Read Online Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Stephen Emond - Free Book Online Page B

lunch table were picking out their crushes. She was the first girl I saw when I looked around. Lo and behold, she became the most popular girl in elementary school, and pretty much everyone was into her by the end of the year. I think she moved out of state in fifth grade.”
    â€œNice, so you have good taste and set trends,” Naomi said, nodding. The bus stopped and we swayed toward the back for a second. “You also send girls running across the country. Hmmm.”
    â€œThat’s one way of looking at it,” I said. We grabbed a couple of empty seats. When the bus started moving again, her body pressed into mine. She was still waiting for my next question. “What do you see in your future?” I asked.
    Ideally she’d see me there, but there was pretty much no chance of her actually saying that. It would probably be troublesome if she did.
    â€œBoring future, but not too boring,” she said. We sat side by side now. I watched her knee. There was a slight rip in her jeans on the left knee. “Like, I want a husband and family, but I don’t want a boring day job or to be home all the time or anything. I have too many hobbies I love, so I want to do something with one of them to make money and be fulfilled.”
    â€œWow, there’s, like, twelve follow-up questions to that,” I said. This game could go all night, but our stop was next.
    â€œThat’s why it’s a good game,” Naomi said, cutting off the subject. “Are you a good student?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “Not really. I get C’s in school, I strive for average. I’m a better student of life.”
    â€œFair enough. What grades do you get in life?” Naomi asked.
    We hopped off the bus at our stop, and I gave it some thought. “Life grades,” I said, mulling it over. “Like, D’s, if I’m honest. I’m a bad student of life. I’m a bad kid, Naomi Mills.”
    â€œTsk. Disappointing,” Naomi said. We crossed the street to her building. Her arm swung free, and I wanted to hold her hand or take her arm, or something. Anything that didn’t end the night on Tsk, disappointing . Her stupid building was getting closer. “Ask me something,” she said. And she looked at me when she said it. And maybe it was the look, or the fact that she looked at all when she asked …
    â€œCan I kiss you?” I asked. I hadn’t even thought of it before the words came out of my mouth, probably the only way I’d get them out. But there we were, standing outside her home and enjoying each other’s company, and Jason had said you had to throw yourself out there even if they said no nine times out of ten—
    â€œWalter, no!” Naomi said.
    I’d have to remember not to listen to Jason anymore.
    â€œI’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that,” Naomi said, touching her lips and looking away from me. “Uh, let me just get to my next question. I’m sorry. Um, I was going to ask you what you found attractive, but don’t say me or anything cheesy.”

    This took a sudden turn for the worse. At least she didn’t run for the door. Instead, we walked around the block. There were benches and trees, people walking around. The concrete was the color of the moon under the pale lights. I had to salvage this. I was running on fumes here. “Sense of humor?” I said. “Intelligence, maybe?”
    â€œHm. BS alarm,” Naomi said. She was still acting the same with me, aside from a lot more feet-watching. Maybe I hadn’t fully blown it. I should have played it cool, kept it casual. Now I’d sounded the BS alarm and it was only minutes before the BS police took me away and put me in BS jail for eternity.
    â€œI do have an answer,” I said. We were walking a slow pace, neither of us setting it. All was not lost. “Here’s something. I like: oddness. Like, your typical popular high school