Unchained Melody Read Online Free PDF Page A

her mum smiled. ‘What did he say?’
    Callie got to her feet and yanked on the skirt of her black and white dress, turning to look at herself in the mirror and feeling pleasantly surprised with what was reflected back. The dress was the stretchy, tube kind with a low neckline, svelte cap sleeves and reached just above her knee. The fabric was black with tiny white polka-dots; very fifties, and very Gwen Stefani. Usually, Callie wouldn’t have been caught dead in it because it was entirely too girly for her. Yet, paired with her chunky black Doc Martens, it kind of worked. Callie reached for her favorite red and black flannelette shirt and tied it around her waist as she often did, but hitched the skirt of the dress up a few inches before securing the sleeves into a tight knot, low on her hips. Her smile became a full-fledged grin when she retrieved her hat from her dresser top and yanked it down over her hair, threading her ponytail through the loop at the back.
    ‘Oh… he might have himself a girlfriend. We’ll see. His recounts of flirting with her had me giggling.’ She turned to the side, assessing herself. ‘How does this look?’
    ‘Actually… pretty good. I guess it’s as close to Rockabilly as your generation is going to get.’ Her mother crossed the threshold to her room and ran her fingers through Callie’s ponytail. ‘Gosh, you’re getting so grown up. You look lovely. If you won’t lose the hat, will you at least let me stick a few velcro rollers in here before you go?’
    Callie made a baboon face. ‘Curls? Won’t that be overkill?’
    ‘Nope- it’ll be perfect.’ Her mom tilted her head, meeting Callie’s eyes in the mirror. Auburn hair swung over Callie’s shoulder. Most people did that; stood close to her when they spoke and stooped, trying to see under the brim of her hat and into her eyes. ‘And how do you feel about Hunter having a girlfriend?’
    Callie didn’t think over her response. ‘I guess it’s weird. But I sort of knew that it was inevitable.’ She shrugged. ‘Meredith seems nice… to him. So long as she doesn’t break his heart or anything…’
    ‘Break Hunter’s heart?’ Lauryenne smirked. The only wrinkles she bore were tiny lines around her eyes which creased when she smiled or stared at her computer, typing away on her latest masterpiece. She was a beautiful woman, and Callie often lamented the fact that they looked nothing alike. She never had to tell people she was adopted; One look at her olive skin and black hair compared to her Australian born mother, who was all autumn bronzes and peach, and her Canadian father, who was tall and as pale as Vlad with a shock of red hair made it clear that Callie had not inherited her features from either of them. ‘I don’t think that’s possible. I could reverse over that boy with my car and he’d probably leap up, laughing at my antics.’
    Callie chuckled. Her mother was right; Hunter Marks was basically the happiest boy on the face of the planet. ‘I don’t know how he’s ever going to become a rock star,’ she agreed. ‘No one ever got famous by singing about how content they are to be upper middle class and anxiety free.’
    Her mother smiled fondly. ‘Maybe that’ll be his hook- and Ryan can just glare on pensively from the side for effect.’
    Callie’s smile faltered as she thought of her other best friend, who was also an aspiring musician. Ryan was beautiful to look at, his singing voice was incredible, and he had an intensity about him that Hunter didn’t; a sort of darkness that was as appealing as it was subtle and idyllically ‘Heavy Metal’. Callie often worried about their friendship, and what would happen when a name was called to walk to the front of the stage and the other was left in their shadow.
    Brick came on and Callie wasn’t in the mood to be brought down. Knowing that Next’s Too Close was the next track on her SmashHits disc, she hit the button on her C. D player and skipped