Read Online The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo - Free Book Online

Vinny will know first, and then he’ll get to the kid, like he gets to everything else in this school. Like he got to you.”
    I was sick of being reminded of how I sold out to Vinny. I grabbed Jenny and pulled her close. “Listen, sister. You want the trigger, you work that out with Vinny. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing a piece of him. Me? I don’t care what happens to him. How could I with all you sharks after him? If I had any conscience left, I wouldn’t find him at all, because if I think about it too hard, that’s the only chance this kid’s got.” I let go of her. She looked at me like she wanted to scratch her initials into my face. Then her anger broke, and her regular, innocent expression came back.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said, “I was up all night with Nicole, and I guess I’m a little edgy.”
    â€œYeah, you and me both.”
    She paused. “I’m not a shark. The only reason I want to know is because Nicole is my sister. I don’t want to … you know …”
    â€œPut the hit kid in the Outs? He may end up there anyway, no matter what you want or don’t want.”
    Jenny nodded slowly then tried to smile, but her mouth wouldn’t let her. She clutched her notebook tighter, as if it gave her comfort. “I don’t want him to go … there. I’ll admit that the other day I did … but not now. If someone were to put him there now, I would feel horrible.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause I wanted it! I wished for it!”
    â€œSo what? Wishes hardly ever come true,” I said. Without any warning, my dad’s face popped into my head, as if to prove my point. I pushed him out as quickly as I could and tried to focus on the task at hand, but my expression must have given me away.
    â€œAre you okay, Matt?” Despite what Jenny was going through, she was still concerned for me. My opinion of her rose a few notches.
    â€œI’m fine. Listen, when you wished for that, you were upset. Your sister was just put in the Outs. Give yourself a break.”
    She nodded as if she agreed with me, but I could tell by her expression that if the hit kid ended up in the Outs, she would always feel a little responsible.
    I noticed for the first time that she was wearing a light blue cardigan; it made her eyes look bluer than a cloudless October sky. My initial evaluation of her looks wasn’t quite accurate. She was more than just cute; she was beautiful, with a much softer touch than her sister.
    â€œJust so you know,” I said, “Vinny hired me to get this.” I took the surfer girl out of my pocket. “But only if your sister was willing to give it up.”
    She gasped a little. “May I … hold it?” I put the figurine in her outstretched hand. “Nicole never let me touch it,” she said, her voice tinged with a mixture of awe and bitterness. “She used to say that it only had so much good luck and she needed every drop. Kind of funny that she got hit as soon as she handed it to you.”
    â€œYeah. What were you two arguing about, right before she got hit?”
    â€œVinny had come up to me at my locker that morning, to welcome me to school,” Jenny said, still focusing on the surfer girl. “He was different than I expected.”
    â€œYou’d never met him before?”
    â€œNo. My sister wouldn’t let me. If you didn’t alreadyknow, Nicole is a bit of a control freak.” Jenny handed the surfer girl back to me. “When she realized she couldn’t stop Vinny from talking to me, she exploded.”
    â€œYou looked like the one doing the exploding.”
    Her eyes were watchful. “Nicole exploded all right, just quietly.”
    â€œYou stormed off. Why’d you come back?”
    â€œHonestly? To yell at her some more. I don’t like people telling me what to do. When I saw her on the ground, at first I