The Confession Read Online Free PDF Page A

go of Hillary, and his arms dropped to his sides.
    He stared at her, standing unsteadily, his chest rising and falling under his sweat-drenched black T-shirt, gulping in mouthfuls of air.
    Hillary didn’t back up. She stood with her fistshard at her sides. Her long braid had come apart. Her black hair fell over her face. She made no attempt to brush it away.
    Al shrugged his broad shoulders. “Okay, okay. Forget about the beer.” He stepped around Hillary. Gave Sandy a hard, two-handed push on the chest that sent Sandy stumbling back. Then he strode to the door, a triumphant sneer on his face.
    â€œSome friends I got,” Al muttered. “Can’t get a lousy beer.” He cursed at us and banged the door on his way out.
    As the door slammed, Taylor and Vincent rushed forward to help Sandy. “I’ll get some water. A cold washcloth,” Taylor offered. She disappeared toward the bathroom.
    Vincent led Sandy to a kitchen chair. “You’ll have to see someone about that tooth. But the cut isn’t too deep,” Vincent assured him. “It shouldn’t mess up your beautiful face.”
    That’s right, Vincent, I thought. Keep it light.
    I started to feel a little calmer. My hands were still cold as ice. But at least my heart had stopped pounding like a bass drum.
    I turned back to Hillary—and froze.
    She hadn’t moved from in front of the refrigerator. She stood so stiffly, her hands still clenched into fists. Her entire body was clenched.
    She was staring straight ahead, staring at nothing. And she was biting her bottom lip, biting it so hard it bled.
    â€œHillary … ?” I whispered.
    She didn’t hear me. She seemed to be in some kind of a trance.
    â€œHillary … ?”
    Watching her, I felt a chill run down my back. I realized I had never seen so much hatred on her face before. I had never seen so much hatred on anyone’s face!
    Just how hard a time has Al been giving Hillary? I found myself wondering.
    Just how much does she hate him?
    â™¦ ♦ ♦
    I didn’t see Al for several days after that horrible afternoon. But I heard from some friends of his that he was suspended from school for two weeks.
    It’s a terrible thing to admit, but I felt glad that he couldn’t come to school. It meant I didn’t have to be afraid of him trapping me in the hall, demanding lunch money or my history notes or something.
    Hillary and I didn’t talk about it. But I’m sure she felt the same way.
    On Thursday, I was supposed to meet Vincent at his house after school. We were doing a chemistry lab project together.
    I hoped maybe it would help get a special chemistry going between us! Ha-ha.
    Anyway, I got hung up, talking to Corky Corcoran and some of the cheerleaders about helping out with their spring car wash. So I didn’t get to Vincent’s house until after four-thirty.
    It was a warm, humid day, and I jogged most of the way. To my surprise, I found Vincent out on his driveway, pacing nervously up and down.
    â€œSorry I’m late!” I called, brushing back my hair. I felt something kind of dry and flaky caught in myhair. I pulled it out and examined it. A huge, gray moth.
    Nothing like looking your best when you’re with a guy you have a crush on!
    Vincent growled a greeting. He stared past me to the street.
    I thought maybe he would notice the sexy new spring outfit I was wearing. A short, blue, pleated miniskirt from the sixties and a blue-and-black-striped sleeveless top. I bought it at a new store at the mall called Street Grunge. And I saved it until a time I knew I’d be alone with Vincent.
    But of course he didn’t even look at me.
    â€œWhat’s your problem?” I demanded. “What are you doing out here, anyway? I thought maybe you’d start the experiments.”
    â€œHuh? You want me to do all the work?”
    Grumpy, grumpy. This wasn’t like Vincent at all. What happened