Out of My Mind Read Online Free PDF Page B

fires or shooting rabbits with a BB gun. I’ll pass on that, thank-you-very-much.
    I focus on the weave design of my ring. Where did I get it again? I think it was a gift.
    I hear a scuffling sound then, “Enough!” Mr. Rimmer orders from the front. “Pratt, up here. Now.”
    A few seconds pass.
    “You okay?” Greg asks me as he slides into his seat.
    I venture a glance. He’s blond, blue-eyed and handsome. There’s something comforting about Greg Hoffman. He’s a leader, a confident guy who’s definitely in charge. It’s obvious why I liked him, but is he still interested in me? A brain damaged whack job?
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    “Good, well…” He focuses on his notebook, shifts in his seat. He seems nervous. “I’m glad you’re back.”
    I chuckle. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
    “You still have the headaches?”
    “Sometimes. How did you know?”
    “Your mom told me when I visited you in the hospital.”
    “You…visited me?”
    “More than once.” He smiles.
    Oh, my God. He is totally interested or he wouldn’t have come to the hospital. Awesome! One of my three goals is within reach. He’s so going to ask me out.
    “Turn to page twelve,” Mr. Rimmer says.
    Greg shoots me a smile and opens his book.
    Things are definitely getting back to normal. Yes!
     
    * * *
     
    It figures Rimmer would put J.D. up front where everyone could stare at him. J.D. fisted his hand trying to ignore their whispers.
    He almost killed her. He should be in jail. Can you believe they let him back in school?
    Right. He was the sonofabitch that almost killed their prom queen.
    Bullshit. She didn’t look that bad, not as bad as when he sneaked into her hospital room in the middle of the night.
    He had to. He’d hoped that on some level, even in a coma, she’d hear his apology. He’d barely gotten it out when her old man caught him and hurled J.D. across the room. The guy would have beaten him bloody if security hadn’t showed up.
    J.D. noticed Bryce Sommers motion a thumb’s up to Greg “the dick” Hoffman. J.D. glanced over his shoulder. Greg was doing his I’m-such-a-caring-guy act on Princess Catherine. And she was buying it.
    Yeah, everything was back to normal. For them.
    Catherine smiled and scribbled something in her notebook. They say brain injuries change a person. Not so in her case. She was still her conceited, self-absorbed self.
    The perfect match for Hoffman.
    J.D. saw right through the prick, the kind of guy everyone thinks will be a CEO of a major company, and ten years later they’re surprised to be reading about the cops digging up dead bodies in his back yard.
    Greg and the Princess deserved each other.
    “Mr. Pratt? What’s so interesting in the back?” Mr. Rimmer is hovering over J.D.’s desk.
    Everyone stopped talking and stared at J.D. like he was standing there in nothing but his boxers.
    “Sorry,” J.D. said.
    He wasn’t sorry. He was pissed. At so many things, starting with how the entitled, like Greg and the Princess, always got their way and with little effort.
    While J.D. fought to stay alive.
    Even the Princess survived what could have been a fatal head injury. Instead, she woke up as perfect as before—okay, with shorter hair—with everyone spoiling her.
    J.D. shifted in his chair, the pinch of bruised ribs making him wince.
    “Let’s start with chapter one. Who wants to read?” Mr. Rimmer scanned the class and pointed to the back. “Ah, yes, Mr. Hoffman.”
    Unbelievable. The jerk had no doubt raised his hand, trying to make a good impression on Princess Catherine.
    J.D. pulled a pencil out of his jacket pocket. Drawing was the only thing that relaxed him, well, the only legal thing. He wouldn’t do weed anymore, not with his little brother looking up to him the way he did.
    J.D.’s life might be screwed, but he was going to make sure Billy got a chance. His brother would always know the truth, the real J.D.
    Everyone else saw the other guy, the fringe criminal.