The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back Read Online Free PDF Page A

"I meant detention."
    "I was leaning against the wall and my backpack caught on the fire alarm and set it off." Have I mentioned how much I love his dark brown eyes? It wasn't just that they were beautiful (which they so were) but that with him looking at me, it was like I was the most important person in the entire world. Like there was nowhere else he'd rather be than talking to me.
    "That was you?"
    "Yeah."
    "Ms. Rathbone must have been in a mood to send you to detention for an accident." I had probably aggravated her more than I realized. I should feel bad, but if it led to this, I couldn't feel too sorry.
    He shrugged. "Yeah, they ended up calling my dad." He said the words tightly, and it was obvious things had not gone well.
    Subject change! I wanted more smiles.
    "On the bright side, you got me out of social studies. So on behalf of myself and my class, I thank you."
    He laughed and my loop changed from
we're having a conversation!
to
oh my Buddha, I just made Jake Kingston laugh!
Then I imagined that it could be like this every day if we were both in the student government class. We'd work on projects and spend lots and lots of time together. He would see that we were perfect for each other and we'd ride off into the sunset.
    And what about Ella?
my guilty subconscious asked me. I told it to shut up.
    "So, what you're saying is that you sort of owe me."
    Huh? "Owe you?" I wondered if he'd let me pay him back in kisses.
    "I have some stuff I need to do. Would you mind covering for me?"
    He was leaving? Now? When we were finally having an actual conversation?
    Jake pulled a notebook and pen out of his backpack. He wrote something down and then tore the page off, handing it to me.
    "That's my ID number and my password. If you'd just log me out when the hour's up, that'd be great."
    I took the paper and saw the number 257893318 and
ellaishot
. Ella I shot? What? That didn't even make any…oh, wait. Not Ella I shot. Ella is hot.
    Of course.
    Not only that, but what he was asking me to do made me feel sick to my stomach. Part of me wanted so badly to say sure, go ahead, I'll take care of it for you. I was really, really tempted. It would be so easy to lie to Mrs. Putnam because she trusted me. My fingers gripped the piece of paper tightly, as if they wanted to prevent me from returning it. I imagined he would smile at me and thank me and he'd have warm fuzzy feelings about that great girl who helped him out.
    But even I, in my highly deluded state, knew that wasn't how things would happen. He wasn't talking to me to be nice or because he was interested in what I had to say. He had buttered me up just so that he could leave without getting in trouble.
    He was using me.
    And while I was not above telling a white lie here and there, I was a pretty honest person. My dad might have neglected a lot of things, but he did teach me the difference between right and wrong.
    This was wrong.
    I had promised Mrs. Putnam we'd stay here. I didn't break promises. I didn't want to betray her trust.
    Not even Jake Kingston was worth my integrity.
    "If Mrs. Putnam comes to check on us, just tell her I had to run to the bathroom or something." He picked up his backpack and slid it over one shoulder.
    "Thanks for this, Mattie. I really appre—"
    "No." I cut him off. This time both my voice and hand shook hard. I held out the torn piece of paper. "I won't lie for you."

    Chapter 5
    Jake looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted another head. "What?"
    I didn't say anything because of the thick, hard lump that had formed in my throat. I continued to hold the paper out to him, willing my hand to stop shaking. He didn't take it.
    "Are you serious?" He sounded gobsmacked. I was sure in his entire life no girl had ever told him no. Jake gave me an assessing look, like he was trying to figure me out. He suddenly smiled. He had apparently decided to go back to what had been working for him earlier, and switched gears from disbelief to teasing. "You're