Curtis Read Online Free PDF Page A

been in a daze ever since Curtis had scared her that morning. Not only had she not seen him, she hadn’t expected to see him, but it had been a nice surprise.
    Except Lorrie wasn’t the type to enjoy surprises. Usually.
    And rightfully so.
    Nothing good ever came from a surprise. At least not in her experience.
    Because of who her father was and the fact that they didn’t have any money, the kids made fun of her and her sisters. Her brothers, especially Mitch, didn’t have to endure the comments and the pointing fingers because most of the kids were scared of him, but she hadn’t been that lucky. It wasn’t that they didn’t like her, but they liked to pick on her about her clothes mostly. Sometimes they played pranks on her, too.
    In fact, for most of the day, she’d been fighting her anxiety, fully expecting someone to tell her that this was all a joke. That Curtis Walker couldn’t possibly want to walk her to school or carry her books or even talk to her. At one point, she’d even imagined the teacher telling her as much.
    She’d never actually liked a boy before, but she’d seen some of the girls get teased when someone found out they liked one. She did not want to be that girl.
    Hurrying out of the school, wondering if Curtis would be waiting for her even though she’d told him he shouldn’t, Lorrie kept her head down as she always did. She rushed down the steps, then across the lawn, heading for the path that led to her house.
    “Hey, Lorrie!”
    Crap. She knew that voice, and she wished she could pretend she hadn’t heard it, but it was too late. She’d been surprised enough to stop walking. Turning slowly, Lorrie found the source. Helen Jenkins, with her long brown hair flowing over her shoulders, was strutting toward her, hands on her curvy hips, the devil in her eye.
    Maybe Helen was going to be the one to tell her all this was a big, elaborate joke. It wouldn’t shock her if she did.
    Lorrie had never liked Helen Jenkins. Not because she was the prettiest girl in school but because she knew she was and wanted to make sure everyone else knew it, too.
    “Someone told me that you went to Curtis Walker’s house yesterday,” Helen said with a frown, tossing her hair over her shoulder and cocking her hip.
    Rather than confirm or deny, Lorrie stared at Helen, keeping her expression neutral, waiting to hear what she had to say.
    “So it’s true?” Helen didn’t appear happy with that answer, though she’d come to that conclusion on her own.
    Again, Lorrie kept her mouth shut, hugging her books to her chest as she contemplated walking away.
    “Well,” Helen began with a huff, lowering her voice, “I should hope you know that Curtis is gonna be my boyfriend soon. Sandra heard him say that he was gonna ask me to go steady.”
    Lorrie didn’t believe that for a minute, but she wasn’t sure what made her doubt those words, so she didn’t bother to argue. It wasn’t in her nature to argue.
    “And I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t go to my future boyfriend’s house. If you do it again, I’ll…”
    “You’ll do what?”
    The deep voice came from behind Helen, and when Helen spun around, Lorrie noticed that Curtis was standing there, staring back at her. She had no idea how long he’d been there, or how she hadn’t seen him, but she assumed it was long enough to hear what Helen had said.
    “Curtis,” Helen whispered breathlessly. “Hey.”
    Curtis briefly glanced at Helen while Lorrie stood there like an idiot.
    Please, please, please don’t let them make fun of me.
    Helen took a step closer, then put her hand on Curtis’s arm. Lorrie wanted to smack her right upside the head.
    Where did that come from?
    “I was hopin’ to find you,” Helen said sweetly. “I thought maybe you’d wanna walk me home.”
    Funny. Helen didn’t sound nearly as confident as when she’d been talking to Lorrie.
    Curtis shrugged Helen’s hand off. “I’m walkin’ Lorrie home,” he said frankly, as