Lucky Break Read Online Free PDF Page B

ears.
    â€œWe’re getting out of here,” SBB said, grabbing my hand.
    It was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

Chapter 5
FRONT STOOP FACE-OFF
    Get me smelling salts, mineral water, and a Gray’s Papaya with relish. NO KETCHUP!”
    A hazy voice was shouting orders somewhere over my head. I blinked. Where was I? I could feel myself moving, but I wasn’t sure how. I tried to sit up, but a cool hand pressed down on my forehead.
    â€œShhh,” the voice said. “Help is on the way.”
    Then, a whiff of the most pungent odor I had ever smelled infiltrated my nostrils. I wheezed and covered my face with my hands, coughing.
    â€œAnd she’s back,” SBB said, smiling a very small and sad-looking smile at me. “Here’s your revival cocktail.” She handed me a bottle of sparkling Vittel water and a hot dog with a thick clump of relish down the middle, just the way I liked it.
    â€œWhere are we?” I asked, taking a bite.
    â€œGetting you home,” she said. “You really scaredme in there, Flannie. Luckily, Roderick was in the neighborhood and swung by Saks to pick us up.” She pointed at the driver’s seat of the Escalade that was speeding south down Fifth Avenue. That was when the awful truth came back to me. For the second time tonight, my stomach dropped down to my Derek Lam boots.
    â€œDid I dream it?” I asked, trying to blot out the memory of that awful picture glaring in my brain.
    â€œI don’t think so, sweetie,” SBB said. “But we’re going to figure this out.”
    She was being so good to me, with her smooth hand stroking my forehead, but even though her words were confident, I could hear doubt in her voice. We’d both seen the evidence, clear as a Neutrogena model’s skin. What was there to figure out?
    â€œYou have to talk to him,” SBB said, as the car turned right on Houston Street. We drove past the Angelika theater, where Alex and I had gone to his friend’s movie premiere party. We stopped at the light at Lafayette, in front of the twenty-four-hour pool hall where Alex recently taught me that there was more to the game than just the cool clicking noise the balls make when they knocked together.
    No—I couldn’t think about the good things at atime like this. My mind spun back to last night, when I’d texted Alex because I had to back out of the party. He’d let me off the hook so easily. Now I wondered: had he already had Cookie Willderwhatsit waiting in the wings? The thought was too horrifying to bear.
    SBB was right. Maybe there was a logical explanation behind all of this. Maybe Alex had a twin brother I didn’t know about …
    â€œIt’s going to be okay,” I said, trying to convince myself with every word. “I just need to talk to him.”
    â€œThat’s right,” SBB said, biting her lip. I had never seen her look so serious before. “The sooner you talk to that Jerk of New York—er, Alex, the better.”
    When the car turned west down Perry Street and came to a stop in front of my brownstone, I realized with a shock that I wasn’t going to have to wait very long. Alex was sitting on my front steps. He looked like he’d been there a while.
    I whipped around to face SBB, my eyes wide.
    â€œDo I look okay?” I asked. I couldn’t believe the words even escaped my lips. Alex knew me so well, he didn’t care if I just rolled out of bed or if I was walking down a runway. But suddenly, I felt pressure to look my best.
    SBB pinched my cheeks. “There,” she said. “Now you’ve got your color back. You look great.” She held my hand. “Flan,” she said, looking deep in my eyes.I nodded. “Don’t let him off the hook too easily. I know you care about him, but—”
    I nodded again and started to open the door of the car.
    â€œFlan,” she whispered loudly. “Do