Head Over Heels Read Online Free PDF Page A

flight of stairs and into a large well-lit room with a dull tile floor. A few tables lined the far wall, and in each corner was a shelf in need of repair. An old wooden desk, piled with papers and books sat to the side of the door.
    Russ turned to Marielle. “Is there always someone here waiting for you?”
    She nodded. “I’m usually here a little sooner than this. I time it so I can arrive not long after they get off school. Many of them need a place that’s not an empty house. They’re all old enough to be left home alone, but that doesn’t mean it’s best.”
    Russ stared at her. At that age, every day he’d gone home to an empty apartment and often he’d ended updoing things he shouldn’t have been doing. He’d almost started on a downward spiral like all his friends, but at the last minute had realized that he had to do something right that second if he wanted to escape the trap and make something out of his life.
    By the time he realized what would happen if he didn’t get his act together, it had still been too late to do what he really wanted, which was get a scholarship for university. He’d already messed up his grades too much by focusing on his immediate needs: his minimum-wage job and trying to fit in with those he thought were his friends, instead of studying. Also, by then he had a reputation to live up to—or to live down to.
    Still, he’d done more than most of his friends. He was the first to have a job and stick with it. He made up his mind to do what it took to pass, and actually graduated from high school, got a student loan and went on to business college.
    Marielle smiled at him, breaking him out of his memories.
    â€œEveryone else will be here soon. We’d better get started.”
    Â 
    Marielle stood back to watch the flurry. Russ had picked a table in the corner of the room and was setting up the computer. As she’d expected, the boys gathered around him, asking a million questions while the girls stayed with Marielle watching from across the room.
    â€œI’ll bet he’ll be a real hottie when he gets that thing off his face,” a female voice whispered behind Marielle,then broke into giggles. “And if he has a bump on his nose from it being broken, that’s so sexy.”
    Marielle turned around to see Brittany. Today, Brittany was wearing her trendy clothes way too tight, and again in Marielle’s opinion, she was wearing too much makeup for a sixteen-year-old girl.
    â€œForget it, Brittany. I’m not interested.”
    Brittany giggled again. “Why not? He’s so handsome, and he seems smart, too.”
    â€œBeing smart isn’t everything,” Marielle replied. And she’d certainly had it with handsome.
    She’d seen enough of Russ to know what he was really about, and she knew the type well. She’d seen the same traits in Michael. At first, she’d admired him, and before long, she’d fallen in love. He was dedicated, and seemed to have admirable goals. He had promised to work hard at his career to provide a good future for both of them. He had had big plans and he aimed high. At first she’d helped—even supported him while he worked part time and went to college part time, all in order to achieve those goals that were supposed to benefit them as a couple. She’d almost driven herself to exhaustion to do it, because she loved him.
    But still, nothing was good enough. When she said she needed some downtime to see her friends and church family, whom she’d been ignoring for Michael, he told her it wasn’t the right time. Even though he worked long hours, Michael wasn’t content with what they had, and he always had to work harder to get more. No matter how much money he made, nothing wouldsatisfy him, he always wanted bigger and better and more expensive. First, he wanted a bigger house and a better new car—for both of them, he claimed.