Last Stop This Town Read Online Free PDF Page A

Who’s to say they weren’t supposed to figure out how to make it all work and live happily ever after? It didn’t sound so crazy after all. The truth was Noah just wasn’t sure.
    But Dylan had been hounding him for months to break up with Sarah. True, Dylan didn’t believe in relationships in the first place, but he was persuasive when he said, “If it’s not fun anymore, what’s the point?” Noah had been broaching the subject with Sarah for weeks by delicately asking what they were going to do after graduation. But deep down, Noah didn’t want Sarah to be like those karate classes he took at the Y in third grade, where he just gave up after it got too hard. Maybe he was supposed to be a black belt today and he changed the cosmic timeline by quitting too easily.
    So when Noah turned to Sarah and said, “Hey, babe. One more week,” it was an immediate downer.
    Sarah’s smile faded and she just muttered, “Yeah.”
    Suddenly, it was awkward. Avoiding eye contact, Noah asked, “So are we going to talk about this?” He glanced over and saw Dylan giving him a look of moral support.
    Sarah put on her game face and took Noah’s hand with a smile. “Do we have to do this now? It’s a party.”
    “If you call it that,” Noah replied. “Look, I just think we need to figure things out before graduation.”
    Maybe Sarah was in complete denial about their impending doom. Or maybe she just wanted to avoid the heartache for as long as possible. Whatever the reason, Sarah pulled out her trump card and said, “Not now. I’m horny.” She knew no guy was going to say no to that, and she smiled seductively as she led him toward the stairs. Maybe she had only delayed the conversation for another day or two, but for now Sarah was pleased with herself, and inside she was gloating about the power girls had over guys.
    As he ascended the stairway to heaven, Noah locked eyes with a visibly disappointed Dylan. Noah’s look said, What can I do? I tried.
    Dylan just shook his head. What a chicken-shit.
    With Walker chatting up Patience on the couch, Noah off with Sarah, and Pike in a cloud of smoke in the work room, Dylan was alone now. He swigged the last of his beer and left the empty on the bar. A cute sophomore girl was walking toward him. She looked young and had an insecure vibe about her, as if she was overly self-conscious about even being at a senior party. Dylan was sure he’d seen her in the cafeteria before, but there were a lot of cute girls at Hall High and Dylan couldn’t keep track of all of them. As she was about to pass him, Dylan stopped her without missing a beat.
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dylan said, pointing to her chest and sounding serious. “You’ve got ‘updoc’ all over your shirt.”
    The cute girl took the bait. “What’s ‘updoc’?”
    Dylan put his finger to his mouth and did his best Elmer Fudd: “Shhh! Be vewy, vewy qwiet. I’m hunting wabbits.”
    She actually laughed at this, as Dylan had no doubt that she would. He grinned, with a smile that was time-tested and well-honed for perceived sincerity. “Hi, I’m Dylan,” was all he needed to say to seal the deal. Looks like all those years of watching old cartoons really paid off.

    Back on the couch, Walker was making headway of his own. Patience really seemed into him. You could tell by her body language, the way she leaned in to face him, laughed at his lame attempts at jokes, and even touched his arm. Unfortunately, Walker failed to notice any of this.
    “I’m visiting my friend Tracy,” Patience explained. “I go to Choate. Well, I used to. God, it’s so weird to think we already graduated.”
    She leaned forward and Walker tried his hardest not to look down her shirt. After all, his strategy was to appeal to her mind, not insult her with base leering. “Where are you going next year?” he asked.
    “Wellesley.”
    Walker saw his in. “Wow, I’m going to be in Boston. Well, just outside. Brandeis. We should exchange