The Elementalist Read Online Free PDF Page B

afraid.

 
    10
    ~Girl Interrupted~
    Alisa
     
    At first, the unfamiliar ringing of Claire’s cell phone was just an annoyance, but when the ringing didn’t stop, I did what any normal teenager would do. I muted it. Later, I noticed I had missed numerous calls. Brecken and I sat on the couch, fiddling with the phone, plugging in his number, when another call came through. I answered it automatically. Stupid .
    Brecken sat close, watching with an amused smile. He knew it wasn’t my phone or anyone actually calling for me .
    “Where are you?” a strangely familiar voice demanded. I couldn’t place it at first, and then I could.
    “Oh. I… um… I’m at a friend’s.”
    “Claire, I swear, if you don’t get your butt home right now, you are grounded ‘til Christmas! Do you hear me? You don’t stay out past midnight on school nights!”
    School nights? “It’s a school night?”
    “Claire,” her mother growled in warning.
    Right . She sounded totally pissed. “Okay. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
    “You’d better be.”
    I hung up the phone and slowly lowered it to my lap, glancing at Brecken.
    “Is your mommy mad at you?”
    His teasing made me smile, and I tossed one of the throw pillows at him. “Yeah. I’d better go. I don’t want Claire to get in trouble… I guess.”
    He sat up, his face golden in the dim lights of the living room. “So your name is Claire now, huh? Claire who?”
    I frowned, thinking. I hadn’t paid attention to her last name when I looked at her driver’s license. “I’m not sure. Let’s see.” I pulled her wallet from her purse and read, “Balister. Hmm.”
    “Claire Balister,” he repeated. “I could get used to that.”
    I leaned in close and inhaled his scent one last time before I had to leave, placing a soft kiss on his lips. “I’ll never get tired of this,” I whispered, letting my mouth graze his cheek before reluctantly pulling away.
    “Me neither.” He tugged me back down, and I snuggled into the warmth of his arms, wondering if I should brave the wrath of Claire’s mom and stay here. Better not . I didn’t know what kind of punishments she would enact, and I didn’t want to ruin my chances of spending all my time with Brecken. If worse came to worse, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. As a guardian, it wasn’t my place to be rebellious and cause trouble, but in a human body, I was realizing that the urge came naturally.
    Finally, I got up, but I never took my eyes from him. I soaked him in as he reclined on the couch, his feet bare and his jeans hugging his body in all the right ways. “We’ll have plenty of days like this. I promise. See you later?”
    “I hope so,” he said, getting up to walk me to the door.
    We indulged in one last, long kiss in the moonlight. I couldn’t believe I was really here, in a real body. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow. I was transferring schools for sure. Brecken lived just over the boundary and went to Ocean Side High School, so no way was I going to finish my senior year at Hill Valley High.
    He watched me kill Claire’s car a couple of times, and then he waved goodbye.
    My life couldn’t be better.
     
    ***
     
    The alarm clock blared early, and I was out of bed before it had a chance to scream at me again. I hurried to shower, get dressed, and eat the lavish breakfast Claire’s mom had made me. Eggs, sunny-side up, pancakes with blueberry syrup, and hash browns. The orange juice was the best part of all, and I relished the way the cold, tangy flavor washed over my tongue. Pulpy. My favorite. I ate it all, savoring every taste bud that burst with delight, not caring one whit if Claire’s perfect body grew ten sizes.
    “Hey, Mom?” It still felt weird to say that.
    She glanced at me over her shoulder while flipping pancakes. “Hmm?”
    “Could I transfer schools?”
    “What?” She turned with a look of utter confusion on her face. “Why would you want to do that? Where would you rather go?”
    I thought