Read Online After Me by Joyce Scarbrough - Free Book Online Page A

it.”
    “Does he get off before we get to your stop?”
    She nodded. “Mine is one of the last stops. Why? You think he’ll try to do something?”
    “Who knows, but don’t worry about it. I’m not taking any crap from him. I’ve put up with enough jerks today already.”
    Her fingers played with the strap on her backpack. “Yeah, I heard about what Matt did to you and Lew in the hall.”
    “Wow, this school’s got a kickass grapevine.”
    “Everybody on the bus was talking about it when I got on.” She kept looking at her hands. “I thought you said Lew couldn’t stand you.”
    My stomach might not work normally anymore, but I found out it could still knot up. Was I risking my friendship with her if she found out how I felt about Lew, or would I be risking it even more if she knew I was being dishonest? My devious little mind searched frantically for something to say, and I surprised the hell out of myself by coming up with something that was pretty much the truth.
    “Yeah, well… I guess I’ve got you to thank for his change of heart. Turns out he likes girls who read the classics.”
    “Really?” She looked up at me, and I could tell she was wondering if that might work for her advantage too.
    “You like him, don’t you?” I said.
    “ No. ” She blushed the deepest shade I’d seen yet. “I just think he’s nice.”
    “Yeah, right.” Encouraged by the success of my honesty, I decided to keep going. “Look, I don’t blame you. I like him too, but I can tell he still doesn’t know what to make of me. I think he feels kinda sorry for me right now, but that won’t last long. I don’t want anybody’s pity and sure as hell don’t need anybody to protect me.”
    “I got that from the Tree Boy incident,” she said and we both laughed. “You’re probably right about Lew. He might not look like the brawny type, but he’s not afraid to stand up for something important.”
    “Sounds like you know that from personal experience.” I tried to keep any hint of jealousy from my voice, but it wasn’t easy. “He mentioned something about you having a lot to deal with. How does he know that?”
    She sighed. “I’ll tell you about that when I tell you the rest of my sad story. But remember, you have to tell me yours too.”
    Didn’t see that happening anytime soon.
    “So are we okay with both of us having a thing for Captain Chess Champ?”
    She doubled over with laughter. “Oh, I’m so sure he loves you to call him that. And I don’t have a thing for him. He’s just a friend.”
    “I repeat—yeah, right.” I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the competition, but at least we’d gotten our feelings out in the open. “Okay, so give me the scoop on him. Matt said something about his family having money. Is that true?”
    She nodded vigorously. “They’re loaded. His grandfather owns Stanton Land and Timber, and his dad’s the CEO.”
    “For real? So why does he go to a public school?”
    “I’m not sure. He only transferred here at the end of last year. I think he went to a private school before that.” She paused and looked thoughtful. “Come to think of it, Matt transferred here about the same time.”
    “Yeah, I can tell they have some kind of wicked bad history with each other,” I said. “I don’t see him spilling his guts to me about it though. Hey, maybe I can get Matt to tell me since we’re such good buddies.”
    “No, Gwen.” All trace of humor left her face. “Stay away from Matt. He’s bad news.”
    I didn’t even bother to ask what she meant by that. Apparently, everybody here had a secret, and it was gonna take some major Sherlocking on my part to find out what they were.
    Shouldn’t be a problem for Zombie Girl.
     

Chapter Ten
     
    J ulian knew it was no use trying to work when he got this way. It had been way too long. Time to arrange another rendezvous.
    He left early after giving McCarthy some weak excuse about a stomach virus. Woefully unoriginal but