Rise Read Online Free PDF Page B

morning. I loved it.”
    “You’re welcome. I worked on it last night after you deserted me and went back to bed.”
    “Sorry. I won’t wake you up like that again.”
    “Did I say I minded?” He kissed me on the forehead before turning me around and giving a small push. “You better get to the office or Dad’s gonna come looking for you.”
    “Which direction do I go?”
    He pointed to his left. “Head that way and follow the sounds of hell; they’ll lead you right to it.”

chapter 4
    (Riley)
    Even just a few minutes after class let out, the cafeteria was packed. I’d made the mistake of heading to my locker before going to lunch, and now I could hardly make my way through the room.
    My sense of smell was immediately assaulted by the scent of school green beans. I hated the smell and had developed such an aversion to it that Mom never made green beans at home. Luckily for me, my mother was the Martha Stewart of central Oklahoma, and she packed my lunch each and every morning. Otherwise, I’d be left to suffer through fake meat and congealed macaroni and cheese like everyone else.
    Kent walked against the rush of students and in my direction. “We’re in the back. Wanna head that way?”
    “I guess.”
    “You guess?” He slapped me on the forehead. “Don’t even try to act cool. I know you’ve been waiting to see her all day. Only a day and a half of school and you’re already going through withdrawal.”
    “Keep it down or someone’s gonna hear you.”
    “It’s louder than a NASCAR race in here. Nobody’s gonna hear nothing unless they’re standing right next to you.”
    We squeezed our way through the tables, bodies, backpacks, and books that had been thrown all over the floor.
    “You ready for the game on Friday night, Riley?”
    I scanned the faces around me until I found a pimple-faced boy smiling up at me. He looked like a freshman.
    “Uh, yeah, of course. We should win. Are you going?”
    “I’ll be there,” the boy said.
    “Great.”
    “Maybe we can hang out after? Know of any parties?” he asked.
    “I’ll get back to you on that.”
    “Cool.” He pushed himself through the crowd and out of sight.
    “Who was that?” Chase asked from behind me.
    “I have no idea. I’ve never seen him before in my life.” I walked on the tips of my toes trying to catch a glimpse of Attie as I shoved my way toward the back.
    A girl jumped in front of me. “Hey, Riley!”
    “Hey, Claudia.”
    “Can you believe it’s already the second day of school?”
    “Naw, time flies.” My eyes scanned the room again.
    “Did you have a good summer?”
    There was still no sign of Attie. “Incredible. You?”
    “It was amazing. My family took a trip to Mexico and—”
    I completely blocked out her noise but kept nodding so she would think I was listening. As I pushed through the students, she followed behind. Attie finally came into my line of vision. “That sounds incredible, Claudia. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Oh.” She sounded upset, but I didn’t look to find out if she actually was. I figured she’d get over it soon enough.
    Attie looked completely out of her element and overwhelmed as I shoved my way through the remainder of the crowd and rushed to the table.
    “What’s the matter? You look upset.”
    “Devil girl got a hold of her,” Jennifer said.
    “Devil girl?”
    They both raised their eyebrows at me, causing me to realize what a stupid question it was. “Oh yeah. What did Tiffany want?”
    “To be a jerk,” Tammy said. “What else is new?”
    “It wasn’t a big deal,” Attie mumbled.
    “So what happened?”
    “She came walking toward me down the hallway with all her friends surrounding her. I didn’t want to be rude, so I said hi to her, and she literally looked the other way and then practically knocked me down when she walked past. They all laughed at me, and musty ol’ Wes called me a freak. It was like something out of a bad movie on the Lifetime