Evernight Read Online Free PDF Page A

of nail polish while she looked at me.

"So you're Bianca," she said. No handshake, no hug—just the click of
each bottle of polish against the dresser: pale pink, coral, melon, white.
"You weren't what I was expecting."

Thanks tons. "You either."

Patrice cocked her head, studying me, and I wondered if we hated each other
already. She lifted one perfectly manicured hand and began ticking off points.
"You can borrow my perfume but not my jewelry or clothes." She didn't
say anything about borrowing my stuff, but it was pretty obvious she wouldn't
ever want to. "I plan to do most of my studying in the library, but if you
want to work here, let me know and I'll talk with my friends somewhere else.
Help me with the assignments you're good at, and I'll do the same for you. I'm
sure we can learn a lot from each other. Sound fair?"

"Definitely."

"All right. We'll get along."

If she'd acted all fake friendly with me right away, I think that would have
weirded me out more. As it was, I was sort of reassured that Patrice was so
businesslike. "Glad you think so," I said. "I know
we're…different."

She didn't argue. "Two teachers here are your parents, right?"

"Yeah. I guess word travels fast."

"You'll be fine. They'll take care of you."

I tried to smile at her and hoped she was right. "You've been here at
Evernight before?"

"No. First time." Patrice said this as though changing her whole way
of living was as simple for her as slipping into a new pair of designer shoes.
"It's beautiful, don't you think?"

I left my opinion of the architecture out of it. "You said you had friends
here, though."

"Well, of course." Her smile was as delicate as everything else about
her, from the peach gloss on her lips to the perfume and nail polish bottles
neatly arrayed on the dresser. "Courtney and I met in Switzerland last
winter. Vidette was a friend of mine when I was staying in Paris. And Genevieve
and I spent a summer together in the Caribbean, once—was it St. Thomas? Maybe
it was Jamaica. I can't keep these things straight."

My pokey hometown seemed duller than ever. "So you guys all just—run in
the same circles."

"More or less." Belatedly, Patrice seemed to realize how awkward I felt.
"Eventually they'll be your circles, too."

"I wish I were as sure as you are."

"Oh, you'll see." She dwelled in a world where endless summers in the
tropics were everyone's for the taking. I couldn't imagine ever being a part of
that. "Do you know anybody here? Besides your parents, I mean."

"Only the people I've met this morning." Meaning Lucas and Patrice,
for a grand total of two.

"Plenty of time to make friends." Patrice spoke briskly as she began
putting away more of her things: silky scarves the color of ivory, hosiery in
shades of taupe or dove gray. Where did she plan to wear things so elegant?
Maybe it was unimaginable for Patrice to travel without them. "I hear
Evernight is a wonderful place to meet men."

"Meet men?"

"Do you already have someone?"

I wanted to tell her about Lucas, but I couldn't. Whatever had happened between
me and Lucas in the forest—it meant something, but my feelings were too new to
share. All I said was, "I didn't leave a boyfriend behind in my
hometown." I'd known all those guys at my old school since I was a little
kid, and I remembered them back when they used to play with Lincoln Logs and
mash Play-Doh in my hair. That sort of made it impossible to feel passionate
about any of them.

"Boyfriend." Her lips curled upward, as if the word struck her as
childish. Patrice wasn't sneering at me, though. I was simply too young and
inexperienced for her to take me seriously.

"Patrice? It's Courtney." The girl outside knocked on the door even
while she was opening it, obviously certain she would be welcome. She was even
more beautiful than Patrice, with blond hair that fell almost to her waist and
the pouty kind of lips I'd seen only on starlets in TV shows, who could afford
stuff like collagen. The same kilt that