Switched Read Online Free PDF Page A

expected to see. On top of that, it wasn’t just anybody.
    Finn Holmes looked hopeful, but not at all ashamed or frightened at having been caught peeping into my room. In fact, he knocked gently at the glass, and belatedly, I realized that’s what had woke me up.
    He hadn’t been peeping intentionally; he’d been trying to sneak into my room. So that was slightly less creepy, I supposed.
    For some reason, I got up and went over to the window. I caught sight of myself in my mirror, and I did not look good. My pajamas were of the sad, comfy variety. My hair was a total mess, and my eyes were red and puffy.
    I knew I shouldn’t even let Finn in my room. He was probably a sociopath and he didn’t make me feel good about myself. Besides, Matt would kill us both if he caught him in here.
    So, I stood in front of the window, my arms crossed, and glared at him. I was pissed off and hurt, and I wanted him to know it. Normally, I prided myself on not getting hurt, let alone telling people if they had hurt me. But this time, I thought it would be better if he knew that he was a dick.
    “I’m sorry!” Finn talked so his voice would carry through the glass, and his eyes echoed the sentiment. He looked genuinely remorseful, but I wasn’t ready to accept his apology yet. Maybe I never would.
    “What do you want?” I demanded as loudly as I could without Matt hearing me.
    “To apologize. And to talk to you.” Finn looked earnestly at me. “It’s important.” I chewed my lip, debating between what I knew I should do and what I really wanted to do. “Please.”
    Against my better judgment, I opened the window. I left the screen in so he could deal with that, and took a step back so I was sitting on the end of my bed. Finn pulled the screen out easily, and I wondered how much experience he had with sneaking in girls’ windows.
    Carefully, he climbed into my room, shutting the window behind him. He glanced over my room, making me feel self-conscious. It was rather messy, with clothes and books strewn about, but most of my stuff sat in two large cardboard boxes and a trunk on one side of my room.
    “So what did you want?” I said, trying to drag his attention back to me instead of inspecting my things.
    “I’m sorry,” Finn repeated, with that same sincerity he had outside. “Tonight I was cruel.” He looked away thoughtfully before continuing. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
    “So why did you?” I asked sharply.
    Licking his lips, he shifted and exhaled deeply. He had intentionally been mean to me. It wasn’t some accident because he was cocky or unaware of how he treated people. Everything he did felt meticulous and purposeful.
    “I don’t want to lie to you, and I promise you that I haven’t,” Finn answered carefully. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
    “I think I have a right to know what’s going on,” I snapped, and then remembered that Matt and Maggie were sleeping down the hall and hastily lowered my voice.
    “I came here to tell you,” Finn assured me. “To explain everything. This isn’t the way we normally do things, so I had to make a phone call before I came to see you. I was trying to figure things out. That’s why it’s so late. I’m sorry.”
    “Call who? Figure out what?” I took a step back.
    “It’s about what you did tonight, with Patrick,” Finn said gently, and the pit in my stomach tightened.
    “I didn’t do anything with Patrick.” I shook my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “You really don’t?” Finn eyed me suspiciously, unable to decide if he believed me or not.
    “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stumbled. A chill ran over me and I started feeling vaguely nauseous.
    “Yeah, you do.” Finn nodded solemnly. “You just don’t know what it is.”
    “I’m just very… persuasive,” I said without any real conviction. I didn’t want to keep denying it, but talking about it, giving credibility to my own private