Roadside Assistance Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    “Are you going to eat?” my dad asked, glancing up from the classified section of the paper.
    “No time,” I said, fetching the lunch bag I’d packed the night before from the refrigerator. I slipped my lunch into my book bag.
    My aunt shoved a bagel and a napkin at me. “It’s the most important meal of the day.”
    “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m fine.”
    Darlene opened my hand and placed the bagel in it. “Take it.”
    “Thanks,” I said.
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to get registered?” my dad asked.
    “I have everything I need in here,” I said, smacking my bag. “I can register myself.”
    “All right.” My dad stood and kissed the top of my head. “Have a good day. I’ll see you tonight.”
    “Thanks, Dad.”
    “Let’s go,” Whitney said with a huff, opening the back door. “Kristin is waiting.”
    I followed her out to the red Honda in the driveway and opened the rear passenger door.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, wrenching open the driver door.
    “Getting in the car.” I dropped my bag onto the floor.
    “Don’t be silly,” she said, climbing in. “Sit up front with me.”
    “But Kristin —”
    “She doesn’t care.” She waved off the comment. “Just get in.”
    I grabbed my bag and slipped into the front seat. A cross, similar to the rainbow-colored one on Whitney’s keychain, swung back and forth from a gold cord on her mirror. I wonderedhow much stock she put in the symbol. Was she truly a Christian or was it for show, like the cheerleading uniform?
    As I pulled off a piece of bagel, a big glob of white cream cheese plopped into my lap. “Oh man,” I groaned. I’d spent the weekend worrying about how things would go on my first day at Whitney’s school, and this wasn’t the start I’d been hoping for.
    “I have napkins in the glove compartment,” Whitney said, jamming her key, which was on a ring filled with a dozen different keychains with various sayings, happy faces, and the cross, into the ignition switch.
    I considered warning her that the weight of those key chains could break the ignition. Instead, I kept my thought to myself, opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a couple of napkins. I then tried in vain to clean my shorts, succeeding at only rubbing the white blob deeper into the fabric. “Great. I’ll be known as the new girl with the cream cheese spot on her shorts.”
    “It’s hardly noticeable.” Whitney turned the key, and the engine turned over but didn’t catch. “Stupid car,” she grumbled. She turned the key again with the same result.
    I raised an eyebrow. “Does this happen a lot?”
    “Like only every day!” She tried the key again, and once more it only turned over. “I’ve told my dad, and he keeps promising to take it to the shop.” She turned the key a fourth time, and it caught. “Finally!” She slammed the gearshift into drive and my neck snapped back as we roared down the driveway.
    “Well, it sounds like you need —”
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I turned my head just as we hit the end of the driveway — at the same time that the green Jeep from next door hit the end of the parallel driveway. And the two cars were about to bounce onto the street at the same time.
    “Stop!” I screamed.
    She slammed on the brakes, bringing the Honda to a stop inches from hitting the Jeep. “Sorry,” she whispered.
    The boy in the Jeep grinned and moved his arm in a cranking motion.
    As I rolled down my window, I was mesmerized by his deep blue eyes, which were a startling contrast to his dark brown hair. “In a hurry to get to class?” he asked with a laugh.
    Whitney leaned over me, and her cheeks blushed a bright pink. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”
    “It’s no problem.” He made a sweeping gesture. “Ladies first.”
    “Thanks!” she called with a wave before steering out onto the street. “Good grief. That was almost a disaster.”
    I watched in