Read Online Circle the Soul Softly by Davida Wills Hurwin - Free Book Online

say something? Tess would help her. She could get the asshole arrested.”
    â€œMaybe she didn’t want to.”
    â€œThat doesn’t make sense.”
    â€œYou’re going off again.”
    â€œSorry. But she’s not the kind of girl who would let this happen.”
    â€œWhat kind of girl would?”

NINETEEN
    â€œIt’s our week now, okay?”
    I’m down with that. I’m down with switching cars with David’s sister so she can ride with Michael and I can be with David. And with my mom not knowing what I’m doing.
    â€œNo school, no show stuff, and definitely no Stacey,” David instructs as I slide in his car. I nod, but I don’t think I’m really all here. Because we’re on our way to San Francisco.
    We get in around two. I have the keys, since Michael and Casey are going pick up his friends. We have to park a few blocks away and lug our suitcases over. David keeps checking over his shoulder.
    â€œWhat are you looking for?” I want to know.
    â€œNothing. Just …looking.” Two burly bald guys saunter past, and he tenses.
    â€œDavid, are you scared?” I ask and get his don’t-be-ridiculous expression—but he is, I can tell. He thinks we’re going to get mugged. When we finally get inside, he relaxes. So do I—the house is perfect, a funky old Victorian, the essence of San Francisco.
    â€œIs this where you and Michael grew up?” he asks, perching on the window seat to peer outside.
    â€œNo, it belongs to a friend who’s in Mexico. She goes to SF State.” He finishes checking, and I can tell he’s relieved. “Okay, where to for lunch?” He shakes his car keys and I work to keep from laughing; he’s so brave now. “Someplace good—I’m starving.”
    â€œFisherman’s Wharf. And we’re taking the streetcar.” I grab his hand on the way out.“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
    â€œSee him?” I point to the beefy, sweaty, hairy guy in a wife-beater, cooking up the lobsters in an outdoor pot. We’re at the best outdoor fish place in town. I know San Francisco. David loved the streetcar and the cable car. Now he’s slurping up chowder in a bread bowl and loving that, too. “Right before they bake that bread, he takes the loaf and swipes it under each arm. That’s what gives it the tang.”
    David stops mid-bite and I bust out laughing. After,we check out Pier 39 and watch the seals push each other off the rocks. We visit tourist shops, have a blue-screen video shot of us “flying” a magic carpet over the Bay, and make reservations to tour Alcatraz Prison the next day. We eat a late dinner at a seafood bar called Swann’s on Polk Street, and David proceeds to share the secret of sourdough with the guy behind the counter. I call Michael and we coordinate the nightly check-in. He has me do it since Mom’s less likely to worry if I tell her he’s out with Steve.
    Then we go “home” and it doesn’t take me but ten minutes to turn schizo. I plunge into my strange alternate reality—and marvel as Stupid Kate heads up to a bedroom with a boy! Fog seeps into my head. I wanted to be with him, I really did—right up to now , when it’s actually going to happen. Now I don’t know what the hell I want.
    The bed’s a queen mattress on the floor, by a bay window. Clean sheets are folded on top, and we put them on together. David rambles about the day; I manage to slow the flow of the fog-turned-mush as it oozes relentlessly in search of my brain.
    â€œI’ll change first, all right?” he says, pointing to the bathroom. I stare blankly in his direction, no doubt giving Subtle Clues that I’m a bit flustered. He smiles, takes my hands and kisses each one.“We’re just going to sleep, Katie. Okay? Wearing clothes.” I nod. At least I think I do.
    â€œI’ll sleep on