First Chances Read Online Free PDF Page A

back to our table. I hesitated, glancing back at Hadie as she progressed in the line. She still hadn’t seen me yet, but I couldn’t stop watching her.
    I knew it was lame, but for a long time now she had affected me like no one else did. Even when she was with another guy, I still couldn’t get her out of my mind. All I wanted was for her to see me; to really open up her eyes and see how much I cared about her.
    I wasn’t asking for much. I just wanted her to let me in the way she had right after she’d lost Lincoln; when she’d pushed away even Mariah and Estella. During that time, Hadie and I had connected—I’d take over her homework and help her catch up on school work she’d missed; we would take short walks around the neighborhood, just as an excuse to get her out of the house; she would share her deep silences and a spare, few words with me—but in a matter of weeks she’d completely changed. Now the only thing that mattered was that Three guy.
    Her attitude wasn’t the only thing that had changed. She’d started dressing differently, too. Gone was the sweater-wearing girl I was used to. Her clothes hugged her body, accentuating her figure. She had started wearing makeup—black eyeliner and pink gloss that accented the features I already loved. Her hair was straighter. She dressed sexier . It was probably to impress Three. Didn’t she realize that she didn’t need to change herself for anyone? That she was perfect just the way she was?
    “You’re like a lovesick puppy,” Riley said as he stuffed fries into his mouth. “You actually can’t take your eyes off her.”
    “You’re one to talk,” I said with a grin as the table our friends were sitting at came into view.
    Staring intently at us was Stacey Parker, our closest girl friend. She was hard to miss with her messy, dark red hair, and Bohemian sense of style. Right now she was wearing a floral, orange and white dress with a denim jacket over the top. She definitely wasn’t afraid of looking different, and I knew Riley was hot for her.
    Sitting across from her were Luca Byron and Ashton Summers. They stood out like two sunflowers in a garden filled with weeds—well, if one of the sunflowers insisted on dressing in black and was covered in tattoos. Luca and Ashton were dating, and they were one interesting looking couple. Luca had dark hair, tattoos, and a grungy look about him. Ashton was tall, slim, blonde, and gorgeous. She’d previously been a cheerleader, but now she was one of us. Basically, she was a social outcast, looked down on by the self-appointed popular kids for not being cool enough.
    My friends and I had always been too lame for the popular kids; we weren’t athletic enough and our parents didn’t have enough money, plus we played in a pop punk band. Hey, if being cool meant I had to go around belittling other people for being different, then I was perfectly fine being at the bottom of the social scale. And so was Ashton.
    Elly Marles—brown hair, brown eyes, curvier girl—sat beside Stacey. She was on the quieter side, and only really spoke when she had something worthwhile to add to a conversation. She was a recent addition to our group, along with Ashton, and I feel was still trying to find her place amongst us.
    In a weird twist of events, Ashton, who had once been Queen of Popularity at our school, had bullied and humiliated Elly and then become a social outcast herself. It was a long story; the point was they were both part of our weird group now, and good friends, too.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Riley asked, looking offended as he chewed with his mouth open.
    I nodded in Stacey’s direction. “So you and Stace haven’t been getting busy in the back of your van?”
    Riley choked on a fry. “How did you know that?”
    “I know everything,” I said with a serious expression. I found that it added to the mystery a little more. “In fact, I bet that blueberry bagel is for Stace. I’ve never seen you