Six Months Later Read Online Free PDF Page B

going to go with that, Chloe?” he asks, voice too soft for the hardness in his eyes. “You’re going to stand here and pretend like nothing’s happening?”
    It’s like all the air is sucked out of the room. I want to explain, and he’s obviously waiting for me to respond. But even if I can manage to make my mouth work again, what am I going to say? I don’t remember whatever happening he’s talking about. And I wish to God I did because whatever’s happening right now is making it hard for me to breathe.
    “Just talk to me,” he says, and he reaches out like he’s going to touch me. I want him to. So much that my skin aches for it. When he pulls away, it’s all I can do not to grab his arm to yank him back.
    “Am I interrupting something?”
    Blake’s voice startles me. He’s suddenly right behind me, his hand pressing into my lower back possessively. It feels as hot and unwelcome as a branding iron. It takes every ounce of strength I’ve got not to lurch away from him and closer to Adam.
    “Am I interrupting, Reed?” Blake asks again, a cold edge to his voice.
    “No,” Adam says, but his eyes are on me. “Apparently not.”
    His long stride takes him down the hall. I watch the distance stretch between us and feel like I should call after him. Or run to him. It makes absolutely no sense.
    “We’re late for English,” Blake says, pointing me toward a door at the end of the hallway.
    So now I know where to go. I guess that’s one mystery solved. Only eight billion or so to go.

Chapter Five
    There are serious advantages to being popular. Having people magically appear after every bell, happy to chitchat all the way to my next class, is really handy when you have no clue where to go.
    The downside? Maggie wasn’t one of those people. Not even once.
    I dig through my purse for my car keys and thank whatever forces might be listening that Blake has some sort of sports practice after school. Because I’m not ready for another dose of him .
    Just as I start the engine, someone taps on my window. I glance up, forcing a smile to my face.
    Abigail Binns. Star of 42nd Street last year and high-flying, hand-springing cheerleader since junior high. I like Abbey. We’re not friends exactly, but she’s been on my bus route through three schools now. It’s hard not to like someone who volunteers at the children’s hospital and bakes cookies for her neighbors at Christmas.
    I roll down the window. “Hi.”
    “Hi, Chloe. I’m so sorry to bother you. My brother was supposed to pick me up, but he got stuck at work. Is there any way you could drop me by my place on the way home?”
    “Sure,” I say.
    Abbey flashes a million-dollar smile and hops in the passenger side of my Camry. My dad bought the car when I was born, and I think he’s determined to make it last until I die.
    “Thank you so much,” she says, pulling on her seat belt as I start backing out.
    Someone strolls right behind my car, and I slam on the brakes, coming way too close to hitting him. All I see is a charcoal gray hoodie pulled all the way up. It’s more than enough to send my pulse into a sprint. Adam drops the hood back and flashes me a look I can’t read. It doesn’t settle my heart down at all.
    Abbey shakes her head. “Not an ounce of common sense in that guy.”
    “Tell me about it,” I say, but I crane my neck to watch him walk away all the same.
    “I still can’t believe he’s in so many AP classes,” Abbey says.
    I tear my eyes away from the rearview mirror to look at her. “He is?”
    “Well, yeah. His GPA this quarter is a 3.98.” Abbey covers her mouth the moment she finishes her sentence, looking shamed. “I shouldn’t have said that. I overheard it in the office. Honest, I wasn’t trying to be a snoop.”
    I smile my first genuine smile since this whole thing started. And why shouldn’t I? The walking Gossip Girl of Ridgeview, Ohio, just landed in my car.
    “That’s okay,” I tell her. “It wasn’t