Entangled Read Online Free PDF Page B

smile as an invitation to approach the bed.
    Graylee had gone from standing to lying under the covers. Raj leaned over her. His breath on her face felt way too close and way too real.
    Graylee woke up with a jerk. Charlene was sitting on her bed looking into the dark chamber thoughtfully. “Lee, I’ve figured it out.”
    It took a moment for Graylee to calm her racing heart and manage words. She sat up. “Figured what out?”
    “How to get Blake back.”
    This was the reason Charlene had nearly given her a heart attack? Well, of course, ’cause what was more important than Blake Foster?
    “Put on a new dress and extra makeup?” Graylee asked hopefully.
    Charlene continued as though Graylee had never spoken. “I’ve been holding out on Blake, thinking he’d enjoy the challenge. But everyone needs gratification, Lee. Everyone. I mean, think of the most popular celebs. They put out.”
    Now Graylee was fully awake. “So, you’re a celebrity in this scenario?”
    “Exactly,” Charlene said, missing her sarcasm. “I’m one of the most popular girls at school. In terms of McKinley High, I’m on the A-list. And what do A-list celebrities do?”
    “Sing? Act?”
    “They party, Lee. They sleep around. It’s all about notoriety. That’s what puts them in the spotlight. It’s what makes them get noticed and talked about.”
    “So you want everyone to be talking about what a slut you are?”
    Charlene grinned and eased herself off the bed. “Sleep tight, Lee.”
    Graylee watched Charlene leave before muttering, “You, too, Britney.”
    She punched her pillow and lay on her side, then on her stomach, then on her back and finally back on her side.
    Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep , she chanted in her head at the same time Raj’s voice repeated, I like it. I like it. I like it.
     
     
    At one time, Graylee had been the most gifted student in the Kent Chapter Coven. Until the day she’d messed up a spell.
    Her cheeks heated at the memory. Like a bad dream—the one where you stood naked in front of everyone—but Graylee’s ultimate humiliation hadn’t been a dream.
    She was in sixth grade, the coven’s star pupil. After group lecture she’d followed the kids down to the basement as she’d done every Sunday afternoon since she could remember.
    Their peer leader had them lay out a second outfit on the long table and work on changing their clothes without touching the garments.
    Sure, Graylee had become somewhat cocky as only a rising star can be. Magic fascinated her, and she allotted all her free hours to perfecting her spells and trying new ones. Like any other talent or ability, magic took practice. Just because one was a witch didn’t mean she could perform the same level of magic as her peers. She had to work for it.
    Graylee could already change in an instant. She’d practiced that one for weeks in her bedroom, never tiring of the elation when the new outfit materialized over her body. So she’d lifted her chin and snapped her fingers. And that’s when it happened.
    The clothes she’d worn were successfully removed, but her second outfit hadn’t moved from the table. Except for her cotton underpants and bra, she stood stark naked.
    Graylee could still hear the laughter as it erupted. Like the hyenas in Mrs. Pritchett’s class Friday afternoon. She almost felt sorry for the woman no matter how mean she was. Raj McKenna was trouble and acted out of spite and self-indulgence. Just like Charlene.
    Thank goodness he’d been absent from the Gathering the day Graylee exposed herself. He probably would have liked that. Raj was a relatively quiet boy back then. Dare she say it? Well behaved. He always partnered with Shay Baxter and glared at anyone who giggled and whispered about the two of them being secretly in love. Nothing had come of it. They’d been thick as thieves until Raj quit attending and Max Curry made an advance on Shay. Shay Baxter, consequently, had taken Graylee’s place as the