Divine Vices Read Online Free PDF Page A

the locker
room as well.
    “Is
this the only time all day that you vaguely resemble anything normal?” Gwen
asked Ian as he came up to join us, giving a quick once-over at his clothes.
    “If
you mean ‘vaguely resembling the mandatory implementation of becoming an
archetype during the duration of gym class,’ then yes,” he replied, looking
down at his outfit.
    Even
with Coach Whitmore’s strict dress code in place, Ian still managed to hold
onto his rebellious style with his endless collection of defiantly
catch-phrased t-shirts. Today’s read: “WHEN DID THE VILLAGE CHANGE ITS RULE?
BECAUSE I SEE IDIOTS EVERYWHERE!” Coach wasn’t particularly pleased with his
sense of expression, but since Ian was a good student and wasn’t technically
breaking the dress code, he cut him some slack.
    When
Ian parked a seat beside me, he picked a pencil off the floor of the bleachers.
“Wanna see a trick?”
    “Absolutely,”
I said, always eager to see what he had up his sleeves for a sense of
entertainment.
    “You’re
not gonna stab someone, right?” said Gwen.
    “Wasn’t
planning on it,” laughed Ian.
    “Pity.”
    He
put his left hand out flat in front of him with the inside facing upward. He
then took the tip of the pencil and placed it in the center of his palm,
releasing his grip on it to have it balance in place on its own.
    “Okay,
this is already creepy,” commented Gwen.
    “Ready?”
he said, resting the palm of his other hand firmly over the top of the pencil.
He suddenly drove his right hand down, and Gwen and I jumped, expecting to see
a pencil drive through the middle of his left palm. But his hands clapped
together with the pencil nowhere in sight.
    “What
the hell?” I laughed, seeing him reach over to pull the pencil out from behind
my ear on his opposing side. “How did you do that?”
    He
shrugged whimsically.
    “And
you wonder why people are afraid of you,” remarked Gwen.
    “I
love it,” I said. “It’s nice being stumped every now and again.”
    “Look
at that,” said Gwen, gaping at Jack the moment he stepped into the gym. “I’ve
seen statues of Greek gods less perfect than him. And he’s coming this way!”
    “I
take it that’s the new guy?” said Ian. “Not to mention Meyer’s future husband.”
    “I
wouldn’t be so sure of that,” said Gwen, seeing Jack’s eyes pinpointing me out.
    “Fancy
seeing you here,” he said on arrival, looking up at me with his seductive grin.
    “Indeed
it is,” I replied. “I had my doubts you’d survive Mr. Rothenberg’s speeches.”
    “As
they say, ‘What doesn’t kill you... may still leave you perpetually bored.’ I
did manage to escape nevertheless.”
    Gwen
bumped my arm, urging me into an introduction.
    “This
is Gwen,” I said, motioning to her, “and this is Ian. Guys, this is Jack.”
    They
all exchanged greetings, Gwen barely managing to compose herself as she shook
his hand.
    “So,
Rumpelstiltskin, will I ever get the pleasure of knowing your name?” asked
Jack, his stare penetrating straight through me with a surging endorphin rush.
    “Cassie.”
    “That
short for Cassandra?”
    I
nodded.
    “Beautiful
name. Suits you.”
    My
nerves had already formed a knot in my stomach the size of a golf ball when I
first saw him coming over to us, but talking with him left me feeling as if I
had swallowed a softball. Being that I’ve always had a predisposition towards
shyness around unfamiliar people, I had assumed I knew all there was to know
about nerves. This, though, was not timidity. I wasn’t tongue-tied, just on
edge. Like the dreadful, yet exhilarating rush you get when the cart of the
rollercoaster stops at the top, leaving you in anticipation just before the drop.
    Or
perhaps the dread was really in seeing Stacy heading out of the locker room
with her salacious gaze homing in on Jack like a cheetah preparing to take down
an antelope.
    “Well,
what do we have here?” she said as she came over to his side,