The Con Read Online Free PDF Page A

kids
taking up most of the seats in the living room and a few sitting on
the checkered carpet. The only person I recognize is Lola, but when
she sees Dougy and I walk in she rolls her eyes. Speaking loud
enough for me to hear she asks, "Who invited RBI?"
    Her words ring in my ears and I'm suddenly
aware of how much I don't belong here. I don't fit it.
    I'm just about to bolt when Jagger walks
into the room from the kitchen. His eyes meet mine and grow wide
with surprise before he asks the same question Lola asked, but a
lot nicer. "Who invited twinkle toes?"
    Walking over to where Dougy and I are
standing, Jagger looks me over and I look down shyly at my bare
feet.
    "I found her on my way over here. She was
bored so I thought she could hang with us." I look up at Dougy just
as he suggestively wiggles his eyebrows at Jagger.
    "She's too young, man. She can't play with
us," Jagger responds. Then he directs his next words to me. "It's
nothing against you, twinkle toes. You're cool, but this... party
is a little advanced for you. If you were a couple years older it
would be different."
    I step forward defiantly. "I'm not too
young."
    Smirking he raises his hands in defeat and
responds, "Okay, twinkle toes. It’s your reputation at stake."
    It's then that I see exactly what Jagger was
trying to warn me about. Behind him is a girl, who can't be much
older than me. She grips an empty beer bottle and places it on its
side on top of a piece of cardboard. Her wrist twists and then the
bottle spins before landing on a boy two seats away from her.
    The boy, with dark brown hair and tan skin,
stands up. The girl gets up as well and then he grabs her hand and
they both go off behind one of the doors to my left.
    "What are they playing?" I ask innocently
but already know the answer.
    "Seven minutes in heaven," Jagger answers
me. "That was my boy, Jose, and the girl is Leah. When they're
finished in the room it's someone else's turn."
    Dougy steps up behind me and leans in.
"Don't worry, RBI, I'll be gentle."
    I gulp, not sure I want to play this game
with them and wishing I would have listened to Jagger when I had
the chance. If I leave now I'll look like a wuss.
    "Cut it out, Thirty-D," Jagger shouts before
hitting Dougy on the side of the head. "Don't scare the girl."
    Jagger looks down at me sweetly. His once
long brown hair is shorter now, but he's still able to tuck it
behind his ears. "You don't have to play, twinkle toes. You can
just watch if you want."
    I look up into his reassuring eyes. "I'll
play."
    "Awesome," Dougy says from beside me and
then he grabs my hand and walks us over to the circle that is
formed on the carpet. The other kids move to give us room, but
they're all staring at me like I have a third eye or something.
Jagger comes over now, too, and takes a seat next to Lola in the
circle. Dougy is on my right and a boy I've never met before is on
my left, but I’ve seen him around with Jagger.
    "Hey, I'm Ky," he says, introducing himself
and reaching out his hand. I take it in a friendly handshake.
    "I'm Ronnie."
    "Ronnie... huh." He looks over at Jagger
curiously, but Jagger's in a hushed conversation with Lola. Their
heads are crouched together and the moment looks intimate. As I
watch the two of them interact I'm filled with jealousy. Lola talks
and flirts with him so easily. I don't know how to be that natural
around him.
    The door behind me eventually opens and out
walks Jose and Leah. Her face is flushed and her clothing is
rumpled, while Jose has a dirty grin plastered across his face.
    "Who's next?" Dougy asks eagerly while
peeking over at me.
    "It's Ace's turn," Ky says from the other
side of me and when I look over at Ky he's glaring at Dougy. I
thought they were all friends but by the way Ky is looking at
Dougy, there must be something else going on.
    Jagger kneels over the cardboard and places
his hand on the bottle before giving it a good spin. Lola sits up
eagerly with anticipation as the bottle spins over