Hunting Lila Read Online Free PDF Page A

bit back my original response. ‘So, how long have you two been dating? Where does she live?’ I asked.
    ‘Eight months. She lives on the base.’
    ‘I thought you said your unit lived off base?’ Hah – I’d caught him out.
    He continued smoothly, ‘We do. She doesn’t. It’s better for her being on base.’
    ‘Why?’ I asked.
    ‘Can you pass the mustard?’ Alex interrupted, reaching over and giving Jack a hard stare.
    Then he turned to me. ‘So, talking of living arrangements . . .’
    I stared at him now. I always knew when these two were being shifty. Like the time I’d walked into Jack’s bedroom and found them acting in exactly the same way. Trying to distract me. They’d been trying to hide a copy of Playboy.
    Alex’s words still hung in the air. They were both staring at me with questions, actually one question, in their eyes. It was a dual-pronged attack. I cut a piece of steak to buy some more time. The steak knife had a serrated edge. I put it down on my plate and stared at it. I suddenly didn’t feel like eating.
    ‘Lila, are you going to tell us why you’re here?’
    I looked at Jack and the words wouldn’t come. I didn’t know how to tell him. The secret had been inside me for so long it wouldn’t come out. I didn’t know how to find the words to even describe it. And besides I was going cold turkey. There was no point in telling them. I could make up a thousand excuses but the real truth of it was I couldn’t bear the thought of Alex looking at me like I was a freak. It was bad enough that he looked at me as Jack’s sister.
    I took a breath. ‘It’s revision time,’ I tried. ‘I just thought on a whim that it would be a good time to come and check out colleges.’
    ‘Colleges?’ Jack was frowning.
    ‘Yeah, you know, the places that you go to get a further education? Or, alternatively, the places you drop out of when you decide to join up.’
    ‘Very funny. You’re on form tonight, Lila. Why are you looking at colleges over here?’
    He didn’t seem happy. I looked at Alex, who had stopped chewing and was now eyeing me carefully. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Damn, he could be so contained sometimes.
    ‘I thought college over here would be better. San Diego University has a good reputation. Or there’s USC . . .’ I petered out.
    ‘Lila . . . I’m not sure California’s such a good idea.’
    His words shot through me, making my insides curl.
    ‘I . . . but . . . I can’t stay in England.’
    ‘Look, it isn’t that I don’t want you here. It’s just . . .’ He fumbled around for the words. ‘There are safer places.’
    Yeah, safe like south London, I thought. It crossed my mind that I should just tell him about being mugged. Maybe then he’d see the logic of his argument was seriously flawed. But that would just open a huge can of worms. And, anyway, there was no logic to his argument. Oceanside was hardly a hotbed of crime. A great big army base up the road had to act like a flashing siren to most criminals except the truly stupid ones. But then why did he have the crazy alarm on the house? Maybe Oceanside was some crime capital and I just didn’t know about it. But still.
    Suddenly Jack’s eyes narrowed. He put his knife and fork down. ‘Is this about a boy?’
    ‘What?’ Where did that come from? My mind seized up at the totally unexpected twist. ‘A boy? What? No!’
    Did he know about Alex? Was I that obvious? Were they both onto me? For years I’d been plotting my escape back here for college and my reasoning had been nothing to do with the diversity of study options and all to do with a boy. Though he wasn’t technically a boy now.
    ‘Then why the suddenness? That couldn’t have waited? You’re not going to college for over a year.’
    Yes, he had me on that one.
    ‘You left in the middle of the night. You didn’t even call. Just sent an email. What were you planning on doing if I hadn’t got it?’
    ‘Um, catching a