How Sweet It Is Read Online Free PDF Page A

to the program.”
    “I know, which is why we’re going to make sure you pass this term with flying colors. I’ve asked one of my other students to be your partner on the term project.”
    “Ooo-kay.” She frowned. “I’m not sure how that’s going to make an impact on the end of the term test.”
    “That’s why I’ve asked him to tutor you as well.” Mrs. Watley smiled, obviously happy with her brilliance. “He’s new in school but maybe you’ve met him. Hunter Vicks?”
    Chloe froze. Then she shook her head vigorously. “Hunter Vicks is not a good choice.”
    “He’s quite proficient, I assure you.” Her teacher smiled gently. “And he’s cute. Maybe studying won’t be such a hardship.”
    No, it wouldn’t be a hardship, because he was absolutely hot . But the last thing she needed was for Hunter Vicks to know that she was an idiot—or that she dreamt about kissing him. She kept shaking her head. “There must be someone else who can help me.”
    “Hunter’s the best choice, and he’s already agreed.” Her teacher searched for something on her desk and then handed her a sheet of paper. “He’ll meet you tomorrow after school.”
    She read his contact info and felt her cheeks begin to burn. She stuffed the paper in her journal, mumbled something, and left the classroom. She headed down the hall toward her next class.
    There he was.
    She stopped in the middle of the hallway, barely noticing the person who bumped into her from behind. Hunter’s back was turned to her, but she didn’t need to see his face to know what he looked like—he’d been branded on her brain the day he’d transferred into school.
    It was his eyes, though, that always struck her. They were the same gray-green she imagined Marco’s eyes to be, from The Night Circus , her all-time favorite book.
    She imagined staring into Hunter’s eyes as he tried to explain quantum theory to her and felt her lips begin to pucker.
    “Bugger this,” she murmured. She couldn’t deal. She whirled around before he saw her and snuck out of school to get ice cream, even though it was cold and rainy out. Sometimes ice cream was best in the cold, made better by skipping class.
    Eating the cone, she stopped to browse in a travel bookstore. She perused a guidebook on Papua New Guinea, which seemed to warn travelers away more than encouraging them to visit.
    Finally, when it was late enough, she went back to school to wait in front for Charles to pick her up.
    Assuming he’d show, which was a big assumption, because lately he was always canceling.
    Pulling her hood up, she huddled into herself, willing him to arrive before someone noticed her standing there.
    Charles pulled up to the curb in the new red Ferrari he’d bought last year after her mum had made him move out. Chloe loved Luca’s Ferrari, but her father looked lame driving one. She opened the door, set her bag on the floor, and dropped onto the seat. Charles tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as she buckled in and then pulled jerkily back onto the street.
    Awkward. She left her hood up and looked out the window to avoid seeing his expression. She totally related when, in The Night Circus , the heroine met her father for the first time and he looked at her and said, “Well, fuck.” Charles usually looked at her like he had no idea what species she belonged to. He only pretended to be interested in her because it’d look bad otherwise. The only things he was interested in were his job, his girlfriend Louise, and this car.
    She wished she were going home. At home, she didn’t have to walk on eggshells anymore. If she didn’t want to put her clothes away at night, she didn’t have to worry about a lecture or being chastised or whatever.
    At home, she could also keep an eye on her mother. She bit her lip, remembering Sunday night. She’d followed her mum to make sure she didn’t do anything to herself. Viola had looked feverish, or possessed—Chloe couldn’t decide