Shrinking Violet Read Online Free PDF

thrown for a loop today. First I pissed off Stacy, then Ms. Peters called on me and I answered her question like a moron. Ugh. I shake my head back and forth. I need to let everything go.
    It's really no big deal.
    I could make up a story. Write about all my best friends. How we have each other's backs. How we'd risk ruining everything just to help a girl out. I could have Ms. Peters in tears at the end of the essay, wishing she had a group as tight as mine. But I can't do that to her. To me.
    Finally, I end up writing about the time my mother royally pissed me off because she said I dressed like a slob and that's why I didn't have any friends. Nice, huh? After I used up a box of tissues, mopping up my tears, I called Audrey and she had her dad come pick me up. We spent the night scarfing down pizza and watching TV. We didn't talk about my mom once because we had agreed long before that when we were mad about something, we needed to escape, not rehash what happened. She gave me the biggest 44
    hug when I left the next morning and told me if it wasn't for me, her one true friend, she'd be the most depressed person in the world. That made me feel important.
    The bell rings as I'm still writing, and Ms. Peters tells us to have the papers typed up for her by Wednesday I wait for Stacy to leave before I desuction myself from my plastic seat, but she doesn't even look at me. She's too busy flirting with Frank on the way out.
    "Cool shirt," Gavin says as he shoves his books into his backpack.
    I look down at the picture of the Escalade on my tee with the words PJ Squid written on the side in gold letters. Gavin knows who PJ Squid is? I thought he only listened to heavy metal and music about death.
    I say "thanks" and look up, but Gavin's already at the door, tucking a piece of his chin-length hair behind his ear.
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chapter FIVE
    I'm starving when I meet up with Audrey for lunch in the courtyard. I usually have first lunch (since all the students can't fit into the cafeteria at once, we have three lunch periods at Ridgeland), before English, but our whole schedule was screwed up today because we had an all-school assembly during second period this morning on the Everglades. We've had the same monotone speaker for four years, and his speech hasn't changed a bit. He wouldn't last a second on the radio. Everyone would fall asleep at the wheel listening to him drone on about wildlife.
    It's eighty degrees out, so Audrey and I sit near the coconut trees but not directly beneath them just in case a coconut decides to fall. Plus, one year a bird pooped on Audrey's head, and I had to
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    help her wash it out. Not a pretty sight, especially in a bathroom full of dopers.
    Audrey unwraps her ham-and-cheese sandwich. "Did you ask him?"
    "Who?"
    "Rob. Did you ask him if you could fill in at the station?"
    "No way." I pull my string cheese apart like a wishbone.
    "What's the worst thing that can happen?"
    Three Softball players rush past us. One's yelling into her cell phone, another is telling her what to say to the caller, and the third is sobbing. They're headed to the parking lot.
    I unscrew the top to my water bottle and take a sip. "He could say no."
    "Exactly my point."
    "Or even worse, he could say yes." Then I'd have to face all those people, thousands of them, at their homes, jobs, sitting in traffic, jogging along bike paths, hanging around with friends. I would be a part of all of their lives and I wouldn't even know who they were. Frightening but also fascinating. Radio holds a lot of power. But how could someone as weak as me play such an important part in people's lives?
    I pull out my iPod and hand one of the earbuds to Audrey. "Check this tune out. It's pretty fresh."
    She sticks it in her ear. "Who's this?"
    "Maltese. He's the guy with the six-pack. And a really good dancer."
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    "Ah, now I see why you like him!" She laughs.
    A couple of populars walk by, salon-style hair dancing in the wind. I survey the area to make sure