The Girl in the Park Read Online Free PDF Page A

‘Good?’ ‘Just swell.…’ ”
    She waved her hands. “No, good, I’m good.”
    I asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “Hm?” She looked confused.
    “Wendy.”
    Wendy wandered over to the counter where people were dumping whatever bottles they had managed to steal from their parents or get someone to buy for them.
    Pouring vodka into her cup, she said abruptly, “Have you ever been in love with completely the wrong person? I don’t mean like he’s shorter than you or doesn’t have money or doesn’t call …”
    “Normal guy wrong.”
    “Right. I mean, like people could get hurt wrong.” She started to pick up the cup, then put it down again. “What would you say to someone who was in love with someone like that?”
    Love. This was new. Of course, I knew who we were talking about: Nico Phelps. Wendy’s obsession with Nico was all over school. This year, her Facebook page was practically devoted to him. His body, his eyes, his clothes. Supposedly they’d gotten together a few times over the summer. But it didn’t last. Nico dated up.
    Wendy had sworn to make another play for him tonight. The fact that he had a girlfriend—and that girlfriend was Sasha Meloni—probably just added to the kick.
    Most kids thought:
Wendy strikes again
. To me, the whole thing felt a little … frantic. Now I saw why. She was seriously hooked on this guy.
    A memory of Nico flashed in my head. My stomach churned.
    “I’d say, Stay away. Don’t do it.”
    “What if you tried? What if it didn’t work?”
    “Try again? Wendy—”
    I wanted to say, Please, stop this game. Stop before you get hurt. Or hurt someone else. Again.
    The words were in my head. But they never reached the air. Before I could say them out loud, there was a group scream and the entire party seemed to surge toward the front door. The beautiful couple had arrived: Nico Phelps and Sasha Meloni.
    Everyone wondered how Sasha would handle tonight. Would she even come to the party? Would she let Nico come? Anyone who thought she would bail didn’t know Sasha. Sasha’s mother is a ballet dancer. Her father something with money. Swanlike Sasha with her long body, cascade of auburn hair, and passion for art. She’s not pool cleaner—and she’s no doormat, either. A lot of people were hoping that Wendy was finally going to getwhat was coming to her. She’d messed with the wrong girlfriend this time.
    In some ways, Sasha and Nico were an odd couple: Sasha so classy, Nico so bad boy. But I’d noticed that strange couples often paired up senior year. It was a last chance to try something new, experiment with a future self.
    All eyes were on Sasha, Nico, and Wendy. As Sasha accepted fiercely loyal hugs from her friends in the hallway, I thought I saw her glance at Wendy through the entrance to the kitchen.
    Wendy was watching Nico. Her energy was crackling, out of control.
    Get her out of here, I told myself. Right now.
    Wendy frowned, as if she had just remembered something. To me, she said, “Could you ’scoose me? Something I gotta do.”
    But she didn’t leave right away. Instead she looked at me, mouth slightly open. About to tell me something—or hoping I would say something.
    I opened my mouth.
Wendy, let’s just get coffee. Eat some raw cookie dough
.
    I never said it. And a second later, Wendy left the kitchen to find Nico. A little while later I left the party. ’Cause at this party, I’d seen the Wendy I’d really liked, the girl I thought would be my best friend till we were ancient.
    But then she went racing after Nico Phelps and I didn’t want to see what happened next.
    “Thank God,” my mom says, turning onto our street. “Home.” Home. Our building is called the Britannia, and it feels veryEnglish; my mother says it’s like living at Oxford. As I go into the building, I wave to the two gargoyles above the door, who I think of as Lola and Hubie. The first time Wendy saw them, she said they creeped her out.
    It’s after seven. As