Pepped Up Read Online Free PDF Page A

lunch tomorrow if you want.”
     
                  He smiles at me. “Thanks.” He pushes away from the chair and stands up. Then he leans down and kisses me on the top of the head before walking back to the popular table. I roll my eyes and bite into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
     
                  Ryan, Charlie, Claire, and the three other runners at the table are all staring at me. “What?”
     
                  Claire whispers. “Uh, Jace Wilder just kissed you.”
     
                  Rollie, who is sitting across from me, says, “Yeah, and in front of everyone. Like, everyone was watching. He never comes over here.” Rollie’s real name is Roland Fowler.  His nickname has nothing to do with his body type because he’s incredibly lanky. He’s a junior like me and we have a lot of classes together this term.
     
                  “It’s nothing, guys. He’s just comfortable with me because we’ve known each other forever. My Gran used to babysit him and he lives down the street.” They all know this already, except for Ryan, so I don’t quite understand their reactions.
     
                  They are still staring at me when I poke my straw into my chocolate milk.  “It was on the top of my head, you guys, jeez!”
                 
                  I’m thankful when Charlie changes the subject. “So, wouldn’t it be badass if both the guys’ and girls’ teams made state this year?”
    “You have to get first or second as a team at Districts, right?” Ryan asks.
    “Yup,” Rollie answers. “Both guys and girls got third at Districts the past two years.”
    “And Claire and Charlie just barely missed qualifying individually last year,” I add.
    Only ten teams in Colorado qualify for State as a team; everyone else has to qualify individually.
    “We don’t want poor Pepper to have to go to State all alone again this year,” Charlie teases. “Although I’m sure Ryan will be going.”
    There’s not much of a question that I’ll make it to the State meet. I made it the past two years, and won last year. The real question is whether I will qualify for Regionals at State, and then if I’ll go on to Nationals.
    “We’re all going to State, both teams,” I say with confidence. “I just know this is going to be an epic season.”

Chapter 4
    Fifteen minutes into our warm-up jog, and it’s just me, Claire, Zoe, and a freshman girl I just met named Jenny Mendoza. Another group of girls jogs behind us and then it thins out. This is what usually happens at the first official practice of the season, Since most people don’t run much over the summer and struggle through the warm-up run. We’re not going very fast. I tried to keep it at an easy conversational pace, but it looks like we’ll really only have one more top scorer on varsity this year. Claire and Zoe are fast, and Jenny could be fast. She looks comfortable jogging with us.
     
                  “Holy hell,” Zoe exclaims. “Check out the football field. Jace is taking his shirt off. And his butt looks so freaking good in those tight little whatever pants-shorts things they wear. Oh wow. Six pack. Wow. Just wow. I would pay to touch him. I would. I swear.”
     
    Claire has gone scarlet, as usual when Zoe starts gushing. I glance at Jenny. She’s grinning.
     
                  “Yeah. I think I’m going to like high school. Can we make a point of running by the football field during every practice?”
                 
                  I laugh. “Sure, Jenny.”
     
                  “Jace kissed Pepper in the cafeteria today,” Claire blurts out.
     
                  “What?!” Zoe screeches. A couple of guys on the football field look our way.
     
                  “Zoe, chill. It was a peck on my head after I told him I’d ask Gran to make him ants