Meg at Sixteen Read Online Free PDF Page B

ruffle on it.
    â€œHappy birthday, Margaret,” Robert Sinclair said. He was Isabelle’s older brother, and Margaret knew he would ask her to dance that evening as a courtesy.
    â€œThank you, Robert,” she said.
    â€œI hope you don’t mind,” Robert said. “I brought along a friend of mine. He’s staying with us this summer. Margaret Winslow, I’d like you to meet Nick Sebastian.”

C HAPTER T HREE
    This is the handsomest man I’ve ever seen, Meg thought, and then just as quickly she thought, but that doesn’t matter, and the two thoughts bumped into each other and made her blush. She felt like a fool standing there, turning red in that ridiculous dress, with Aunt Grace standing by her side, making sure she didn’t slouch or mumble or forget to thank people. He’ll hate me, she thought, and then she couldn’t remember his name, or why it was important that he not hate her, and she wished she could vanish, and she wished the moment could last forever.
    â€œLet’s dance,” he said.
    â€œBut I have to stand on line,” she replied. Did she mumble? Probably.
    â€œDo you?” he asked.
    Meg considered his question. “No,” she said. “I don’t, do I.”
    He stared at her and she stared back, and she knew she wasn’t blushing anymore. He took her hand, and led her away from the line, away from Aunt Grace. The band was playing Gershwin. They began to dance.
    â€œI don’t know your name,” Meg admitted. “I heard it, but I guess I didn’t listen hard enough.”
    â€œNick Sebastian,” he said. “Do people really call you Margaret?”
    â€œMy aunt does,” Meg said.
    â€œI’ll call you Daisy,” Nick said. “You should be called Daisy.”
    â€œThat’s what my parents called me,” Meg said. “Most people call me Meg. Aunt Grace insists on Margaret.”
    â€œMay I call you Daisy, then?” Nick asked.
    Meg nodded. She couldn’t get over how wonderful it felt to be in his arms. She prayed he wanted to have his way with her.
    â€œRobert and Isabelle said something about a birthday,” Nick declared. “Yours, I take it.”
    Meg nodded.
    â€œI should have brought something,” he said.
    â€œYou brought me my name,” Meg said. “That’s a very special gift.”
    â€œI want to give you more than that,” he said. “But there’ll be other birthdays. We’ll dance on each of them, I promise.”
    â€œDon’t tease,” Meg said.
    â€œYou know I’m not,” Nick replied. “What birthday is this, Daisy?”
    â€œSixteen,” she said. Please let that be the right answer, she thought.
    Nick shook his head. “You’re older than that,” he said. “I can see it in your eyes.”
    Meg thought about the hideous baby dress Aunt Grace had forced her to wear, and she pledged at that very moment to spend the rest of her life with Nick Sebastian. She intended to tell him that but Clark tapped Nick on the shoulder, and cut in on the dance.
    â€œDo you know him?” Clark asked her. Meg felt herself inch away from Clark, stiffen her body just slightly, turn back into Meg Winslow, stoops and mumbles and all.
    â€œHe’s a friend of the Sinclairs’,” she said. “Robert introduced us.”
    â€œHe’s a bit pushy, don’t you think?” Clark said, being sure to lead as they danced. Meg hated it that Clark led. Not that she’d minded Nick leading. “There were people on line waiting to wish you happy birthday.”
    â€œThey’ll know where to find her,” Nick said, tapping Clark right back, and stealing Meg away from him before Clark had the chance to react. “Daisy, may I?”
    â€œWho’s Daisy?” Clark asked, but they didn’t wait to answer. They left him sputtering on the dance floor, as they ran, hand in hand, away