The Collector Read Online Free PDF Page A

reading. When she’s done, she drops them onto the table and glances around the room. My back stiffens when her gaze meets mine.
    The girl’s got enormous brown eyes, smooth brown skin, and long dark hair. She’s like a bucket of caramel, and I’d like to taste every part of her. And string me up and flog me if she isn’t built like a Playboy centerfold.
    “That’s Taylor,” Charlie says like I just ran over her dog. “She’s head of the journalism club. And pretty much everything else.” She watches my face closely and continues, “I could introduce you.”
    “Uh-huh,” is all I manage because I can’t stop watching Taylor nibble her lip and smile at me. Two guys wearing red football jerseys file past Charlie and me and sit on either side of Dream Girl. A second later, two more students walk into the room and set up near the camera. A guy as tall as a soda can climbs up onto a short platform and plays with the camera. He nods at a freckle-faced girl standing close by, who counts down from five, and the room falls silent.
    “Hi! I’m Taylor Fitch, and this is your Weekend Play Plan. With me, I’ve got Brad Setterfield and Clint Moers from our very own Centennial football team.” Taylor does an adorable woot-woot with her arm, and I fall in lust all over again.
    I glance at Charlie to make sure she’s still there and then look right back at Taylor.
    But then I stop.
    My eyes slowly return to Charlie. Her face is…alive. Eyes. Ears. Mouth. They’re completely open and alert. Even her head has a daydream-y tilt. Maybe she’s crushing on one of the jocks? But no, her eyes are glued to the same thing mine were—Taylor.
    “What are you staring at?” I whisper.
    Charlie’s eyes never leave their subject. “This,” she whispers back. “Her.”
    “You got a thing for chicks?” I ask.
    Charlie rolls her eyes and smiles. “No. It’s…the whole being in front of a camera and being so good at it. Sometimes they even do these things live, and she still does everything perfectly.”
    “She’s just reading the cue cards.” I point to the cue card stand as if it isn’t obvious.
    “You say it like it’s no big deal.” Charlie’s face drops, and I remind myself what I’m here for.
    I nudge her. “So why don’t you join the club? Maybe you can go on camera sometime.” Charlie shakes her head but doesn’t say anything. “Why not?”
    “It’s not that I have a problem talking to people.” Yeah, I gathered that much. “But I can’t go on camera in front of the whole school and be like her.” Charlie points to Taylor’s shiny hair and shinier smile. “She’s so…captivating.”
    “Please. She’s just flirting with the camera. You know how to flirt, don’t you?” Of course she doesn’t.
    “Well, yeah,” she says. “Everyone knows how to flirt.”
    I doubt she has any clue how to reel a guy in. Even if she did, she’d have no idea what to do with him. I suddenly have an image of Charlie trying to hold onto a fish as it flops around between her hands.
    The freckle-faced girl announces that they’re done filming, and the beauty behind the table gets up and saunters toward me. I have to stop myself from shoving Charlie out of the way.
    “Hey,” the girl purrs. “I’m Taylor.”
    I try to appear uninterested. “Dante.”
    “New here?” she asks.
    “Yep.” I say, barely looking at her. Uninterested. It always works.
    “Then you’ll want this.” She hands me a glorious orange envelope. Pow! “It’s an invite to my party Saturday night. Give you a chance to meet people.”
    “We’ll see,” I say. Taylor gives a smile that says she knows I’ll show. And she’s right. Because this party will serve two purposes: it’ll give me the chance to corrupt Charlie and ravage Taylor. Caramel Mama is already walking away when I speak up. “Hey, ‘Taylor,’ you said it was?” She nods. “Well, this is Charlie. She wants to be in your little club.” I flip my hand toward the