The Spectacular Now Read Online Free PDF

reason he wants to chase after them in the first place is because he knows nothing will ever happen. It’s just make-believe—no real chance of hooking up or getting shut down, either one. But I won’t let him get away with that, not this time.
    We make a couple trips up and down Twelfth Street with no luck until I see these headlights flashing at me from behind—Tara Thompson’s little gold Camry. At the stoplight, she sticks her head out of the window and shouts for me to pull over in the Conoco parking lot. This looks promising. I know Tara pretty well—we have English together—and while she’s not really right for Ricky, her friend Bethany Marks is.
    Tara and Bethany are pretty much always together. They’re mid-level girls—not hot hot or super popular but way above the dank outcast level. Softball players. Tara’s a dyed-blonde and a little stocky but not in an unattractive way at all. Bethany’s a brunette and more wiry with these spanktacular long legs and kind of a disproportionately short upper body. Nice tits. Her only drawback is that her nose always looks a little oily. But the way she is with Tara reminds me of Ricky. She’s the quieter one next to Tara’s outgoing personality. Guys don’t notice her so much, but she’s got a good laugh, and for jocks, she and Tara like to get a party on.
    I pull up on Tara’s side of the car and roll down my window.
    “Sutter,” she says, “you’re just who I’m looking for. Know where we can get some beer?”
    “Beer? Aren’t you girls in training?”
    “We’re celebrating. My mom finally kicked my stepdad out of the house.” They both laugh.
    I tell them to park, and I’ll see if I can help them out.
    “Step around to my office, girls.” I lead them to the back of my car and pop the trunk to reveal a treasure trove of beer. We’ve lined the whole trunk with plastic, covered that with ice, laid down row after row of beer, and poured more ice over that.
    “You guys rule,” Tara says.
    “We were just getting ready to go cruise Bricktown,” I say, which we weren’t really planning to do, but we might as well now. “Why don’t you come with us?”
    Bethany goes, “We’re on our way to Michelle’s house.”
    So I’m like, “Hey, I’m ready to celebrate somebody’s stepfather getting kicked out of the house since my mom won’t kick mine out.”
    That’s all Tara needs to hear. “Well, don’t just stand there. Open me a beer.”
    I give her one and don’t even need to figure out a way to finagle Bethany into the back with Ricky. Tara heads straight to the passenger seat so that there’s nothing to do but for Ricky and Bethany to get in back. Now, you might think Cassidy would have a problem with this seating arrangement if she happened to get a look at it, but she’s at the movies with her girlfriends tonight, and besides this is all about hooking Ricky up with Bethany.
    “Full speed ahead,” I say as I crank the ignition. “And damn the potatoes.”

Chapter 7
    Bricktown is the entertainment district in Oklahoma City. It gets its name from all the brick buildings and even brick streets. It used to be a warehouse district or something. Now they have bars and restaurants, concert halls and arenas, coffee shops, a multiplex, and a ballpark. You can also take boat rides on a canal that runs between two long rows of buildings like a river at the bottom of a canyon. The boat rides aren’t real exciting, but girls think they’re romantic. All I have to do is figure out a way to get Ricky and Bethany on a boat together while I steer Tara off somewhere else.
    I make sure to keep the girls in beer while we drive over and then cruise up and down past the bars and restaurants. At first, Ricky’s kind of quiet. He’s one of those people that might seem shy at first, but once you get to know him, he’s hilarious. He’s absolutely kick-ass at doing impersonations—movie stars, teachers, other kids at school. Once I get him started on