In Real Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

crumbs off her face with her sleeve. “I think I must be in the wrong yard. What did you say?”
    I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking about each and every word before I say it. “The three of us. Spring break. Let’s drive to Vegas tomorrow and go see Nick’s show. The show is a big deal, and I want to be there.”
    Grace processes what I’m saying, and I think I actually see the wheels in her head turning. Grace, who spent her teen years sneaking out her window to go to punk rock shows on school nights. Grace, who came home from a show once, talked to a hot guy she’d met there online for a few days, and said, “He has a brother your age, you guys should talk,” before ditching the hot guy and moving on to the next dude. Grace, who constantly tries to get me to do something, anything, outside of what is expected of me. To break any rule, no matter how small.
    Her smile almost overtakes her entire face.
    â€œAre you saying what I think you’re saying?” Lo hops out of the pool, grabs a towel from the end of Grace’s lounge chair, and whips it around herself, all within what seems like half a second. She stands toe-to-toe with me, her long hair dripping on my feet. “Are you, Hannah Cho—perfect student, daughter, and citizen—for real suggesting that we secretly drive to Las Vegas, Sin freaking City, to see this dude you’ve never met in person without telling our parents where we are?”
    I stick the penny into my back pocket. “Screw them,” I say, but I wince as soon as the words escape. “No, I don’t mean that. I love Mom and Dad. I mean, screw the rules. Screw people telling me what I can and can’t do.” I feel energized. Alive. “It’s just one night. Drive out tomorrow, go to the show, stay the night in a hotel, drive home the next day. They’ll never even know we aren’t here.”
    Grace’s excitement practically explodes off her face as she rushes from the lounge chair and gathers me into a tight hug. “I knew it! I knew you had it in you! There were times I wondered if there was any way we were actually related, but I knew you’d do something completely illegal and make me proud one of these days.”
    Lo joins in the hug, too, but she’s still drippy from the pool, so we both shake her off. That does nothing to deter her excitement, though. “I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas,” she says, hopping from one foot to the other. “And I’ve always wanted to witness you breaking through the chains of your good-girl shackles and letting Crazy Hannah out to play. It’s going to be Girls Gone Wild up in here!”
    â€œDon’t get it twisted,” I say. “I have a cardigan collection. I’m not exactly the Girls Gone Wild type.”
    â€œOh no,” Grace says. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. We’ll raid Lo’s closet for you. She has all that hoochie wear—”
    â€œHey, now,” Lo breaks in.
    â€œAnd we’ll get you looking so hot, you won’t even recognize yourself. Oh, and Nick … damn, he’s going to die when he sees you.”
    â€œSettle down, you guys.” Hands in the air, I back away from Lo and Grace, who both look at me like I’m some kind of arts and crafts project. “It’s not like that between us.”
    Grace breaks into a loud, hearty laugh. She’s so caught up in it, she falls back onto the lounge chair.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” I ask.
    â€œOf course it’s like that between you two,” she says as she tries to pull herself together.
    I look to Lo to help me out, since she knows Nick and I are nothing more than friends. She doesn’t know about all the feelings that have started to surface when I listen to his playlists, but she knows I’ve had a long string of boyfriends over the past few years, so it’s