Dusk (Young Adult Paranormal Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

exotic!”
    “Let’s talk about you and Brett Martin,” I whispered, nudging her in the shoulder. “I saw you two in the hall on Friday. Why didn’t you tell me you had something going on with him?”
    “Because I’m not sure there is.” Viv blushed a bright red and giggled. “But I really want there to be.”
    “When did this start?” I asked. Talking boys with Viv felt both good and weird. Good, because boy talk was normal and I’d had way too little normal lately. Weird, because part of me still felt I didn’t deserve normal .
    “A couple of weeks ago. We ran into each other at the community picnic and just started talking.”
    “Nice,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. “He’s always seemed like a great guy.”
    “He is,” she sighed, a dreamy smile on her face. “I keep hoping he’ll ask me out, but he hasn’t yet.”
    “He hasn’t made any secret about your friendship, ” I said, emphasizing the last word. “He was smiling at you like a goofy kid the other day.”
    “And you spent the weekend texting with the hot new biker guy!”
    As we neared our homeroom, I decided we should put a hold on the conversation. “Let’s talk about this later. Don’t want anybody overhearing all this girl talk.” I nodded toward the group of kids gathered around the doorway.
    Viv got the hint, and as we stepped into class all talk of boys ceased until a safer moment presented itself.
    *     *     *
    I dreaded talking to Mr. Austin about student government elections, but I knew I had to. After class, I forced myself to approach him.
    He shuffled a stack of papers on his desk into a neat pile then closed them in a file folder. He looked up as he saw me approach, and I decided to just spit it out.
    “I can’t run for president again.”
    It was kind of like ripping a bandage off you skin all at once for the sake of getting it over with. It stung for a bit, but was better than prolonging the inevitable.
    He nodded, like he’d been expecting it. “Care to tell me why?”
    “Too soon,” I said. “After everything, I just can’t imagine being in the spotlight.”
    “I understand you need some time,” he replied.
    A lump formed in my throat, both because of Mr. Austin’s kindness, and the fact that he had no idea exactly why I needed time.
    “The deadline is in two weeks.” He pointed toward the student government poster. “You’ve got some time to consider. Just give it some more thought.”
    I couldn’t imagine a scenario when I’d feel comfortable in front of people, the way the class president role required, but I nodded anyway, because I didn’t want Mr. Austin to be too disappointed.
    Vivian hadn’t waited for me. I’d told her to go on, since I needed a moment to talk to Mr. Austin. When I stepped into the hallway a few kids remained, wrapping things up before leaving for the day. One stop at my locker and I’d be ready to go.
    “You sure weren’t thinking about running for office when you met up with us that first time.” Nikki’s voice came from behind me, just as I was throwing my backpack over one shoulder. “Or the second or third time. All you cared about was getting smashed.”
    Apparently they’d eavesdropped on my conversation with Mr. Austin. Perfect. However, Nikki was sort of right. Maybe if I acknowledged that she’d go away.
    “You’re right.” I shut my locker with more force than necessary. “I didn’t care about anything but forgetting.”
    “And you were all too happy to let Nikki buy the liquor and drive you around,” Courtney sneered.
    Ironic, that Courtney would accuse me of taking advantage of Nikki, and all the resources her stinking rich horse-trainer dad could provide, when Courtney herself was the original coattail rider. The fact that Courtney was the daughter of a single mom who jumped from man to man and didn’t care enough about herself or her daughter to stay clean and sober was not what made Courtney trashy. It was the way she