Happenstance Read Online Free PDF

walked toward Brady. “All
right, Brady, let’s go.”
    “Don’t fucking touch me!” Brady said, his voice almost a whine.
    “Brady Beck, get out of that chair, or so help me, I will assist
Coach Morris in physically removing you from this classroom! Get up! Now!”
    Brady leaned back against his seat as Mrs. Pyles leaned toward him.
She was angrier than I’d ever seen her. After a moment of shock, Brady
scrambled for his things and scurried from the classroom.
    “You’ll be hearing from my parents!”
    “Oh, goody. Can’t wait,” Coach Morris deadpanned. “Now, back to
the facial muscles.”
    I scooted down in my seat, feeling the ten pairs of eyes boring
into the back of my head.
    During seventh period, I kept glancing at Weston’s empty seat and
sighing. I didn’t need him to save me, and it was causing him grief. I wasn’t
sure why he’d suddenly decided to take me on as a cause, but it was clearly
dangerous for both of us.
    As I walked to the front of the school at the end of the day, I
could see Brady, Brendan, Andrew, and the Erins standing on the corner that I
usually crossed, next to their parallel-parked vehicles. Not once since they
got their licenses had they congregated there, and I knew the Erins were
already late for cheer practice. They were waiting for me.
    I refused to take a different route to the Dairy Queen and lifted
my chin as I approached, keeping my eyes forward.
    “Hey,” Sonny said. “We need to talk.”
    “I have nothing to say to you,” I said, gripping the black, nylon
straps of my backpack so tight my fingers hurt.
    Alder smirked. “Maybe not, but we have a lot to say to you.”
    Brady grabbed my arm and flipped me around. “Don’t be a fucking
cunt. Let her speak.”
    I yanked my arm away, and just as the Erins were approaching me,
a big, red truck pulled in next to us, the front tires climbing the curb with
ease.
    The driver’s side door slammed, and Weston ran around the front,
wedging his shoulder between Brady’s hand and my arm.
    “What are you doing, man?” Weston said.
    Brady’s expression turned severe. “What am I doing? What’s wrong
with you? Why are you busting my balls over this skank?”
    “Just leave her alone, man,” Weston said, trying to keep his
voice calm.
    “Weston,” Alder said, reaching for his fingers. She looked like a
beautiful, poisonous snake as she lithely crawled up Weston’s side, rising on
the balls of her feet. She kissed the corner of his mouth softly.
    I had to fight a sudden bout of nausea.
    Weston pulled away from her.  “Go, Easter,” he said quietly over
his shoulder.
    I turned on my heels and kept walking, refusing to look back. For
the next five blocks, I tried to push the revolting image of Erin’s toxic lips
touching Weston. It was common knowledge that they were each other’s firsts,
but I tried not to think about it, and had successfully read all signs of
oncoming PDA between the two for the last five years.
    I slipped into the back door of the Dairy Queen, tying on my
apron as I walked to the front.
    “Hey chickiedoo! How was your day?” Frankie said, closing the
window after her latest customer walked away.
    “Weston got kicked out of class for taking up for me. The Erins
and some of the guys were waiting for me after school.”
    “Aw! Wait . . . what ?”
    “You heard me,” I said, crossing my arms and leaning my butt
against the counter.
    A minivan pulled into the parking lot, and several kids filed
out. The mom came to my window, already looking worn. I took each of their
orders, three of them changing while I was making them, and sent them on their
way. After that, the lines formed and people kept adding to them until dark, so
we didn’t have much time to talk. When baseball practice let out, Weston’s
truck took off down Main Street, without stopping at the DQ. None of the
players did..
    We cleaned up, closed the shop, and walked outside. “Ride?”
Frankie asked, but then stopped,