Choker Read Online Free PDF Page B

don’t you just show us your crack instead?”
    Zoe looked over at Cara. “Is everyone at your school like this?”
    Cara nodded. Then she paused. “Well, not everyone.” She stared down at Sydney, but she could feel Zoe watching her. Finally, she looked over. Zoe had a mischievous little smile on her face.
    “Okay, who is he?” Zoe teased. “Come on, spill.”
    Cara giggled. “Um, his name is Ethan. Tall, dark, handsome, incredibly sweet. Oh yeah—saved my life yesterday.”
    “What?” Zoe exclaimed.
    “It was kind of amazing.” She filled her friend in on the infamous choking incident, starting with Ethan’s strong arms around her waist—and ending with her new nickname. “And now they call me Choker ,” she finished. “Talk about literally adding insult to injury. Basically, Alexis and Sydney think I’m the biggest freak in school.” Cara felt a hot wave of shame build in her chest, even here, alone with Zoe. “It’s been like this since I got here. Middle school was awful, but I hoped to start fresh in high school. Yeah, right. In ninth grade, there was this freshman fall dance. I was so excited, my first real high school event.” Cara paused. She thought of the red velvet dress with the gold sequin bodice she’d worn, not realizing everyone else would be in jeans and tight little tops. It was the reason she now wore a uniform of khakis and T-shirts. “And whatever, I was clueless, right? I was just a little freshman.”
    Zoe nodded. Her eyes shone in the dark like a cat’s.
    “So I asked this guy, Marc Simons, to dance. I thought he was really cute—he was wearing a leather jacket.”
    “Ohhh, the height of coolness!” Zoe laughed.
    “I know, I thought it was great. So I ask this guy to dance, and he said ‘no.’ Just like that, right in front of everyone.” Cara’s fingers tightened on the gritty asphalt shingles.
    “What a jerk!” Zoe shook her head.
    “Anyway, Alexis and Sydney saw the whole thing, and they basically followed me around for the next six months, calling me Mrs. Simons, asking if Marc had called.” She shrugged. “It never stops. Posting crap about me on Facebook, prank calls. Honestly, I’m kind of used to it by now. I’m even used to Alexis and Ethan being together.” But even as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it wasn’t true. Zoe squeezed Cara’s knee.
    “Bitches,” she said, waving her hand in dismissal. “Fake bitches.”
    Cara grinned and rearranged her legs on the rough shingles. Beneath them, the party was getting loud. There was the crash of breaking glass, and a splash. “Maren is in the pool!” someone yelled.
    “God, that sucks about Alexis and Ethan.” Zoe sucked in her cheeks, thinking. “If only they’d break up. Maybe we can find a way to help them along. . . .”
    Cara snorted. “Right. We can start working on my presidential campaign right after that.”
    Just then, someone yelled “Choker!” from the deck next door. Cara panicked. She looked down, expecting the girls to have spotted them. Instead, they were still sitting in their lounge chairs, watching as Sydney staggered around, grabbing her throat with both hands and bugging out her eyes.
    “She sounded like this!” she yelled before letting out a series of retches and gags, like a calf with its throat slit. Everyone broke out into hysterical laughter. Alexis snorted some of her vodka slush up her nose and had to be pounded on the back until she recovered.
    Cara and Zoe watched in silence. Sydney staggered for another minute before dropping into a lounge chair herself. “Hey, remember when she started crying in the hall because she couldn’t get her locker open?” she said, her voice carrying up as if she was sitting right there on the roof with them. The other girls tittered in response. Cara looked straight ahead at the trees across the street. She remembered perfectly. That was also freshman year.
    Below her, Maren’s languid drawl chimed in. “How about