Rebelonging (Unbelonging, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

all-too-familiar
vehicle, my legs felt rubbery. It couldn't be the same car. It just
couldn't. And yet, something in my gut told me it was, in spite of
the car's new and oddly profane paint job.
    Below me, Shaggy called out. "The hood – what
does it say?"
    I looked around. It wasn't exactly a
crowd-friendly phrase. I glanced at the guy closest to us. It was
that older guy who'd been standing at the bar. My mouth opened, but
no words came out.
    "Oh for Pete's sake," the older guy said,
"just spit it out, will ya?"
    "Fine." I shot him a look. "Asshole
patrol."
    His bushy eyebrows lowered. "Well, you don't
have to get all personal about it."
    I rolled my eyes. "Not you. The car."
    Below me, Shaggy called out, "Oh man, sweet!
That's what I thought. You got the video, right?"
    Dutifully, I turned back to the car. I held
up the phone and pressed play.
    "Make sure you catch everything!" Shaggy
called out. "The hood, the doors, whatever you can get!"
    But I couldn't. Because I wasn't even looking
at the car. Not anymore. I was looking at a face in the crowd. I
knew that face. I knew it so well that my heart ached.
    My mouth went dry, and I forgot to breathe.
The face looked haunted, with hollow eyes and a grim mouth.
    Like some kind of pathetic sponge, I soaked
up the sight of him. He wore a dark hoodie with the hood thrown
back, revealing that tousled hair, those chiseled features, and the
barest hint of the tattoos that decorated his amazing body.
    It was Lawton, the guy I loved. And the guy I
hated.
    He wasn't looking at the car either.
    He was looking at me.

Chapter 8
    A metallic, clattering sound jolted me back
to reality.
    "Hey!" Shaggy hollered. "My phone! What'd you
do that for?"
    I looked down, and there it was, the phone,
lying on the pavement a couple paces in front of Shaggy's feet.
    Suddenly, I was practically body surfing as
Shaggy dove toward his phone. When he bent nearly double, I flew
off his shoulders, and my feet hit the pavement too hard to keep my
balance. I stumbled into the people ahead of me, who turned to give
me dirty looks.
    Shaggy swooped up his phone and gave it a
good, long look.
    "Damn it," he said. "This thing's brand
new."
    My eyes were on the phone, but my thoughts
were on Lawton. What was he doing here? Had he come to see me ?
    "If it's broke," Shaggy said, "you'll get me
a new one, right?"
    My jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding
me."
    "Sorry, but it's only fair," he said. "You
were the one who dropped it, not me."
    "Hey," I said, " you're the one who
told me to get up there. Remember?"
    "Yeah. And I also told you to be careful."
His tone grew snotty. "Remember?"
    "Oh shut up," I said. "It's fine." I looked
down. At least, it looked fine.
    "Yeah?" he said. "Well, I'll need your name
in case it's not."
    He wanted a name? Fine. I'd give him a name.
"Betty," I said.
    It was the same name I'd given him earlier,
when I'd introduced myself as his waitress. Of course, back then
I'd been joking. Now, this was no joke.
    Sure, he could get my real name if he really
wanted it. But until then, I was Betty. And I was gonna stay
Betty.
    His gaze narrowed. "You don't look like a
Betty."
    "Neither do you," I said.
    His forehead wrinkled. "What the hell's that
supposed to mean?"
    Honestly, I had no idea. I didn't care what
the guy's name was. I could barely remember my own. Lawton was
here. I wanted to run. To him? Or from him? My head felt on the
verge of exploding.
    Across from me, Shaggy was typing something
into his cell phone, probably on some digital notepad. "And your
last name?" he said.
    I crossed my arms. "Boop."
    "No shit?" He shook his head. "Man, it
must've been hell for you growing up, huh?"
    If he only knew the half of it. Of course, my
rocky childhood had nothing to do with what my parents had named
me, which definitely wasn't Betty. And besides, my last name was
Malinski.
    Sure, the name wasn't the most glamorous in
the world, but it was better than being named after a