Other Side of Beautiful (A Beautifully Disturbed #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

former professors, walks by us. She raps her knuckles on the tabletop to get our attention, and he turns his head.
    “Mr. Pratt, Ms. Dinninger, good to see you. I hope you’ve been keeping up on your writing over the holiday,” she says to me and Collin.
    “Always,” I nod and say back to her.
    “Mr. Hayes, I need to see you at the beginning of next week, so please have your portfolio ready.”
    “I’ll be there.”
    She smiles at him bright and proud, not like a professor with a star student but like a woman in love, which I can’t even begin to consider without throwing up in my mouth a little. Because she’s beautiful, worldly, and sophisticated. I like men and I’d sleep with her, which doesn’t leave much chance for girls like me with a guy like Benton. I suppose, good for him though.
    “You have a rare talent, Mr. Hayes.” Dr. Branagh keeps her attention totally fixed on him as if Collin and I had suddenly disappeared from the table. “Use it wisely.”
    Yup. “Rare talent” is definitely a euphemism.
    I actively watch her walk away, wishing like mad that some of her something-ness would rub off on me. Maybe I could soak it in through osmosis. Benton takes a long sip from his coffee and asks, “So, Dinninger.” My eyes dart from her retreating form to meet his pure ocean depths. “Do you know the difference between medium and rare?”
    I shake my head. “Uh, no.”
    His brilliant smile lights up the room again, the poster child for the American Orthodontic Association. “Medium is six inches and rare is eight.”
    And that would be it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Or, perhaps in his case, a wiener—I so did not just go there—even though apparently just about every other woman on campus, including the professors, has. But what do I expect from my “curves” but a front row ticket to the no-go show?
    It sucks crushing on someone who would never crush you back. And the worst part? We’re friends. Honest to goodness friends, which means I can’t just avoid him, despite how badly I might want to some days. Like when I know he’s been out with a particular girl. Rejection stinks. It’s what I get for setting my sights so high. Still, I’d rather get shot down by Benton than some pimply-faced Pokémon trainer who thinks his online mastery makes him a better catch than me.
    Well, I refuse to let some hypothetical Pokémon trainer or Benton win the day. I suck in a breath and smile big. “Rare is like an honest politician. Only exists in theory.”
    Collin spits out his drink, coughing and choking. “Ouch.”
    “My self-esteem called. It wants my manhood back.”
    “I think I saw it chasing after Dr. Branagh.”
    “Elly.” Collin reaches over the table, pulling my hand into his. “I like this side of you. Where has she been hiding?”
    “Not hiding. She’s been in a game of Double Dutch, waiting for her chance to jump in.”
    “If you were a guy, I’d kiss you, I think.”
    “You can always pretend, Collin.”
    “Did you hear that, Ben? Our little Elly wants me to kiss her.”
    “It’s a challenge,” I tell him.
    “He’s not all that.” Benton twists his coffee cup in his hands, not making eye contact with me or Col.
    “Speak for yourself.” Collin takes a humorously indignant tone with Benton. “I am all that and a bag of chips.”
    “Um, yeah. 1993 called. It wants its saying back.” I laugh, glaring them both down.
    “You can’t use that,” Ben says, playfully slapping his hands down on the table in front of him in protest.
    “I used it better. Deal with it.” It’s these playful moments that are my favorite. I get the Benton and Collin that nobody else save maybe Errol and Sabrina ever gets to see. Not even Kelly, or Garret and Zena. Maybe they get more than the populous at large, but not what I get. Which would be how this damn crush of mine always seems to intensify.
    He clucks his tongue while laughing under his breath, and shakes his head in defeat.