Cuts Like a Knife Read Online Free PDF Page A

she had to spend two weekends picking up garbage in the park.
    She never spoke to Shannon again. It was like Shannon was dead. Mac just looked right through her and froze her out.
    â€œI’m not that stupid,” I said. I wasn’t going to do anything that would make Mac start acting like I didn’t exist.
    â€œSo you won’t say anything?” Ren asked. “C’mon, you know how Mac is. Once she figures stuff out, she’ll come back. She always does.”
    â€œI’m not going to say anything. Give it a rest, Ren,” I said. I shoved my chair back and got to my feet. There was a buzzing sound in my ears like a hive of bees had somehow gotten inside my head. “I gotta go,” I said. Ren said something else, but I couldn’t hear what it was.

Chapter Eight
    Outside, I just started walking fast, hands jammed in my pockets. I didn’t know where I was going, and I didn’t care. I just needed to get away from Ren and Alex.
    Mac liked Gavin Healey. Was that why she’d had sex with me? Out of spite because Gavin made her look stupid in front of most of the school? Or was it her gift to me because she was taking off again? Last time I got a dancing chicken, so this time I got laid?
    So why did she take me to the house? Why did she show me her room and that ceiling if it didn’t mean anything?
    I needed to talk to Mac. I pulled out my phone and tried her again. I got voice mail. Again.
    â€œIt’s Daniel. Please call me,” I said.
    Okay, she wasn’t answering her phone, so I’d just find her and ask her what the hell was going on. Except I didn’t know where to look. When we weren’t at school, or in the music room or with Ren and Alex, I didn’t know what Mac did. I realized I didn’t know where she lived. I didn’t even know The Asshole’s real name.
    I leaned against a telephone pole. I was so lame. How could I say I was Mac’s friend? I didn’t really know her at all. Her having sex with me was pretty much the same as her giving Ren a pair of earrings. It didn’t mean anything beyond that she liked to give people presents before she took off in case she decided not to come back.
    The onion rings lay like a greasy lump in my stomach. I thought about going home, but I didn’t really want to talk to my mother. She’d know something wasn’t right. She had this weird mother thing where she could tell something was wrong with me, no matter how hard I tried to hide it. It was almost like she could see inside my head.
    What would I say to her? “Hey, Mom, I slept with this girl I’m crazy about, in this old house that’s about to be torn down, but it turns out the whole thing didn’t mean squat because she’s taking off, and she decided sleeping with me was a better goodbye present than a windup chicken.”
    No, that wouldn’t freak her out or anything.
    I looked around and realized that I wasn’t that far from the school. I figured I might as well walk over there and see if Mr. Hanson was around so maybe I could at least get into the music room and work on my composition project.
    What were the chances he’d be at the school on a Saturday night? Pretty good, actually. Mr. Hanson’s love life seemed to be about as lame as mine was.
    I could see the lights on in the music room as I came around the side of the old stone building. Mr. Hanson was at the piano. No one else seemed to be around. How big a loser was I?
    I stood there in the darkness thinking maybe I should go somewhere else. Do something else. Yeah, great idea, except I didn’t have anything else to do or anywhere else to go.
    I banged on the window. Mr. Hanson looked up, smiled when he saw me and gestured for me to come around to the end door so he could let me in.
    â€œHi, Daniel,” he said.
    â€œHi, Mr. Hanson,” I said, mostly faking a smile. My voice sounded kind of hoarse, and I coughed to clear