Ungifted Read Online Free PDF Page A

do, Grace. He was very worried about you after seeing you so upset last night.”
    “Yeah, whatever.”
    “I’ll be helping him with the interviews today. Any special requests?”
    “Sure. Someone as kick-ass as the Punisher, hotter than Taylor Lautner, and who has zero interest in kissing up to my father.”
    Randy laughed. “Sorry, Gracie, I’m already spoken for.”
    I actually cracked a smile. “Just don’t let him pick some creepy, brooding, silent-type, please?”
    “I’ll see what I can manage.” And then, because I tripped getting out of the car, he asked, “Do you need some help getting inside?”
    “I got it.” I sighed. “Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll fall down the stairs and kill myself on the way to class. Everyone’s problems would be solved then.”
    Randy’s face dropped. “Grace, are you really all right?”
    When I realized exactly how serious I’d just sounded, I plastered my best fake smile on my face. Luckily, that’s the one thing I have managed to perfect over the years since I spend so much time making a fool of myself in public. “I was just kidding. I’m fine. Thanks for the ride this morning.”
    “Chin up, Gracie. I promise I’ll try to get you someone cool.”
    . . . . .
    I managed to get to my first class twenty minutes early—and I did it without killing myself. I would have looked at this as good news, except that the classroom wasn’t empty. Ethan Dunn was already present and accounted for. On the bright side, he had his eyes closed, so I was able to slip into my chair without him noticing I was there.
    I lifted my leg up onto my desk, figuring that doodling on my cast would keep me from looking behind me every five seconds. I’d never been so confrontational with anyone as I was with Ethan yesterday. I was afraid of what his revenge was going to be. Most likely he’d find a way to humiliate me in front of everyone—not that that would be much of an accomplishment.
    After a minute, I felt his shadow looming behind me. “You’re good,” he admitted with an insulting amount of surprise as he motioned to my picture.
    I didn’t get why he was talking to me, but he was waiting for a response, so I shrugged. “Everyone needs an escape. Drawing is one of mine.”
    “Is that Cynthia as a werewolf?” he asked conversationally.
    I looked down at my sketch. It wasn’t the best since I was drawing on plaster, but I took some pride in the fact that he could recognize the wolf girl as Cynthia. I nodded. “She’d make a good werewolf.”
    “You a fan of werewolves?”
    It was so weird that he sounded genuinely curious, but whatever. At least he wasn’t being a jerk.
    “Vampires get all the glam, but werewolves are cooler. Way more fierce and a lot less brooding.”
    I realized what kind of a nerd my confession made me sound like, but what did I care? I was already branded a freak. Better to own it, right? I figured Ethan would tease me, but he just said, “What about angels?”
    “Lame.”
    “Why? You don’t think angels are fierce?”
    “Not especially. Plus, they’re usually too pretty, and for some reason they always have lots of emotional baggage.”
    Ethan scoffed at that, and I finally pulled my eyes up from my drawing. I was clearly amusing him, and it looked like he was annoyed by that fact. “What do you want, Ethan?”
    “Just trying to be nice. By your definition. Thought maybe it would cheer you up.”
    Of course. Because Ethan Dunn’s attention should be a dream come true for me. I went back to my doodling and mumbled, “Thought wrong.”
    I really needed to stop muttering things around Ethan because he apparently had the ears of Superman. He totally heard me and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. Thankfully we were spared the awkwardness of further conversation, because Cynthia bounded into the room and practically tackled me out of my chair.
    “Tell me everything!” she squealed. “What does he look like? Did he ask you out? Was it