The View from the Top Read Online Free PDF Page A

the bluffs. And when it came time to part ways in the fall, well, that would suck. But at least she would’ve been his first girlfriend.
    The piano was arpeggiating up and down as if to say, Time is running out—go for it! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath like he always did before cannonballing off the bluffs into the ocean, then leaned in to where he assumed her lips would be and—
    â€”and her lips weren’t there. He got the side of her ear. He opened his eyes to see that she’d turned her head. She had this look on her face as if she’d just seen the climax of a horror flick.
    Tobin sat straight up, his thumbs shooting through the holes in his hoodie. “What—what happened?” he asked. “I thought—”
    â€œI’m so sorry,” she said, hugging her knees. “I didn’t mean—”
    â€œI’ve never tried that with anyone before.”
    â€œOh no, don’t tell me that. Now I feel awful.”
    â€œSo do I,” he said. “I don’t get it. It seemed like you wanted me to.”
    â€œNo, I guess I wasn’t being clear,” she said. “I was talking about someone else.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter.”
    â€œIt does to me.”
    She was rocking back and forth, making the trampoline shift underneath him. “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
    â€œI won’t. Just tell me. You owe me that after all this.”
    â€œIt’s Jonah,” she said.
    Wait, what? Jonah? Jonah Wilder? Jonah Wilder who would flirt with anything with boobs? Who could get any girl he wanted? Who probably slept with more girls than any other guy in the history of Normal High?
    â€œYou’re being quiet,” Anabelle said.
    â€œYeah.” Tobin’s skin was burning up. The music had just gotten to the syrupy part that always reminded him of scenes in cheesy old movies, when a couple has their first kiss. “I’ve gotta go,” he said. He stood up and bounced a couple times on the trampoline, sweat trickling down the insides of his arms.
    â€œWait,” she said. “Stay a little longer? This feels so abrupt. Shouldn’t we talk things through some more?”
    â€œI don’t have anything else to say.” Tobin turned and jumped down to the grass. “Here,” he said, after he got in the van. “If you’re gonna stay out here, you’ll need this.” He took off his hoodie and tossed it at her through the window. He’d thrown it harder than he meant to and he thought he heard the zipper hit her face. Nice impression to leave her with the last time he saw her, probably ever. Unless they ran into each other coming and going from their jobs on the boardwalk. Which he hoped they wouldn’t.
    As he drove off he watched her in the sideview mirror getting smaller and smaller, clutching his red sweatshirt like a security blanket.

    Back at home, Tobin stormed straight to his room and pulled out his cello. Instinctively, he started playing his part in Schubert’s Piano Trio. He’d been practicing it a lot lately so that he’d be ready to try it with Anabelle once she got the tape. Well, that wasn’t going to happen anymore. No, he needed to go solo from now on. He dug around in his music folder until he found the Prelude to Bach’s Suite no. i in G Major, just meant for a single cello. He opened the photocopied pages and placed them on his music stand. There, that was more like it. This piece was made for him, and him only.
    Tobin’s bow glided over the strings, lightly hitting the first arpeggios. As the piece built, he slowly started throwing more weight into his arm and pressing his callused fingers into the fret board more forcefully. The gritty low notes were his favorites—they made him feel like his veins were wires on a circuit board and his blood was electricity.
    Just as he was about to hit the final chord, a