Cloudburst Read Online Free PDF

not nature’s fault.”
    I walked to the garage. It wasn’t far, but lately it was practically the only walking outside of the school that I was doing. When we were homeless, Mama and I seemed to walk forever some days. Even when I had a new pair of sneakers, my feet would blister, and hers began to look like the feet of someone who walked on a bed of nails.
    Just before I reached the garage, my cell phone vibrated, and I paused to answer.
    â€œHi,” I heard. “Have you left for school yet?”
    â€œWho’s this?” I asked, even though I knew full well who it was.
    Shayne Peters was a starting guard on the basketball team, six feet two, with a shock of rich golden brown hair. His father was a famous criminal attorney who had recently defended a congressman accused of murdering his wife. He had gotten him acquitted.
    Shayne had been going with Sydney Woods, but they recently had broken up. The rumor mill blamed it on me. The story was that he had a big crush on me, and Sydney, finally disgusted with him, gave his class ring back to him. I don’t know how that had all started. I had done little to encourage him.
    â€œIt’s Shayne!” he cried, obviously upset that I didn’t recognize his voice.
    â€œHow can I help you?” I asked in the most formal tone of voice I could muster.
    â€œHuh? Look, my car won’t start. Can you pick me up on the way to school?”
    â€œNo. I’m late,” I said. “Take a taxi.”
    â€œWait!” he cried, anticipating my hanging up. “Are you going to the game Friday? It’s a home game, and I thought that after the game we—”
    â€œI’m not sure. I have an opportunity to see
Madame Butterfly.
Box seats.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSee you in school,” I said, and hung up.
    I had no opportunity to see
Madame Butterfly,
but the idea had just popped into my head. I smiled to myself as I got into my car. I could just imagine the look of surprise on his face, but I remembered the advice Kiera had given me about the boys in our school. “They like to take you for granted because they take everything else for granted. Make them work for every smile you give them, and don’t give them many.”
    I’ll e-mail her about it later,
I thought. She loved hearing about my romantic exploits, especially when I appeared to be following her lead.
    Alberto waved to me as I drove out and waited for the gate to open. From the outside, it looked like a solid orange wall twelve feet high. There were security cameras everywhere. One of my friends who came here, Jessica Taylor, said, “The only thing missing here is a moat and crocodiles.”
    When I arrived at school, I parked in the student lot where all of us who had cars had reserved places. As Iheaded for the front door, I saw Shayne pull in, driving his own car and parking in his spot.
    His own car? Deception, I thought. So much for him needing me to pick him up. I wouldn’t ever go out with him, since the only way he could get my attention was to try to deceive me. If it’s there at the start, it will certainly be there throughout your relationship and at the end for sure.
    Mama taught me that.
    I felt confident that I could and would recognize it every time I saw it.
    But I was still young and idealistic.
    I had no idea what deception awaited me or the direction from which it would come—and certainly no idea about how close it was.

2
New Student
    W hen I first entered this school, I was nervous and self-conscious for many reasons, not the least of which was my limping. The injury I had suffered could have healed improperly because of how quickly and carelessly I was initially treated. I could have been limping all my life. One leg might not have grown as fast or as long as the other, but Jordan March brought in Dr. Milan, a top specialist who reset my cast, and after nearly a year, my limp grew less and less obvious, until