My Bittersweet Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

super exciting in Carrinaw was generally some sort of gossip about a scandal, so that probably got old after a while. Bad news for some people, me in particular, was probably good for her. I was a “new” face that wasn’t one of the high society snobs. Friends weren’t easy to come by for the working class kids.
    A gray sedan pulled up to the house exactly ten minutes after her text. Momentarily blinded by the headlights, I squinted at a tall, thin girl with a spongy blonde Afro as she bounded out of the driver’s side door the second it was in park.
    “Oh my God, Margie!” she squealed as she nearly tackled me in a hug. “Woman, I have missed the crap out of you!”
    For the first time in days, I laughed. She was the same Destiny I remembered from junior high. “Good to see you too, Des.”
    Not giving me a second to catch my breath, she grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the car. “C’mon, we can talk on the way.”
    Inside the car, I was still giggling when I put on my seatbelt. “Gee, Des. I’m not the second coming or anything.”
    “Might as well be.” She grinned at me. “This is maybe the best news I’ve had all year.”
    I sighed. “Well, at least it’s good for someone. Not that I didn’t miss you or anything, it’s just… Y’know. The rest of it I could do without.”
    Her smile faded a little as she turned around and pulled out of the driveway. “Yeah, I get that. Maybe it won’t be so bad for you now. We’re not kids anymore.”
    Grimacing, I remembered the confrontation that afternoon. “Everyone keeps saying that, but I’m not so sure things have changed that much. Some people never grow up.”
    “So I’m guessing I wouldn’t be completely off base if I asked if you were the mystery girl that clocked a certain Matthew Rosenberg on Main Street today?”
    “Oh God.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “How did you hear about that already?”
    She giggled. “Lance Preston made a point of telling anyone who’d listen. Jenna Mack heard him telling Avery Daniels about it at the Grinder. She called me immediately, and I made her repeat the part about how pissed off Matt got about Lance’s big mouth three times before I let her hang up. She said you could see one corner of his bottom lip was a little swollen.” She burst out laughing. “What did you hit him with, a baseball bat?”
    I groaned and leaned my head against the window. “I just slapped him a little. So much for staying under the radar while I’m here. Stupid Lance Preston and his big mouth. Why the hell couldn’t Matt just leave me alone? Is he always a complete sleaze?”
    “Pretty much,” Des said. “Wish I’d been there. After all the crap he put you through, I’m surprised you didn’t take his head off.”
    My gaze shifted out the window, following the steady procession of street lamps and mansions as the car wound down the hill. “I’d rather just avoid them all if I could. It took me a long time to get a grip on myself when I finally left. All I want to do is hide for the next three months until I get to take a one-way flight to Charles DeGaulle.”
    “Oh yeah! My mom told me about that! Paris, right? For college?”
    I nodded. “Yep. The American University in Paris.”
    “Holy crap. I barely got into community college. On a scale of one to ten, how absolutely excited are you?”
    “ Dix-sept ,” I said, a little smug.
    “What?”
    Laughing, I shook my head. “Seventeen, en français .”
    She rolled her eyes. “Show off. Now, if you can teach me all the fun words, then I’ll be impressed.”
    “You got it, Des.” I grinned, happy to be discussing anything besides Matthew Rosenberg.

    *   *   *   *   *
    She moaned, beside herself with pure bliss. How she was still reacting that way after four cookies was beyond me.
    “You’re going to make yourself sick,” I said, chuckling as she reached for a fifth one.
    “So worth it.” She shook the cookie at me before taking a bite. “How is