Safe Landing Read Online Free PDF Page B

wallet is about to make a jump for it.” I reached around and zipped it for her.
    “Thanks a lot,” she said. “I’ve never seen you around.”
    “I’m new. It’s my first day here.”
    She had a tiny rhinestone stud in her nose, but everything else about her looked Shirley Temple-like. “Welcome to Pelican Bay High. I’m Julie.”
    “I’m Brazil.”
    “Isn’t that a country?”
    “Yeah, the South Americans named it after me.”
    She laughed. “Nice to meet you, Brazil. And thanks for saving my wallet. Where are you headed first?”
    “My locker.” I pulled out the sticky note where the clerk had written the number. “Locker 274.”
    Julie pointed down the hall. “I think that number is near the end where the glass doors open to the quad.”
    “Thanks. I’ll see you around.” I headed down the long stretch of lockers and searched for number 274. “Please don’t be on the bottom, please don’t be on the bottom,” I whispered. I was  getting warmer. And there it was, on the bottom. This meant no short skirts and no high heels for the remainder of the year.
    I stooped down and fidgeted with the lock cursing under my breath. It popped open. There was an old Algebra test crumpled inside. It was an F. A pair of gray running shoes stopped two lockers down. I glanced up. It was the harmonica guy. He had long, black hair and a cute butt. That was all I could see from my angle.
    Now there were two big white shoes behind me. “Could you hurry? I need to get my books.”
    I threw my lunch into my locker and slammed it shut. The jerk behind me was standing so close, I had to slither up the face of the lockers to stand. I turned and stared at a massive chest and thick neck that was topped by a big, blonde shaved head.
    “Well, what do we have here? Fresh meat.” His eyes did a rude once over of me from head to toe.
    There was nothing more special than being referred to as dead flesh. I tried to scoot to the right but the ape followed me like we were doing one of those goofy mirror pantomimes.
    “I’m Hank,” he said attempting to dazzle me with his smile. I had this funky habit of making a mental catalogue of guys I met. This guy would be the second entry on my R for Repulsive page right beneath Bradley Simkus who used to snort mashed potatoes through his nose on turkey and gravy day.
    “That’s nice,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, you’re in my way.”
    Hank glanced over at harmonica guy. “What the hell are you looking at, Dracula?”
    Harmonica guy shrugged and looked at me with smiling eyes. Really dark brown and long lashed smiling eyes.
    I squirted out from the space between the two guys and headed down the hall. Fishing in my pocket, I realized I’d lost my schedule. The morning was off to a supreme start.
    “You dropped this when you were helping Julie with her backpack. That was cool of you to limp after her like that.” It was harmonica guy. He handed me my schedule and glanced down at my foot. “Sports injury?”
    “Packing tape accident,” I answered.
    “That sticky stuff can be brutal.” He had smooth olive skin and a silver hoop in each ear.
    I grabbed the schedule from him. Hank walked over, purposely clashed shoulders with the guy, then lumbered down the hall, his knuckles nearly scraping the ground as he walked.
    I watched him walk away then turned back to the cute guy. “I see even this school has its resident caveman.”
    “All he needs is a club and a bone through his nose.” A crooked smile tilted his mouth. It was one of those half smiles that could make a guy look either clueless or sexy. His was definitely sexy. 
    “Actually, the bone piercing thing is more aborigine than caveman. Woolly mammoth bones were too big to be worn as jewelry,” I said dryly.
    He stared at me and I figured I’d already scared this one off with that ridiculous statement. “The small foot bone of the saber tooth would have been the perfect size for someone’s nose.”
    I nodded