Her Kiss (Griffin) Read Online Free PDF Page A

She just had to be like Ally … well, okay, maybe she just had to be Ally.
    Anyway, yeah. I finally broke down and sought out Hailey for some insight. I leaned against
the locker next to hers. “I’m confused. Why does Ally keep running from me?”
    Hailey stiffened, then laughed,
shutting her locker with a loud slam. “You’re a bad boy, Griffin. Didn’t you
know that? Girls dream about
guys like you. But girls like Ally Grange — Goody-good
Girls—won’t ever go for you. Ever .
You fill their fantasies—but in real life you make them quiver and run
away.”
    Okay, that sounded like Ally.
    I scrubbed a hand over my face, not
exactly encouraged. “So … what can I do?”
    Hailey laughed again, like this
whole conversation was hilarious—me interested in a church girl … or any
girl. I waited her out, since I could see the irony. She was always coming to
me for advice about guys (I’d never come to her for advice—not once). But
my advice for her was always the same, ‘If
he doesn’t call you, move on.’
    Well, Ally wasn’t calling. Or even
letting me near her. So, yeah, I got that Hailey was saying in her
not-so-subtle and very-pleased way that I should move on. I knew she would be
thrilled when I finally did … only, I didn’t want to.
    I leaned the back of my head
against the locker. Waiting.
    She rolled her eyes, obviously not
wanting to give me helpful advice—anyway, not something helpful to get me
in with Ally Grange—the girl Hailey had growled and grumbled about ever
since “the cookie,” and even really before that. Nice people bug her; the same
as mean ones bug me. (Though Hailey doesn’t … usually. But that’s just because
I’ve known her so long. She’s kind of like a grouchy kid brother to me. [But
don’t tell her I said that.])
    I waited for Hailey’s insightful
words, bracing myself, knowing she can be kind of brutal. Still, her brutality
is pretty much always laced with honesty, always. So, I didn’t really hold it
against her. I respected her for it, sort of, pretty much. She didn’t hold back
her punches, that was for sure. I went to different people if I wanted
coddling—like any other
person in the world. But right now I needed an honest answer: What could I do to get Ally?
    “Nothing!” Hailey said. “Griffin,
girls know what you do. You break hearts—and don’t even try to deny it.”
    She looked me challengingly in the
eye, her gleaming gaze dark and glistening. Whoa. Scary. I looked away, kind of
unsettled. More from her words though than her evil-eye.
    But here’s the thing: I didn’t go
around trying to break girls’
hearts. Ever. That was never my intent. Ever. But girls all seemed to want
“love.” I was too young for that—or immature—or something. I just
didn’t feel it … and I never said I did. In fact, I would always tell girls I
was just having fun—and they’d say they were too, but then I’d always
hear later girls were crying about me. So apparently their fun and my fun were
not the same thing. (Theirs didn’t actually seem that fun—I mean, they cried . And I just moved on to
another girl. It was messed up. I know. But not my fault.)
    Hailey went on, sounding
excruciatingly blissful to get to explain this to me, “Girls know that,
Griffin—they aren’t dumb. They know you’ll break their hearts. But some
girls are willing to risk the pain—or they are exceedingly delusional and
over-confident and somehow think they can “change” you. That they’re the ones
that can. That they’re “special” … at least in your eyes. It’s your fault they think that though, Griffin. You make them think that.”
    I looked away from her again. I
can’t help it if I like girls—they are special to me. I like them—all of them. As long as
they’re nice. I may not “change” for them … but I never try to hurt
them.
    I’m pretty sure Hailey could see
she was making me feel like a dirt-bag. It didn’t make her ease up