Fall For You [The Jane Austen Academy Series #1] Read Online Free PDF Page A

me and Ellie,” Lizzie said testily.
    “Yeah, of course, in our room,” Emma said without missing a beat. “That’s where I have all my makeup.”
    Lizzie sped up, tugging Ellie so that Emma stumbled in her high heels. She bit back a smile of satisfaction. This was so typically Emma. She walked into a room and assumed everybody wanted a piece of her, therefore, any attention would be welcome. Maybe Ellie was too nice to put Emma in her place, but Lizzie was not. “I’m sure there are other people who need your help, Emma, but Ellie and I will be fine getting ready on our own.”
    Lizzie gave an extra hard tug on Ellie’s arm so that they pulled away from Emma on an oomph . She ferried Ellie faster up the aisle toward the theater exit, to Emma’s cry of, “See you later, roomie!”
    “She’s just trying to be nice,” Ellie said, reading Lizzie’s intentions exactly.
    “She’s just trying to drive me crazy,” Lizzie said. They reached the crowd funneling out of the exit and were caught in the traffic jam, slowing to a snail’s pace. Lizzie looked back to see if Emma had followed, but she was chatting to a group of boys, tossing her sleek blond bob around and laughing. Flirtatiously laying her hand on the boys’ shoulders or against their arms. How did she do it so naturally ? She wasn’t talking up just any group of boys, either. It was Dante and the group who had been sitting around him.
    The friendly-looking boy with eyes like a puppy dog was saying something that made the whole group smile and made Emma clutch his shoulder as she keeled over in laughter. The only person in the group not smiling was Dante, who towered over the rest of them. Dante stared down at the phone in his hand—how rude!
    “She’s really great at making people feel at ease,” Ellie said as she followed the direction of Lizzie’s gaze. “And with her, what you see is what you get, you know. It’s kind of nice.”
    Lizzie felt nauseated. She turned around, ready to explain everything to Ellie—about Anne, about the position at the paper—but before she could—
    “That’s Edward,” Ellie said—pointing to the cute boy with the puppy eyes.
    “Don’t point!” Lizzie grabbed Ellie’s finger and dragged it down to her side. She didn’t know why she’d reacted so strongly, except she didn’t want to chance that Dante might see Ellie pointing. That Dante, who didn’t seem to care at all for the company he was keeping, might think she, Lizzie, cared or thought of or gave any credence to his existence whatsoever.
    How was she going to keep a straight face during their interview? He obviously didn’t want to be a Jasta student. He obviously thought he was above everyone else. What made him think he deserved a feature in their Gazette ?
    At least Edward seemed friendly—seemed to know he was the intruder and was trying his best to be amiable. At least Edward—
    “Wait, how do you know his name?” Lizzie asked. Had Ellie been out and about—without her?
    “He came to our room,” Ellie said as they took another slow, sludgy step toward the exit.
    “When? The boys were in our wing?”
    “Not all of them,” Ellie said teasingly, but Lizzie wasn’t in the mood.
    “No boys are allowed in the girls’ wing.”
    “After ten,” Ellie clarified, quoting the new student handbook. “Besides, he was very nice. He came through and introduced himself to each and every girl.”
    “Sounds like a flirt.”
    “It was very polite,” Ellie insisted. “Very appropriate.” Her cornflower blue eyes flashed over to Edward and softened before coming back to Lizzie. “He’s friendly,” she said firmly.
    “Well, the company he keeps is not.” Lizzie jerked her head toward Dante, who was now dispensing with all pretense of politeness and texting into his phone.
    “Not everyone can have a friend as perfect as me,” Ellie said with a grin.
    Lizzie smiled and exhaled with relief. She wasn’t sure why she’d been so anxious