Nearly Gone Read Online Free PDF

fingers and checking it for scratches before tucking it into the crook of his tattooed arm. Beside him, Lonny Johnson chewed the barbell in his lip, snapping it between his teeth, and I swallowed whatever I’d been planning to say.
    I muttered an apology, but the guy just shoved me aside, growling, “Watch it.” Then he kicked my books out of reach with a heavy black boot and walked away.
    I watched them go, glaring at Lonny’s friend as I plucked my books from the floor. The guy had to be new. I’d never seen him in school before. I would have remembered him. As he walked, students spread away from him on either side, like water from an oil slick.
    “People say he killed someone.” Anh snuck up beside me, watching him with narrow eyes as she bent to help me collect my books.
    “People say a lot of stupid things.” I should know. Most of them were about me. Lonny’s new friend may have been an asshole, but I refused to feed the West River rumor mill solely on principle.
    I hadn’t realized I was still staring at him until I noticed Anh staring too. Her hair tipped to the side as she studied his retreating form. “Not exactly prom date material, but I guess he’s cute, if you’re into that whole bad-boy thing. His butt’s not bad either,” she said, watching it disappear around a corner.
    I shot her a surprised look. “I’m not looking for a prom date.” “Well, you’re obviously looking for someone.” “I have someone,” I said with a grin. “I have Albert Einstein.” “I hear he’s a terrible kisser.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What about Jeremy? Has he asked you yet?” I looked at her like she must be joking, but she wasn’t.
    “I told you, I’m not going. School functions give me hives.
Big masses of stupid people in a low-volume space increase the density of the whole idea.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t calculate the probability of having a good time at a dance.”
“Sure I can. Me going to the dance is a singular event. Me enjoying myself at the dance is one of only two possible outcomes of said event. If the event and the outcome are mutually exclusive, it is safe to conclude that there is no possible way in hell I would have fun at the dance.” Anh laughed. “You’re such a nerd.”
“That’s why you love me. Since when are you so bent on going to prom anyway?”
“Since my brother decided I don’t need to have a life. He won’t let me do anything except work at the store and study.
He’s got me scheduled to work every Friday and Saturday night between now and the end of the school year. The only reason he’s letting me go to the play on Friday is because I told him it was a mandatory requirement for lit class. I figure if I can find a date for prom and buy a dress before he says no, then he’ll have to let me go to that too.” She slumped against a wall and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “I can’t wait until the semester’s over and he stops riding me about this stupid scholarship.”
The warning bell rang and our smiles faded as our eyes cut to the chem lab door. Monday mornings after rankings were posted were the hardest, when crossing the lab threshold felt like stepping through the ropes to a death match. Students lingered in the hall, waiting for the bell. I braced myself as I walked past Vince where he huddled quietly with a handful of his teammates. He didn’t look up, which made me eerily cautious. He’d never passed up an opportunity to humiliate me before. It was like he hadn’t even noticed the spectacle I’d just made of myself, even though his blond head stood several inches taller than the rest of his friends’ and I was sure he’d had an unobstructed view. Strange. The hallway hummed with a somber intensity, everyone talking in
hushed tones, including Vince, who didn’t come with a volume control.
Inside the lab, the air lightened considerably. Oleksa perched on top of a table, one long leg dangled coolly off the side, his red