Read Online After Ever After (9780545292788) by Jordan Sonnenblick - Free Book Online Page A

amazing how hard it is for him to be serious for more than three seconds.
    â€œAnd then I did take your advice about the weight room.”
    Tad’s smirk reached epic proportions, and his eyebrows shot up so high it looked like he had just been given a face-lift with a construction crane.
    â€œOh, shut up,” I said. “It was totally N.B.D.” Tad and I say “N.B.D.” all the time; it means “No Big Deal.”
    Amazingly, Tad settled down again. “What exactly did you tell her?”
    â€œUm, well, she knew about it already. Apparently, after the first day of school, she asked a couple of girls about me.”
    â€œHoly — she was asking around about you. That’s, like, major.” He held out his fist for me to pound. I pounded it, and continued.
    â€œAnd it turns out her grandmother is a breast cancer survivor. So she knew the basics, and she was so cool about everything. I mean, I couldn’t even believe we were having this conversation, you know? It’s funny how you can worry about something for so long, and then when it finally happens, it’s almost no biggie.
    â€œOh, there was one thing. She wanted to know whether I had been in remission for five years yet, and I told her yes.”
    Tad looked bummed out when I said that, because he wasn’t past his five-year anniversary. “I’m sorry, man,” I said. “But she asked, so —”
    â€œWhatever, dude. What else did she want to know?”
    â€œShe asked about my limp, so I explained about drop foot. But I also told her about my bike riding, so she wouldn’t think I was, uh …”
    â€œCrippled?”
    Ouch. “Well, yeah.”
    â€œDid you tell her about your school stuff?”
    â€œKind of. She asked what the deal was with you and me in gym, so then I thought I should explain our pact. Is that OK?”
    â€œOh, sure, since you were speaking of cripples anyway.”
    What do you say to that? “Tad, what’s your problem? If I’m going to be, like, sharing things with Lindsey, how could I not tell her about something as major as that?”
    â€œOooohhh, you’re sharing things with Lindsey. Should I bust out my guitar so we can all sing ‘Kumbaya’? Sharing things. Geez.”
    â€œI don’t see what the problem is. I was just being honest.”
    â€œWell, it’s easy to be honest about your late effects, D.A. You know, ‘Lindsey, I have a cute little limp. But I’m fine. And sometimes I space out in class. But it’s all good. My friend Tad, on the other hand? He’s a mess. Can you believe he needs a testosterone shot every day? Plus, human growth hormone so he won’t be totally deformed when he grows up — IF he grows up?’”
    â€œTad, I didn’t tell her all that! All I told her was that you were tutoring me so I could pass the math test, and that you were going to walk across the stage at graduation.”
    â€œDude, what if I don’t walk across the stage? Why would I want anyone to know about that? Did it ever occur to you that I might not want the whole world to watch me prove I’m just as crippled as ever?”
    â€œLook, I told Lindsey how I can’t do math to save my life. I don’t see how it’s different. If you’re going to be honest, you have to be totally honest.”
    â€œSo of course you told her how you threw out the letter, right?”
    I didn’t say anything.
    â€œSo you didn’t tell her about the letter? That wasn’t very honest of you.”
    For the millionth time, I forced myself to take a deep breath. Then I said, “Hey, uh, can we just work on math for a while?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” He booted up his laptop and put it on the table in front of us. “But while we’re waiting … is there anything I should know about the seat on the exercise bike?”
    I smiled. “Maybe,” I said.