Warrior Beautiful Read Online Free PDF Page B

side.
    “I couldn’t!” he yelled.
    She jerked back as if he’d slapped her and he struggled to control his breathing. Without a word, Scout spun on her heel and stalked away, up the drive to get Lil Bit. He waited until they came back; Lil Bit chattering and Scout smiling like someone had flipped a switch on her fury.
    “Hi Trey!” Lil Bit bounced by, skipping down the sidewalk.
    “Hi Lil Bit. How was the party?”
    “Stay away from her.” Scout hissed as she brushed past him.
    “Scout wait. Please, just let me explain.”
    “No.”
    He grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. “Just give me a—”
    “No. I never want to speak to you again, Trey. As far as I’m concerned, you died in that crash.” She jerked her arm from his grasp. He nearly doubled over as pain sliced through his stomach like she’d stabbed him.
    “What about our science project?” He asked weakly as he watched her walk away.
    She stopped and turned slowly, her eyes shooting daggers from several feet away. “I’ll fail that stupid class before I’ll work with you again.”
    ****
    Scout faked a smile until she made it to her room, lying through her teeth to get out of dinner. She shut the door with a soft click and backed slowly away until her legs bumped into her bed. She sank down, pulling the red and black comforter around her, burrowing down into it, and then she cried, letting tears soak her cheeks and her hair while she prayed for peace, for sleep, for anything that would take the pain away. He abandoned me because of guilt. All those times he said he loved me... he was lying. If he ’ d loved me, guilt wouldn ’ t have kept him away. Guilt would have kept him at my side. She sobbed harder.
    “Scout, I’m here. I brought help.” Lil Bit whispered. Scout hadn’t heard her come in, hadn’t felt her climb up on the bed next to her. But now a little hand stroked the soaked hair away from Scout’s cheek, and she felt a warmth spread toward her, seeping slowly into her aching heart until the pain was nearly a memory and her eyes closed. “Lil Bit, you’re the only good person in the world.” Scout whispered. “I wish I was more like you.”
    “I’m not, Scout. Just sleep.”
    Scout tried to turn to see her, but it was dark in her room and Lil Bit was only a shadow. Scout struggled to sit up and Lil Bit helped tug the comforter away, and out of the corner of her eye Scout saw a white blur, shimmering in the darkness. She turned her head toward it, disbelieving, but it was gone.
    “Lil Bit?” she asked, searching the shadows.
    “She’s my friend. She’s your friend, too.” Lil Bit said, and Scout could hear the smile in her voice.
    Scout refused to blink or turn away, hoping to catch the glimmer of hope again. “I saw her — at the hospital. The day you told me I would get better.” Scout was suddenly very sleepy, and her eyes wouldn’t stay open as she fell back onto the bed.
    Unicorn, come back.

Chapter Three

    “Trey, could you come see me for a sec after class?” Mr. Zornes asked as he dropped an assignment on Trey’s desk.
    He’d gotten an ‘A’, so it couldn’t have been about that. He frowned, looking up. “Yeah, sure.”
    For the fifteen thousandth time that morning, his eyes strayed to Scout’s seat. Scout had missed class. She never missed class. He was torn between what he should be dreading — that she wasn’t there because of him, or that something was really wrong and that’s why she wasn’t there. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Where’s Scout?” a boy in the back asked, loudly, so even Mr. Zornes could hear him. Trey glanced at him, scowling, possessive when he had no right to be.
    “Who cares?” Kylin said, yawning. “Maybe she got the coma-thing. They said it’s close to the Canadian border now.”
    Trey’s throat closed in horror and he just about leaped out of his seat.
    Mr. Zornes caught his eye and discreetly shook his head before turning to the rest of the