Heat of the Moment Read Online Free PDF Page A

ones we sent? Did you get it?” Her voice sounds frazzled, and she shifts her weight from foot to foot, like she’s here asking about a secret government document and not just some dumb email we sent when we were fourteen. Her hair is a lot longer than it used to be, and it’s darker on the top than the bottom. She must have gotten an ombre. It makes her look older. In a good way.
    â€œWhat email?” Derrick asks.
    Oh, god.
    â€œYes,” I say to Aven. “I got it.” I say it firmly, like the conversation is over and that’s all I have to say on the matter. This isn’t going to turn into one of those trips down memory lane, where we reminisce about how crazy everything was when we were fourteen, and oh my god can you believe we sent those things, and holy crap weren’t we so young, and maybe we should just be friends again or at least if we’re not friends, we should just forget about everything and no hard feelings when we go to college okay mm-hmm bye.
    I thrust my chin in the air and force myself to meet her eyes, determined not to show her any emotion.
    But my throat tightens and my heart starts beating fast. I remember her, standing in front of the school on the day we stopped being friends. I’m not the one who told your mom, Lyla! I don’t understand how you could be mad at me! It’s not even anyone’s fault .
    But of course it was her fault. Her and Quinn’s fault, both. And no matter how much I miss both of them, no matter how much I think about them, it can never be the same. And so what’s the point?
    â€œFlight 935 to Sarasota is now boarding, Flight 935 to Sarasota is now boarding at Gate 24,” a voice chirps over the loudspeaker.
    â€œWell!” I say just as chirpily. “Here we go! I guess we better board.”
    â€œWhere’s your stuff?” Derrick asks, frowning. “Didn’t you bring a carry-on?”
    â€œNope,” I say. “Just this.” I hold up my Coach wristlet, a present from Derrick for my seventeenth birthday last summer.
    â€œThat’s all you brought for a carry-on?” Aven asks skeptically.
    â€œI’m trying to simplify my life,” I reply haughtily. “Everyone is so obsessed with materialism and things . I’m, you know, streamlining.” I pet my Coach wristlet like it’s the only thing I need in life. Which is really ridiculous when you think about it, because if someone were trying to strip downtheir existence, they really wouldn’t leave themselves with a Coach wristlet. They’d probably get some kind of wallet made from recycled hemp or something.
    â€œYou’re trying to streamline your life?” Aven asks, sounding even more incredulous. Like she knows me or something.
    â€œA person can change,” I say ominously. I try to look mysterious, like there are all kinds of things she doesn’t know about me, all kinds of ways I’ve changed in the two years since we’ve stopped being friends.
    â€œWhen did you decide to simplify your life?” Derrick asks. “Because you never told me that.” He looks suspicious. “Is this why you want to have sex?”
    â€œYou want to have sex?” Aven asks. Her forehead crinkles. “Wait. You two haven’t slept together yet? Haven’t you been going out for forever?”
    â€œOh my god,” I say, holding my hand up. “Both of you need to stop.”
    â€œWhatever,” Aven says. She shakes her head. “Your sex life is none of my business.”
    â€œYou’re damn right it’s not.”
    I turn and start to walk away, hoping they get the message. The message being that Derrick should follow me and Aven should just go away. But it doesn’t work.
    â€œLyla,” she says. “Please, wait. Can we . . . I mean, can I talk to you for a second?”
    I sigh, then tilt my head back and roll my head around, trying to get rid of some of the