opera. And I actually listened. History has never been my best subject. But my old teachers made it all about dates and wars and stuff. They never told us about the people’s lives. They didn’t explain why they made their decisions. Dr. Roberts does.
    After World History, I’ve got Chemistry with Ms. Davis. She lets me sit with Ryan and Todd, even though she always makes kids sit in alphabetical order; it’s because they started doing more of their work when I got there. I didn’t really believe it at first, but when I saw a few of their papers passed back, I figured out it was true. They really did have pretty bad grades. And the work she gives us is so easy. I wonder why they don’t do it.
    Sometimes , I wonder why I do so well in school. It’s probably because it was the only thing that kept me from kicking Jack’s ass. Focusing on something more important and bigger than my home life helped. And I guess that Ryan and Todd figured school was better than facing each other. The silence between them was weird, especially when compared to yesterday, and I had to tell them to stop asking me to be their messenger. Ryan felt bad about it, but I don’t think Todd did. He seems like someone that belongs with Anne Marie, not Katie. Someone needs to tell him that he ain’t some god amongst us teens. Maybe I will, if it comes to that.
    And o n top of all of that, Eli abandoned us. He didn’t sit with us in the lunch room yesterday. He sat with the other football players and all. And that’s who he sat with in class today. So I was pretty much alone with the two worst Chemistry partners ever. Good thing my school had us take Chemistry in eighth grade too, because I would’ve been lost coming in this late. But I’ve been balancing equations for a while. The bad thing was that I had to entertain myself when I was done. All I did was draw on my paper and think about all the lies.
    Yesterday, I told Ryan all my lies. Turns out, he told everyone else. Cause I kept getting asked about my family. And it was fun , pretending that my parents were important and stuff. It was fun pretending that I was important.
    When I walk into the lunch room, I see Anne Marie and Katie laughing with Todd and Colton. They make their way to the back of the line, and when I look at the big eleven on the screen, I