Pure Red Read Online Free PDF Page B

You could say I was definitely going through a phase, but Dad was the one who actually surprised me with a total room makeover for my tenth birthday. Instead of updating it, I’ve just added more things to the room. Most recently, I salvaged the couch pillows on their way to the dumpster. And now that I’ve met a hot guy wearing an orange shirt, I’m never going to throw them out.
    “You bought the yearbook, right?” I ask Liz.
    “Yeah, why?”
    “Look up Graham Hadley. He’s in our class.”
    I hear her walking, then opening doors, shifting boxes. She had her bedroom painted last week, so she still has a lot of stuff to put away. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Liz asks.
    I pull my knees close to my chest. “I met him at the gallery tonight. He’s really yummy.” I hear a shuffle, shuffle, bam, bam on the other line. “Liz, you okay?”
    “Yeah. I knocked down a couple of boxes. Yay, found it,” she says.
    “See him?”
    “Still checking.” I hear her flipping through the pages. Then she cracks up.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “He has really thick glasses and greasy hair that goes past his shoulders. With some kind of wart thing growing on his nose.”
    I meet the guy of my dreams and he’s really a frog in disguise?
    “No way! You must be looking at the wrong guy.”
    “No, it’s him.”
    What am I getting myself into? He probably went on one of those makeover shows. No wonder I’ve never noticed him before. “Maybe I need glasses.”
    “Or maybe you should look up gullible in the dictionary!” Liz laughs, or m ore like snorts.
    “Bitch.” I stand up. “That joke is so second grade.”
    “Yeah, and who fell for it?” She laugh/snorts even more.
    “Fine, I surrender. What does he really look like in his pic?”
    “Nothing. He’s in the back with all the other not-
pictured names.”
    “Only makes him more mysterious.” I kick off my sandals and send them flying across the room. “I gave him my number.”
    “Way to go, girl! You’ve advanced to the next level of my crash course on how to get a guy.” Liz is always telling me to be more assertive. That it’s okay for girls to make the first move.
    “This could be a real hazard. I’m trying to stay focused on my summer goal.”
    “The passion thing?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re playing ball, remember?”
    “Yeah, but I should do more. You weren’t there in Ms. Cable’s moldy office with stacks of student folders that were better than yours stacked up high on her desk. She basically set her hand on top of the pile and told me I was on the road to nowhere.” I pick up a pencil from under my desk and draw lightly on the wood.
    “Aw, she’s a nut,” Liz chuckles. “Why should you listen to her?”
    “Because she’s my guidance counselor. And because I don’t want to be stuck at home for the rest of my life. I’m supposed to explore my options.” I can’t get Graham’s green eyes out of my head.
    “Suit yourself.”
    I sigh. “Fine. Do I want to know what the next step of your crash course is?”
    “Ask him out.”
    I left out the part about Graham being the president of my dad’s fan club. I can always tell her later, but for now I’ll pretend he’s mine.

purple power
    All day I’m excited about going to practice. We played an impressive game yesterday, so I’m sure everyone will be in a good mood. I didn’t get out of bed until eleven this morning because we got home at midnight from the gallery and I had trouble sleeping on account of my slam dunk day—first, scoring a basket in our victory over the Blue team, and then meeting Graham and slipping him my phone number. Double points for that!
    I know we only just met, but I have a feeling about these things. For instance, when I met Liz the first day of sixth grade, I instantly knew she was cool. We were seated next to each other in Mrs. Patterson’s geography class and Mrs. Patterson wanted to show us the map of