Certainty Read Online Free PDF

on its side, the wheels spinning sadly in the air. I kicked at it. I missed and tried it again. It flopped over on the wheels the way it was supposed to and I stepped on it, my arms instinctively flailing out for balance.
    “You’re incredible,” he said and stuck his foot between mine, steadying the board. He looked down at me and I stepped away, resisting the temptation to reach out and touch him.
    “Yep. I’ll teach you everything I know.”
    “I think you just did,” he grinned and kicked the board back up into his hand.
    “You could show me how to do that.”
    It was harder than it looked. Kicking it too lightly and it just bounced back on the wheels; too hard and it knocked me in the shins. Ren waited patiently while I attempted to make the board behave, his hands in his pockets. Finally I rubbed my shins and admitted defeat.
    “It just takes practice,” he said.
    I gave him what was probably a gooey smile. He picked up the board and we finished walking to his house. He opened the wooden screen door and then the front door, pausing to let me in first.
    His house was beautiful. They had hardwood floors like we did, except they were wide-planked and a rich, dark brown. The furniture matched the house, formal and kind of antique. The ceilings were high and so were the windows. Even with boxes everywhere it was grand and inviting--everything I’d dreamed it would be.
    “Mom!” he called. Hearing him call for his mother was disconcerting; it almost made him ordinary. When he first stepped into my Spanish class he was otherworldly, as if the universe had presented him out of thin air for my admiration. He was no such phenomenon, apparently.
    His mom appeared from the hallway, a cleaning rag in her hand. She was petite and small-boned, and she wore pink lipstick. She didn’t seem old enough to have a teenage son. Her dark hair was cut to chin-length, a strand of it caught up in a barrette.      
    She smiled at me. “Hello! You must be MacKenzie.”
    “Nice to meet you,” I said, impressed that she remembered my name.
    “I met your mother earlier this afternoon. Ren tells me you are in his Spanish class.”
    “Yes—it’s a pretty hard class—our teacher is nice, though.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Rambling on about Ren’s hotness didn’t seem appropriate.
    I stared around at the boxes. “It seems like a lot of work.”
    Ren and his mom looked at each other as she laughed, “Yes, it is.”
    “Is it okay if I show her around?” Ren asked. “She’s been stalking this house since third grade as a trick-or-treater.”
    She laughed and waved hand at us. “As long as you don’t mind boxes.”
    We walked back into the kitchen, which still had the high ceilings and trim but it was obviously renovated. Two French doors opened out to a patio in the backyard and there were windows everywhere, letting in the light. There was a stainless steel refrigerator and a stove that could have been in a restaurant. The countertops were granite and there were a lot of cabinets.
    I admitted out loud that I was impressed. He said the kitchen had pretty much won his mom over, but his favorite part of the house was his bedroom.
    “It’s got this big circle window. Want to see?”
    Did I want to see his bedroom? I ignored the vague thoughts about stuff that happens in bedrooms and focused on his enthusiasm for the window.
    “Sure.”
    “Let me just tell my mom we’re going upstairs.”
    We went back to the living room but his mom wasn’t there, so he shouted out that we were going upstairs.
    I suppose his parents had some rule about no girls in his bedroom or something. My parents probably had the same rule, but there wasn’t any reason to tell me about it yet. The idea that I would invite some guy to my room was faintly scandalous.
    His room was bright and bare , with a circular window that looked out at the field behind his backyard.
    “That’s so cool,” I said, admiring the circle window.
    “Yeah,