Crashing Into You Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Sydney.”
    “ Sydney ! Of course. How are you? It’s been a long time.”
    “Sure has,” I said. “Watch
the road.” I tugged tight on my seat belt. It was the only thing that saved my
life two years ago.
    Evan tapped me on the
leg—by accident or not, I wasn't sure—then immediately tore his
hand away. “You can just leave your hand there,” I wanted to say. “You can keep
it there for an hour, or a day. I don’t mind.”
    Instead, I stayed quiet, and let
him be the one to start the talking. “I don’t know how much Melanie told you
about the party,” Evan said. “It shouldn’t be too crazy. There probably won’t be
more than thirty or forty people.”
    I crossed my arms, and
scoffed. “Why are you guys treating me like a child? I’m a big girl. I can
handle a stupid party, all right? I’m not that much of a loser.”
    Evan's mouth dropped open a
little, like he wanted to take back his words. “I don’t think you’re a loser,
Syd. That’s not what I was saying.”
    “Yeah? What were you saying?”
    “I just want you to have fun,
that’s all.” He smiled at me, revealed his cute little dimples. He ran his hand
through his wavy, gelled hair. “The really big party’s tomorrow night, at Reece’s place. That one's gonna be so crazy I'm
not sure if I wanna go.”  
    “Yeah?” I knew he was lying, just
trying to make me feel better. He wasn’t going to miss the last big party of
the year. Not even for me. “You could join me and Lukas in the library
tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll be studying late.”
    “Is the library even open on
Saturday nights?”
    “Until 11, yeah,” I said.
    “I didn’t know that. You
gonna study for sociology?”
    “Of course I am. Lukas has
Mr. Hernandez, too, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So we'll both be studying for
it.”
    “Hmm.” Evan cracked his
knuckles, looked out the window. “Maybe I’ll stop by.”
    “What are you two talking
about back there?” Melanie asked, turning her head toward us.
    “Nothing,” Evan said. “Are we
there yet?”
    “Yep, next street over!” Zach
shouted, and barely ten seconds passed before he pulled to the curb.
    I stepped out of the car and
winced. This wasn’t some intimate gathering; this was a large-scale house
party, the same as all the others. Evan helped Melanie out of the car, and held
her hand as they walked toward the entrance. They were such a cute couple, so
complimentary to one another. I hated that about them.
    Zach didn’t accompany me like
a gentleman, but ran past Evan and Melanie, and started jumping up and down,
like he was on fire. I wasn’t even to the front porch when I heard him scream
from the backyard, “LET’S GET THIS MOTHERFUCKER STARTED!”
    Ugh. What an ass.
    Melanie and Evan stayed close
to me for a minute or two, but that all changed when her sorority sisters
surrounded them and guided them toward the backyard.
    I was thirsty, so I headed to
the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator, the cabinets. I searched through the
empty twelve-pack cases. They didn’t have soda. They didn’t even have bottled
water. I grabbed a plastic cup and ran the faucet. I didn’t like tap water, but
it was better than nothing.
    “What are you having?” a familiar
voice said to my left.
    I turned around. “Oh, hey!
Robert, right?” I took a sip of the water. It tasted safe, hopefully toxin-free.
    The tall, ginger-haired sophomore
opened the fridge. “Yeah. And you’re Sydney.”
    “That’s correct. Glad to know someone knows my name.”
    “Huh?”
    “Nothing.” I rested my back against
the counter. Watched as he perused the fridge. I hoped he was looking for soda,
too; it’d give us something to bond over. “How many classes have we had
together now?”
    “Jeez, I don’t know. At least
three, right?” He grabbed a Fat Tire from the bottom shelf. “Ahh, here we are.”
    “They don’t have a keg in the
back?”
    “No, they do. It just tastes
like cat piss.” He tore off the cap and took a