The Nine Lives of Chloe King Read Online Free PDF

a whole bunch of jaws drop in her peripheral vision.
    “You’re hilarious, King, you know that?” He said it with a genuine laugh.
    The second bell rang. “I’ve got to get to the library—but we should hang sometime.”
    Keira looked like she was actually going to growl; her lips were pulled back over her teeth.
    “Absolutely,” Alyec agreed. “Catch you later, King.”
    “See ya.” She strolled past the other girls, trying not to look too smug but unable to keep from smiling a little.
    Chloe thought about Xavier for most of her time in the library, staring out the windows and dreaming a little. She did the same during math and lunch. She thought about him more than her fall. It was kind of like her mom said—she fell, she survived, here she was. She was staring into space, pizza halfway to her mouth, when a familiarly annoying clap on her shoulder jolted her back to reality. Gobbets of bright orange oil flew across the table.
    “Oh my God, is it true?” Amy threw herself into a seat next to her. “I mean, happy birthday, but ohmygod, is it really true, did you really flirt with Alyec right in front of Halley and Keira and—and everyone?”
    “Yeah, I guess I did,” Chloe said with a smile.
    “How are you feeling?”
    Chloe shrugged. “Fine, I think. A little weird. Last night—”
    “Look, we gotta talk,” Amy interrupted, leaning in close and looking her right in the eyes. “Something big is going down with me. I want to discuss. Dinner?”
    Bigger than a near-death and near-sex experience? But Chloe bit back a sarcastic response; Amy really did look worried. And more intense than usual.
    “Okay—”
    “Cool! See you in English!”
    Chloe watched her friend leap up and run off, safety pins and chains jangling as she went, unkempt chestnut hair bouncing. She turned back to her pizza and wondered when life would get back to normal. The grease had congealed into little solid pools of something like orange plastic. Chloe sighed and pushed it away.
    Normality seemed to reassert itself at Pateena. As much as she hated sorting the clothes when they came back from the cleaner, there was a soothing familiarity in the folding and the straightening, the random tirades of the manager, the trendy customers. Nothing sexy or supernatural. Just a lot of jeans and overpriced old basketball shoes.
    Chloe couldn’t help noticing one customer who came in, though—just when she thought she had finally beaten her hormones down. He wore black cords, a ribbed black tee, and a black leather jacket, straight cut, like a regular suit jacket. But there were no hints of the über-goth about him: no tattoos or jewelry or fangs or anything. The outfit, which would have made anyone else look like a wanna-be Johnny Cash, worked perfectly on him; he had very dark brown hair, very slightly tanned, healthy skin, and deep brown eyes with beautiful long lashes.
    The kicker, though, was his handmade black knitted cap with kitty cat ears.
    Here was a handsome guy with a sense of humor. He thumbed through the polo shirts, frowning.
    “Looking for a Halloween costume?” Lania asked him nastily. Chloe groaned, still unable to believe that the little alterna-bitch was allowed to operate the cash register and she wasn’t. Just because the other girl was two years older. If Chloe had a dollar for every customer Lania insulted, she would finally be able to afford a new mountain bike. A nice one.
    But he just chuckled. “No, I’m afraid it’s for an actual meeting with actual executive types.” He looked pretty young to be in business, but this was San Francisco, after all. He was probably a programmer or graphics designer or something.
    Chloe went back to her work, wondering what Xavier looked like in the daylight. How many drinks did she have? Just two or three. She could have been beer goggling. Maybe those sexy freckles were actually bad acne. …
    “Excuse me.” The guy in the kitty hat carefully stepped around her, his