If I Forget You Read Online Free PDF Page B

stranded ruined their plans of shopping and hanging out all afternoon. They had a Big Important Party to attend and they needed to look fantastic. Not that Avery expected much out of the party, but she could at least try.
    “I really need to get a car,” Avery said as they climbed out and locked the doors. “Mom keeps promising, but it just hasn’t happened.”
    “They’re more trouble than they’re worth,” Tam grumbled.
    Avery gave her a sideways glance. “And that is why Gold Bug will not start for us. Where’s the love? The respect?”
    They laughed as they started their trek home.
    Up until that day, Avery had loved high school. She was comfortable there. She had a best friend who understood her. Her grades were good and she was making plans for college. Most importantly, she was finally accepting her father’s death and moving on with her life.
    Then Ryan happened.
    He pulled up beside them in his car, slowing to a crawl as they kept walking. Tam sucked in her breath as she caught a glimpse of him through the window.
    “He’s hot ,” she whispered to Avery. “What do you think he wants?”
    Avery looked up at the gathering clouds. Sweat rolled down her back, but she knew in a few minutes it would be rain drenching her instead.
    “Probably wants to be our knight in shining armor,” Avery answered, nodding at the clouds. “I don’t have an umbrella. Do you?”
    “Nope.”

5
     
     
    Heaven handed Avery a bag of peanuts as soon as she walked into the book repair room. Avery was used to the smell of the place, and for a brief moment she wondered if the chemicals in the glue were addictive and got her high every time she was there. Maybe that was why Heaven liked it down here.
    Book repair seemed to suit Avery more than any other job she’d ever had, including the one in a downtown flower shop. The flowers were fun, but having to remember so many things with money and discounts and employees’ names and positions was too stressful for her. At least with book repair nobody was telling her she’d shortchanged them on purpose.
    “You overwhelmed yet?” Heaven asked as she handed her a book with a torn dust jacket. It might have looked like a simple repair, but Avery knew it would probably take her full shift to complete, if not longer. She opened the bag of peanuts and poured some into her hand. They were slightly sticky, and sugar and salt clung to her fingers.
    “With my classes?” Avery asked, wiping her hands on her pants and reaching out to touch a plant she’d brought in a few days ago. It was a vine with big, bright green leaves. The color alone cheered up the drab room, but Avery would have to get a sun lamp soon or the poor thing would die. She stroked a leaf as Heaven answered.
    “Yeah, your classes.” Heaven opened a bag of peanuts and dumped a few into her mouth. Just like every day, her clothes were black. Instead of Victorian lace stockings, she wore a pair of leather lace-up boots that reached clear to her knees. Her red dreadlocks were pulled back into a ponytail, and Avery studied them for a moment, smiling at how they were wild but precise at the same time.
    Mulling over her answer to Heaven’s question, she thought about all the notes she had taken in her classes and the endless lists of homework — all in the first week! School had never been easy for her. That was one of the reasons she’d agreed with her mom that living with Chloe was a good idea. No stress over dorm mates. No drama to distract her. Then again, drama didn’t seem entirely absent in Chloe’s house, either. Despite that, Avery had a quiet room where she could study any time she wanted. So far, she had managed to keep up with her classes.
    “It’s all right,” she said as she gently pulled off the dust jacket to lay it out straight. Heaven handed her a piece of mending tissue and Avery set it aside while she inspected the damage to the jacket. “In all honesty, my classes aren’t the problem. I mean,