Read Online Crank by Ellen Hopkins - Free Book Online
Authors: Ellen Hopkins
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Psychology, Social Issues, Young Adult Fiction, Health & Fitness, Pregnancy & Childbirth, Parents, Schools, Psychopathology, Dating & Sex, High schools, Pregnancy, Problem families, Drugs; Alcohol; Substance Abuse, Addiction, Novels in Verse, drug abuse, Family Problems, Cocaine abuse
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who didn't have a clue about the real meaning of masculinity.
241
So there I was at Wild Waters, trying to look extremely cool at the coolest place in town, with chatty Sarah
Baker and Trent
"the gay guy"
Rosselli.
* *
Turned into an interesting day.
242
Mom and Scott
wandered over to the group
picnic area to join the company
brownnosers and nibble.
* *
Leigh and Jake went off together, racing to see who could reach the top of Black Widow first.
* *
Trent hit the wave pool.
Sarah hit the bathroom--she always
showered before entering the pool.
* *
I opted for an inner-tube float along the Lazy River, mostly because of this
very cute lifeguard, perched overhead.
* *
And there was Bree, smiling seductively, and I swear that poster boy lifeguard
smiled right back.
243
And in that righteous moment, complete
clarity. Bree was not an invention, not a stranger.
* *
Bree was the essence of me.
244
W
hether That's Good or Bad
I can't say. I just know it's true.
* *
Bree opens doors
Kristina wouldn't dare
knock on,
* * like that cute lifeguard's--
not to mention Adam's, even if that one had recently
slammed in her face.
* *
But Bree insists on having
things all her way.
* *
So when Trent and Sarah
came trucking up, bickering and tittering and doing all those little
cutesy friend-type things,
Kristina never minded.
* *
Bree wanted to tell them to shut the hell up, go
away. Let her play.
245
For a while, without the monster
whispering sweet and terrible
nothings,
Kristina was still in charge.
* *
But Bree was watching.
246
R
ather Than Face
total embarrassment, I
told Trent and Sarah I'd
meet them at Black Widow.
* *
They looked at me, looked at what I was looking at, hard-bodied and tan on his tall tower.
* *
Trent gave me a thumbs-up.
Sarah broke out in giggles.
Then they graciously provided space.
* *
I invited Bree to take over while
Kristina took cover. She bent forward from the waist, shook her dripping hair,
* *
straightened, flipped it backward, and without a single thought to the puffy pink heart on her thigh
247
(let alone its artist), she marched right over to that lifeguard tower, looked up and, without drooling at all, asked,
* *
"Do you get a lunch break?"
248
Before Bree
that would never have happened.
Whatever she'd done to me, for me, and basically in spite of me, she'd given me a whole
new sense of self.
I never knew
I could play the vamp, do it so well, flirt with total aplomb, and not only that, but look good doing it.
Before Bree I never
knew such sheer, depraved
forwardness could
be so much fun.
So I went with it, jumped right into the role of shameless flirt.
Girls responded
249
with pointed whispers, haughty laughter and, as
I myself have often done, with evil eyes.
Bree, of course, couldn't
care less. In fact she thrived on any and all attention.
Guys responded to that with solid
once-overs, come-on smiles, and in Brendan the lifeguard's case, with phone numbers.
250
As
If That Weren't Enough
I sprinted off in search of my friends and (literally) bumped into Chase
Wagner, Reno High's storied bad boy.
Kristina would have offered a quick
apology and scurried away.
* *
It's not like Chase was in the running for Mr. America.
He looked like a linebacker, one who didn't play much in the sun--the freckles on his cranberry skin almost pulsed pain.
* *
But Bree found his bedroom
eyes--glacier blue--and brooding
demeanor quite the turn on.
"Hey, Chase," she cooed.
* *
He scoped me out like an old
tomcat, ogling a brand-new canary.
Do I know you?
251
Kristina knew enough about
him
to think she ought to flee.
Chase Wagner could be
hazardous to a person's health.
* *
You look familiar, but not, so
maybe
I'm thinking of someone else.
What's your name?
* *
Just like that, she had
241
So there I was at Wild Waters, trying to look extremely cool at the coolest place in town, with chatty Sarah
Baker and Trent
"the gay guy"
Rosselli.
* *
Turned into an interesting day.
242
Mom and Scott
wandered over to the group
picnic area to join the company
brownnosers and nibble.
* *
Leigh and Jake went off together, racing to see who could reach the top of Black Widow first.
* *
Trent hit the wave pool.
Sarah hit the bathroom--she always
showered before entering the pool.
* *
I opted for an inner-tube float along the Lazy River, mostly because of this
very cute lifeguard, perched overhead.
* *
And there was Bree, smiling seductively, and I swear that poster boy lifeguard
smiled right back.
243
And in that righteous moment, complete
clarity. Bree was not an invention, not a stranger.
* *
Bree was the essence of me.
244
W
hether That's Good or Bad
I can't say. I just know it's true.
* *
Bree opens doors
Kristina wouldn't dare
knock on,
* * like that cute lifeguard's--
not to mention Adam's, even if that one had recently
slammed in her face.
* *
But Bree insists on having
things all her way.
* *
So when Trent and Sarah
came trucking up, bickering and tittering and doing all those little
cutesy friend-type things,
Kristina never minded.
* *
Bree wanted to tell them to shut the hell up, go
away. Let her play.
245
For a while, without the monster
whispering sweet and terrible
nothings,
Kristina was still in charge.
* *
But Bree was watching.
246
R
ather Than Face
total embarrassment, I
told Trent and Sarah I'd
meet them at Black Widow.
* *
They looked at me, looked at what I was looking at, hard-bodied and tan on his tall tower.
* *
Trent gave me a thumbs-up.
Sarah broke out in giggles.
Then they graciously provided space.
* *
I invited Bree to take over while
Kristina took cover. She bent forward from the waist, shook her dripping hair,
* *
straightened, flipped it backward, and without a single thought to the puffy pink heart on her thigh
247
(let alone its artist), she marched right over to that lifeguard tower, looked up and, without drooling at all, asked,
* *
"Do you get a lunch break?"
248
Before Bree
that would never have happened.
Whatever she'd done to me, for me, and basically in spite of me, she'd given me a whole
new sense of self.
I never knew
I could play the vamp, do it so well, flirt with total aplomb, and not only that, but look good doing it.
Before Bree I never
knew such sheer, depraved
forwardness could
be so much fun.
So I went with it, jumped right into the role of shameless flirt.
Girls responded
249
with pointed whispers, haughty laughter and, as
I myself have often done, with evil eyes.
Bree, of course, couldn't
care less. In fact she thrived on any and all attention.
Guys responded to that with solid
once-overs, come-on smiles, and in Brendan the lifeguard's case, with phone numbers.
250
As
If That Weren't Enough
I sprinted off in search of my friends and (literally) bumped into Chase
Wagner, Reno High's storied bad boy.
Kristina would have offered a quick
apology and scurried away.
* *
It's not like Chase was in the running for Mr. America.
He looked like a linebacker, one who didn't play much in the sun--the freckles on his cranberry skin almost pulsed pain.
* *
But Bree found his bedroom
eyes--glacier blue--and brooding
demeanor quite the turn on.
"Hey, Chase," she cooed.
* *
He scoped me out like an old
tomcat, ogling a brand-new canary.
Do I know you?
251
Kristina knew enough about
him
to think she ought to flee.
Chase Wagner could be
hazardous to a person's health.
* *
You look familiar, but not, so
maybe
I'm thinking of someone else.
What's your name?
* *
Just like that, she had
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