SVH08-Heartbreaker Read Online Free PDF

don't know for sure whether they were in love or not. Patsy and I weren't that close, so she never told me much."
    "When did they break up?" Elizabeth asked. She realized she was only torturing herself, but she had to find out.
    Olivia looked more uncomfortable than ever. She twirled one brown curl around her index finger and avoided Elizabeth's gaze.
    "I don't think they ever really broke up," she said. "I guess they just stopped seeing each other when Patsy moved away. But that doesn't mean.... Well, I'm sure it's not what you think...." Her voice trailed off uncertainly.
    Elizabeth didn't know what to think anymore. If Todd hadn't really broken up with Patsy, did that mean he'd never really stopped loving her? What if they got back together again? How would she feel then? The thought was too
    terrible to contemplate, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
    "It doesn't matter," Elizabeth said too brightly. "It's silly of me to get so worked up over this whole thing. Like you said, it happened a long time ago. I'm sure Todd has gotten over her by now."
    But even as she said it, Elizabeth didn't quite believe it was true.
    Jessica lay stretched on the bed, her face a twisted mask of anguish. Bill knelt beside her with his head buried in his hands.
    "Oh, Bud," she whispered. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't face the thought of life without you...."
    It was Tuesday, and the cast had gathered for a noon rehearsal in the auditorium. This was Jessica's biggest scene, where Deanie tries to commit suicide by drowning herself and afterward her boyfriend, Bud, feels so guilty he can hardly live with himself. Jessica, who had obviously seen more than one episode of "General Hospital," was pulling out all the stops in her performance.
    DeeDee watched from the wings as Jessica lifted a limp hand to Bill's cheek. Real tears shimmered in her eyes. Bill looked as if he were on the verge of crying himself. DeeDee felt a tightening in her chest. She told herself it was
    because she was being swept away by Bill's performance, but deep down she knew better. The painful truth was that she was falling in love with Bill.
    It was hopeless, she told herself. Utterly hopeless. Bill liked her, but only as a friend. As far as anything more went, she might as well be invisible. At least, as long as he went on being blinded by Jessica's brilliance.
    Someone jostled her elbow, and she turned to see Roger Barrett staring so fixedly at Lila Fowler he didn't even notice he'd bumped into DeeDee. Lila played Deanie's mother, and Roger had a small walk-on part. DeeDee had never paid much attention to Roger in the past-- probably because he seemed so secretive and kept mostly to himself--but at the moment she felt a sudden flaring of kinship between them. It was obvious Roger had a crush on Lila, one that was even more hopeless than DeeDee's crush on Bill. Lila was definitely out of Roger's league.
    Then DeeDee's attention was diverted back to what was happening onstage.
    Jessica threw her arms around Bill, burying her face against his chest. "Bud, oh, Bud!" she choked.
    DeeDee sighed. Bill was so good-looking, even though he didn't seem to realize it. And so natural. In her mind she saw him as he rocketed through a wave, the wind whipping
    the wet strands of hair back from his face, his blue eyes matching the color of the water.
    As Bill took Jessica in his arms, planting a tender kiss on her lips, DeeDee's eyes filled with tears. When it was over, she was the only one who wasn't applauding.
    "You sure disappeared in a hurry after rehearsal," Bill said, putting his tray down beside DeeDee's at the cafeteria table.
    DeeDee looked up, surprised and pleased that he had sought her out. The tempo of her heart picked up. Maybe there was a chance....
    "I--I was starving," she lied. "And we don't have much time to eat on rehearsal days."
    "There was something I wanted to ask you," he said, sitting down and regarding her seriously.
    Her pulse was hammering so loudly in