Fever Pitch Read Online Free PDF Page A

two. I want real friends. I want…”
    Tanner flashed in his mind, and he put his hands on his stomach.
    â€œYou okay?” Giles slowed the car. “Do you need me to pull over?”
    â€œI just need to eat,” Aaron lied.
    â€œFood coming right up. I see the sign up ahead. What would you rather, a burger or chicken sandwich?”
    â€œBurger. Big one. With bacon and cheese.” Aaron tried to fumble for his wallet, but Giles waved him away.
    â€œI got this, birthday boy. Stand down.”
    Warmth flooded the hollow place inside Aaron. “Thanks. You’re…really nice.”
    Giles flashed him a smile that made everything inside Aaron hum, but when Aaron smiled back, Giles looked away.
    He ordered Aaron a full meal: burger, fries, Frosty and bottle of water, getting himself a pop. “I got a large order of fries, figuring we could split it. Sound okay?”
    â€œYeah.” Aaron took a bite of his burger and felt his soul realign. “Oh my God, thank you so much. You’re saving my life.”
    â€œPretty easy save, and at value meal prices.” Giles sipped his drink and grabbed a fry as he navigated onto the road. “Where to now? You want to head home or cruise around?”
    â€œI don’t want to go home.” Aaron scowled at the streets of Anoka. “Not like there’s anywhere else to go, though.”
    â€œSure there is. I’d say we could get pizza, but we bought all this food. You’re a bit drunk to bowl, and there’s no way either of us can get in a bar, but a few of the parks are still open. Plus there’s always the lake. We could midnight picnic.”
    A midnight picnic sounded fun, especially with Giles. “Are you sure you don’t care? I don’t want to keep you.”
    â€œWhat is it, exactly, you think you’re keeping me from?”
    Aaron shrugged. “I don’t know. Stuff?”
    â€œIn Oak Grove?” Giles sighed as he headed north. “Honest to God, college has got to improve things. My friend Mina is going to Saint Timothy too. She says it’s going to be the same, and oh my fucking God, no .”
    â€œI hadn’t thought that far ahead. College seems so scary.”
    â€œWhy? What’s to be scared of?”
    â€œEverything.” Aaron felt the burger leak around his lips and fumbled for a napkin. “Tomorrow my dad’s coming, and I have to have a college and a reason for picking it. A reason he’ll accept. Otherwise he’ll choose for me, and I’m sure to hate it.”
    â€œSo pick one first. Grab one at random, see what they’re known for, find the thing that will make your dad happy and tell him that’s the reason you chose it. Rush out your app, and boom, you’re done.”
    Could it actually be so simple? “Is this friend of yours from A-H, the one who’s going with you?”
    â€œYeah, we’re being lame and using the buddy system. So I guess I am scared enough to take my BFF security blanket with me. But mostly it worked out. She’s going to be pre-med, and they have a great program. Pre-med, pre-law and music. That’s Timothy.”
    â€œHas to be nice, though, having her along.”
    Giles waggled his eyebrow. “You could go to Mankato with Colton.” He laughed when Aaron groaned. “Still blows my mind that you don’t like him. Why do you hang out so much if you can’t stand him?”
    Aaron tried to swallow the truth with his fries, but he and alcohol didn’t make much for censorship. “He was the only one who showed interest in being my friend when I moved here. So I went with it.”
    Giles looked at him as if he’d grown an extra head. “Shut up. No way.”
    â€œNo way what?”
    â€œNo way everyone else at A-H snubbed you.”
    Was this a trick question? Aaron eyed Giles carefully. “Um, yeah. Nobody talked to me.”
    â€œYou hang out with the