First Date Read Online Free PDF Page A

so you’ll all get to see it.” Hank had really poured it on earlier that afternoon, and the girls had shrieked their excitement.
    “The show will start right at eight o’clock tonight. You are sitting in your assigned seats, so make sure you go right there before the show. The cameramen have the seating assignments, so they can get shots of you during the show.”
    The girl next to Addy, a petite blonde with a southern accent, leaned over to her. “We’re all the way in the back. How are the cameras going to be able to see us over all those tall girls in the front? It’s not fair.”
    Addy shrugged. She had been thinking the same thing. But I don’t think this girl would appreciate that I think it’s a good thing .
    “All right, girls.” Hank looked at his phone. “You just have a few hours to eat, get dressed, and be ready for makeup. You’d better get going.”
    Most of the girls could hardly wait.
    Addy’s mood, however, had only soured in the days since she met Jonathon in the woods. She hated the way she was acting.
    This isn’t me. It’s some Frankenstein version of me: someone who is rude to boys and hates authorities and plots ways to escape uncomfortable situations .
    Her uncle’s face came to mind uninvited. If he saw her right now, he would be so disappointed. He had taught her to always do what’s right, no matter the circumstances, to be kind to others no matter how they treated her. He had taught her to be like Jesus. But being selfish was just so much easier.
    Uncle Mike would say she needed to apologize to Jonathon for being unkind. Addy hated apologizing. She did it because the guilt would eat at her until she did. But she still hated it.
    In her trailer, Addy lay on her bed, trying to read. Realizing she had read the same page at least four times, she put down the book and closed her eyes.
    “Don’t you want to get changed?” Kara, Addy’s trailer mate, asked.
    Addy grimaced. She had managed to avoid conversation most of that week. With a hundred girls crawling around the grounds, the trailers were stuffed to capacity. Addy’s trailer had four girls in it—and most of the time, the other three girls were off having fun together. Hank had arranged game nights, bowling tournaments, and movies on the big screen for them. Kara and her other trailer mates had been enjoying all the show had to offer, and Addy was more than happy to stay behind in the quiet trailer and read.
    Though the girls were required to spend the mornings doing schoolwork, Addy found that three hours wasn’t enough. So she spent her afternoons finishing assignments and getting ahead on others. She enjoyed the independent study. No waiting around for her classmates to finish assignments or ask questions that had already been answered in the teachers’ lectures. The other girls thought her a little odd for enjoying her schoolwork so much. Most of them did just enough to say they were done, then spent the rest of their study time texting friends back home or updating their Facebook or Twitter statuses.
    Kara had invited her to all the events the others attended. But Addy declined. Having to hear all the giggling and squealing at mealtimes and meetings was enough. Addy felt some guilt over that.
    If God really wants me here, then I really should try to be a better example. Of course, if he doesn’t want me here, then I might as well just lie low and wait to get kicked off with the other sixty-nine girls .
    “Addy,” Kara asked again. “Hello. Are you changing before the premiere? There are some awesome clothes in the costume trailer. And they’re free. I got this.” She twirled around in a ruffled white skirt, teal tank top, and cropped jacket. “I’m sure we could find something for you too.”
    “No, I don’t want to create any more laundry to bring home.” Please, just leave me alone .
    No such luck. Kara walked over to Addy’s bed and sat at her feet. “You really don’t want to be here?”
    “No.”