Will the Real Prince Charming Please Stand Up Read Online Free PDF Page B

been so busy with Ephemera, it felt like I never saw him anymore. I knew it would be awesome once they were huge and headlining some major music festival one day, but I still missed my friend.
    My phone buzzed again after another minute with a new text from Talia. F coming , it read. Wants to help .
    I smiled. A still crazy w HC? I wrote, knowing that if Ally was still working on last minute details for the weekend, Finn would be alone at lunch.
    Talia replied almost immediately. LOL Prob. Send F ur lunch order.
    I quickly texted Finn my food requests and tucked my phone back into my skirt pocket while Jorgensen droned on. Thankfully, we only had to endure his droll, monotone voice for a few more minutes. When the bell rang and the class began to empty out, I met Jake and Talia at the back of the classroom.
    “So Finn’s going to meet us there?” I asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “I hope he gets to the line early,” Jake said, holding his stomach. “I’m starving.”
    “You’re always starving.”
    “That’s because I’m a growing boy.”
    Talia grinned. “‘Boy’ is the operative term there.”
    “If you two can’t behave, I’m going to have to separate you,” I said in my best imitation of my mother.
    We entered the otherwise deserted library and spread out our stuff on the largest table. Jake waved to Mrs. Ryan, the librarian, and she smiled at us before returning to her crossword puzzle. Once everyone was required to bring their own laptops to school, hardly anyone used the library anymore. It became a place to hide from people more than it was to study. The running joke was if anyone actually needed to look for a book, he should clear his throat really loudly before walking through the stacks, or else he’d probably see someone making out.
    “So do you guys have any ideas?” Talia asked.
    I reread my notes. The assignment called for us to put together a presentation on the political, economic, and social issues that ultimately led to the French Revolution with a what-if analysis of what we thought might have happened if any or all of those factors weren’t present. It seemed like a daunting assignment.
    “Other than divvying up the parts like Jorgensen suggested?” I shook my head. “Not really.”
    “We should definitely divide it,” Jake agreed. “I mean, we’ll still work together, but at least we can focus on just one thing, you know?”
    Talia bobbed her head in agreement. “Right. So do you guys mind if I take the political issues?”
    Jake shrugged. “Cool. I’ll take econ.”
    “All right,” I said. That left me with studying the social issues of eighteenth century France, but I didn’t have a preference, anyway.
    A knock on one of the windows made me jump, and I turned to see Finn balancing a ridiculous amount of food on a tray. Jake rushed to open the door for him.
    “They really should have a button for hands-free access,” he said, joining us in the library. “I need to speak to Mr. Hamilton about making that entrance ADA-compliant.”
    “Finn, how many disabled people are here at Westgate?” Talia asked.
    He scowled at her. “That’s not the point.” He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the librarian. “Hi, Mrs. Ryan!”
    “Food, Mr. Marks?” she said with a hint of disapproval in her voice. None of us were concerned. She adored Finn. This was all for show.
    “We’ll clean up after ourselves, Mrs. Ryan,” he said. “I promise.”
    “Yes, yes. We’ll clean up. I’m starving.” Jake took the tray from Finn’s hands and placed it onto the table.
    “Did you guys decide on anything yet?” Finn asked as he sat down. “The old divide and conquer, maybe?”
    I nodded. “Talia’s going to talk about the political stuff. Jake’s covering their economy. I’m on social issues.” Talia pushed an over-dressed salad toward me. “Thanks.”
    Finn pursed his lips as he thought. “That’s good, but when you guys are putting it together, be careful with that