Rules Of Attraction Read Online Free PDF Page B

stupid.”
    “You’re not my type, either,” I snap back. “I like my guys smart and
    funny.”
    “I’m funny.”
    I shrug. “Maybe I’m just too smart to get your jokes.”
    “Then why do you want me to come over?”
    “My mom . . . made cookies.” I cringe after the words leave my
    mouth. Who invites a guy over for cookies? Maybe my brother does,
    but he’s in kindergarten. “It’s not like it’ll be a date or anything,” I
    blurt out in case he thinks I’m secretly trying to hit on him. “Just . . .
    cookies.”
    I wish I could rewind this entire conversation, but there’s no going
    back now. We reach the door to his classroom, and he still hasn’t
    answered.
    “I’ll think about it,” he says, then leaves me out in the hall by
    myself. He’ll think about it? As if coming over to my house would be
    doing me a huge favor instead of the other way around?
    At our lockers at the end of the day, when I hope he’s forgotten I
    even asked him over, he leans his weight on one foot and stuffs his
    hands in his front pockets. “What kind of cookies?”
    Out of all the questions in the world, why did he have to ask that
    one?
    “Orange,” I say. “Orange marmalade.”
    He leans closer, as if I didn’t say it loud enough or clear enough.
    “Orange what?”
    “Marmalade.”
    “Huh?”
    “Marmalade.”
    I’m sorry, but there’s just no cool way to say the word ‘marmalade,’
    and all those m’s so close together make me sound goofy. At least I
    didn’t stutter.
    He nods. I can tell he’s trying to keep a straight face, but he can’t.
    He bursts out laughing.
    “Can you say it one more time?”
    “So you can make fun of me?”
    “Sí. It’s become the only thing I look forward to in life. Just so
    happens you’re an easy target.”
    I slam my locker door shut. “Consider yourself officially uninvited.”
    I walk away, but then remember that I’ve left all my homework in my
    locker and have to open it again. I quickly grab the three books I need,
    shove them in my backpack, and head out.
    “If they were double-chocolate chip, I would have come,” he calls
    after me, then laughs.
    Tuck is waiting for me in the senior parking lot. “What took you so
    long?”
    “I was arguing with Carlos.”
    “Again? Listen, Kiara, it’s only Tuesday. You’ve got three more days
    with him. Why don’t you quit being his peer guide and be done with the
    misery.”
    “Because that’s just what he wants,” I say as we get in my car and I
    drive out of the lot. “I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of one-
    upping me all the time. He’s so obnoxious.”
    “There’s got to be something you can do to make him eat his
    words.”
    Tuck’s words spark the perfect idea. “That’s it! Tuck, you’re a
    genius,” I say excitedly. I make a sharp U-turn.
    “Where are we going?” Tuck asks, then points behind us. “Your
    house is that way.”
    “First we’re stopping at the grocery store and McGuckin’s
    Hardware. I need the ingredients for double-chocolate chip cookies.”
    “Since when do you bake,” Tuck asks. “And why double-chocolate
    chip cookies?”
    I flash him a mischievous smile. “I’m going to use them to make
    Carlos eat his words.”
    FIVE : Carlos
    On Wednesday, I walk out of school and head over to the body
    shop to meet Alex. Just as I cross the street, a red Mustang pulls up
    beside me. Madison Stone is driving, her windows wide open. When I
    get closer she asks where I’m goin’.
    “McConnell’s—the place where my brother works,” I tell her. He
    said I could help him to make some extra cash.
    “Hop in. I’ll drive you.”
    Madison orders her friend Lacey into the backseat and tells me to
    sit in front, next to her. I’ve never lived in a place where you’re not
    judged by the color of your skin or your parents’ bank accounts, so I’m
    wary of Madison’s immediate interest in me. Hell, I put on the charm
    for Kiara before Heavy Shevy’s class and she