Ever: The Ever Trilogy, Book One (Volume 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and no answer in sight for either of them. What a big Saturday this was turning out to be, and it was barely twelve o’clock.
    A car horn sounded from the driveway, reminding me that I was supposed to be heading to the beach with Jessie. Just what I needed to get my mind off Frankie and Toby. I quickly grabbed my bag, annoyed on Jessie’s behalf at my inability to be on time for anything. I stepped out into the beautiful spring day and made my way to her car. I’d barely gotten my cheeks in the seat before she was rolling out of the driveway.
    “Geez, Jess, why didn’t you just come inside?”
    “Yeah right, and add another half hour to our morning? I want to get a good spot by the volleyball courts!”
    Jessie’s hot pink VW bug was packed full to the brim with coolers, beach umbrellas, towels, a portable iPod player, three different kinds of tanning oils, and about a million other things only Jessie would consider a necessity for a day at the beach—all of them pink, if possible. Of course, on that note, I should probably add that I’d never gotten to the beach and wished I had something I forgot at home. Jessie always had me covered.
    Her blonde hair was hidden under a bright pink bandana, and her Juicy Couture cover-up was the same pink as her car.
    I wore my signature black, of course, with a black and gray argyle print bikini, black sundress and my dark hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. We were quite the pair of mismatched friends.
    I’d been staring out the window since we left, not purposely ignoring Jessie, but just trying to make sense of my life. I was obviously totally unaware of anything going on around me, because Jessie had to say my name a few times to get my attention.
    “Ev!”
    “Huh?”
    “You’re awfully quiet today. What’s up?”
    ”Hmm, where to start … ?”
    “Ooh, this sounds good!”
    “Slow down, Jess, there’s nothing too interesting to talk about.” I saw the disappointment forming on her face. Of course, in her world, she probably would have already been on at least one date with the hot new neighbor, found a way to magically turn Frankie back into a human, and by now they’d both be madly in love with her and most likely fighting each other for her heart—and all this after only twenty-four hours since Toby had moved in next door. My having nothing like that to talk about probably was disappointing for her. I continued anyway.
    “So, you know that new guy from next door? Toby?”
    “I knew this would be good! So what, did he ask you out?”
    “Yes, Jess, but geez, he only moved in yesterday!”
    “And? Oh god. You told him no, didn’t you? I knew you were acting funny after you talked to him yesterday! I swear I always know when you’re hiding something from me.”
    I ignored her and kept going, reluctant to outright admit to the innocent little fib I’d told Toby when I turned him down. She’d already figured out the gist of it. She didn’t need to know I pretended to have a boyfriend, too. My desire to sound like a total loser only went so far.
    “Oh, Ever.”
    “He brought me flowers this morning, and—”
    “ What ? Oh my gosh, Ever, what is the problem? And do not say Frankie!”
    “They were black and white anemones.”
    Jessie’s faced scrunched up, drawing her blonde eyebrows together. “What? Really? That’s weird.”
    “I know. That’s the thing: how did he know, right?”
    She pondered this for all of two-point-two seconds, before she was quickly back to being intrigued by the idea that the mysterious new neighbor gave me flowers. Eager to drive me toward a boy I could actually date for real , Jessie seemed to push any question from her mind.
    “Who cares? He has good taste in girls and flowers. Sounds like a keeper to me.” She flashed her electric smile, and that was the end of it.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” I said, though I wasn’t convinced. The flower thing was pretty weird.
    After driving a few more miles in silence, Jessie picked