The Farewell Season Read Online Free PDF

or something?"
    I wanted to pulverize Davis. Rolf could, if he wanted to. Or he could mouth off right back of him. But he wouldn't. That just wasn't his way. Instead, he forced a big grin and said, "Yeah, I'm running for Dictator-for-Life. Do I get your vote?"
    A bunch of the guys laughed, myself included.
    For a second, Derek stared, a scowl of confusion on his face. Then he mumbled a selection of swear words and stomped off.
    Still, he'd achieved his goal, curbing Rolf's enthusiasm. Rolf wanted to please everybody, and had a tough time accepting the fact that there are some guys you can't please no matter what. He needed to be more thick-skinned. I felt the anger rising in my throat just thinking about a jerk like Davis trying to bait Rolf.
    "Excuse me."
    I felt a tap on my shoulder.
    "What?" I snapped.
    "Hi …." Glynnie offered a white, even smile. "Could I interview you? For my column?"
    I shrugged.
    "Don't worry, I'm not a muckraker." She let out a small laugh.
    "Look. Write what you want. I never read my press."
    Glynnie's big, gray-blue eyes widened slightly behind her horn-rimmed glasses, and for a second a look of disappointment crossed her face. "Whatever."
    Then it was her turn to shrug before she whirled around and headed toward the parking lot.
    As I started to trot away, I blinked hard to fight off tears of frustration. Jamar was injured. Rolf was putting too much pressure on himself. I was unfocused and snapping at an innocent girl just trying to do her job.
    So much for my big-deal, long-awaited, awesome senior season.
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    "Hey, Rolf," I found myself saying. "I … I'll catch up with you in the locker room."
    Rolf nodded. He didn't question why I was suddenly veering off toward the parking lot.
    I decided being unfocused was bad enough. I didn't have to be a jerk too. I trotted over to where Glynnie was just starting to ride away on her bike. I called after her, "How about after I shower?"
    She didn't turn around. Maybe she didn't hear me. Maybe it was just as well if she didn't.
    I noticed a group of band members strolling over the grassy knoll next to the school. In the middle of a knot of girls was Hedy. She'd witnessed the whole scene. Hedy elbowed Jenny Lund, and then the entire cluster of girls started pointing and whispering.
    I looked off in the opposite direction, totally pretending I'd been trying to catch the attention of someone other than Glynnie then hurried off to the locker room. I figured I'd given Hedy and her friends enough to talk about.
    Inside, the locker room was all steam and the sound of hissing water. There was little talk—not even Derek Davis ragging on someone. We were too exhausted to do anything but stand and let streams of water wash our hours of sweat down the drain.
    After we toweled off and dressed, I plopped my aching body into Rolf's truck. We rode along in silence, both seriously wiped out. As we rounded a bend in the road, I saw Glynnie up ahead.
    "Hey," Rolf said. "Isn't that Glynnie Alden? Weren't you talking to her and Jamar? What'd she want?"
    "Nothing."
    "Um. I could pull over, and, uh, we could invite her to lunch. You know Kirstin would love to have one more mouth to feed."
    "I don't need to have lunch with Glynnie Alden. I don't need to have lunch with any female to whom I'm not related. I don't need—"
    "Okay, okay. It was just a thought!"
    "Hmmph." I crossed my arms over my chest and scrunched way down in my seat as we rode past Glynnie.
    We pulled into the driveway at my house, and before we even made it to the door Glynnie whizzed by on her bike. She looked goofy in her round glasses and bike helmet, but she'd made excellent time. Must have been her long legs.
    Once inside the kitchen, first thing Rolf tried to snitch a slice of tomato from a salad sitting on the counter next to a bowl of red grapes.
    "Cut that out!" Kirstin playfully slapped Rolf's hand. She had an easy relationship with him. She'd known him all her life and he