Use Somebody Read Online Free PDF Page B

She was constantly absorbed between the covers of The Knot or Modern Bride, ripping out pages of her favorite wedding elements and gowns. She collected every dress and theme idea she could get her hands on, waiting for the day she could officially start planning.
    No, she wasn’t engaged, yet, but she and her boyfriend had been together for almost two years, and she was expecting a proposal any day now.
    “The schedule,” I complained. “I’m working with Vance three times next week. And we’re closing together tonight!”
    “So?”
    “So! He’s annoying as hell,” I grumbled.
    She huffed a laugh and turned the page to reveal another white designer gown. “I think he’s hilarious.”
    “I think he needs to shut the hell up.”
    She looked up from her magazine then, and pushed her thick frames up to the bridge of her nose. Her dark eyes narrowed to focus on me. “So, is this the new Scarlett?”
    “Scar,” I corrected, which she ignored.
    “You come back home with black hair and a giant chip on your shoulder and you’re just gonna be a bitch to everybody now?”
    I scowled at her. Gwen’s bluntness had always been something that I loved about her, especially since it was a trait I never possessed. Now that it was directed at me, I didn’t like it so much. She was fierce and honest. If she was your friend, she had your back, but if you ever got into a disagreement or debate with her, you’d better be prepared to lose.
    There was no point in arguing with her now. She was right anyway. What could I do? Deny that I had changed? It was obvious I wasn’t the same helpless little lamb I used to be.
    That was the problem with having a friend I knew before . Everyone else just met me and accepted the way I was. They never knew the old Scarlett, blond, bubbly and naïve. Gwen did. She saw my past and my present—two extremes on opposite ends of the spectrum. She didn’t know what had happened… nobody really knew… but she wasn’t stupid, either.
    Gwen had been a part of my old high school clique. It had consisted of the two of us and Lexi, plus the guys: Nathan, Dirk and Phoenix. We had been a tight group ever since junior high, when we all promised to be “best friends forever.”
    Back then, everything was so simple. Having fun meant hide-and-go-seek at Wal-Mart. A wild night meant paintball in the canyon behind my parents’ house. Wreaking havoc meant sneaking over to Miss Yellow’s house with fifty rolls of toilet paper. By high school we even formed our own garage band and spent one entire summer making music together. We laughed and played and stayed out all night. We were invincible. Unstoppable. On top of the world. I had everything I ever wanted and I was confident in my identity and my future.
    Our clique didn’t even last until graduation.
    It started to fall apart after Nathan and I broke up and could barely be around each other without tension escalating. The guys got more involved in their music and harder partying. Gwen spent all her time with her boyfriend, Hunter, and marrying him became all she cared about. I began dating Miles and pulled away, too. The rest fizzled out through the remainder of senior year. After graduation, Lexi and I moved to the beach for college. She was the only one I’d kept in touch with.
    Until now.
    When I remained silent, Gwen sighed painfully, and closed the magazine in her lap. “Are you even listening to me?”
    College was supposed to be all about finding myself. What I found was a person who was not as smart or strong as I once thought. Miles and I broke up, and in an effort to suppress the pain of yet another failed relationship, I surrendered to Lexi’s influence and left my goody-two-shoes behind. Overnight, I went from one extreme to the other, convinced that alcohol and boys were the only obvious solution.
    Numb. That’s how I felt. I was just going through the motions. I worked because I had to. I went to school because I had to. I even got out of