Read Online Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick - Free Book Online

could they see? Were they everywhere? I wondered, feeling very vulnerable.
    “Tell us, Nora,” Mrs. Parnell said. “What’s Coldwater High like? Scott wrestled back in Portland. His team won State the last three years. Is the wrestling team here any good? I was sure we’d faced off against Coldwater before, but then Scott reminded me Coldwater is Class C.”
    I was slow to pull myself out of the fog of my thoughts. Did we even have a wrestling team?
    “I don’t know about wrestling,” I said flatly, “but the basketball team went to State once.”
    Mrs. Parnell choked on her wine. “Once?” Her eyes cut between me and my mom, demanding an explanation.
    “There’s a team picture across from the front office,” I said. “From the look of the picture, it was over sixty years ago.”
    Mrs. Parnell’s eyes stretched. “Sixty years ago?” She dabbedher mouth with her napkin. “Is there something wrong with the school? The coach? The athletic director?”
    “No biggie,” Scott said. “I’m taking the year off.”
    Mrs. Parnell set down her fork with a loud
chink
. “But you
love
wrestling.”
    Scott shoveled in another bite of lasagna and raised an indifferent shoulder.
    “And it’s your senior year.”
    “So?” Scott said around his food.
    Mrs. Parnell planted her elbows on the table and leaned in. “So you’re not getting into college on your grades, mister. Your only hope this late in the game is that a community college picks you up.”
    “I’ve got other stuff I want to do.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Like repeat last year?” As soon as she said it, I saw a spark of fear in her eyes.
    Scott chewed twice more, then swallowed hard. “Pass the salad, Blythe?”
    My mom handed the bowl of Jell-O to Mrs. Parnell, who set it down in front of Scott a little too carefully.
    “What happened last year?” my mom asked, filling the tense silence.
    Mrs. Parnell waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, you know how it is. Scott got into a bit of trouble, usual stuff. Nothing every mother of a teenage boy hasn’t seen before.” She laughed, but her pitch was off.
    “Mom,” Scott said in a tone that sounded a lot like a warning.
    “You know how boys are,” Mrs. Parnell prattled on, gesturing with her fork. “They don’t think. They live in the moment. They’re reckless. Be glad you have a daughter, Blythe. Oh, my. That garlic bread is making my mouth water—pass a slice?”
    “I shouldn’t have said anything,” my mom murmured, passing the bread. “I can’t say enough how delighted we are to have you back in Coldwater.”
    Mrs. Parnell nodded vigorously. “We’re just glad to be back, and all in one piece.”
    I’d paused eating, dividing glances between Scott and Mrs. Parnell, trying to figure out what was going on. Boys will be boys, that much I could buy. What I wasn’t buying was Mrs. Parnell’s anxious insistence that her son’s trouble fell into the category of typical. And Scott’s close supervision of every word that fell from her mouth wasn’t helping to change my mind.
    Thinking there was more to the story than they were saying, I pressed a hand to my heart and said, “Why, Scott, you didn’t go around at night stealing road signs to hang in your bedroom, did you?”
    Mrs. Parnell erupted into genuine, almost relieved, laughter. Bingo. Whatever trouble Scott had wormed his way into, it wasn’t something as harmless as stealing road signs. I didn’t have fifty dollars, but if I did, I would have bet it all on the hunch that Scott’s trouble was anything but the usual stuff.
    “Well,” my mom said, her smile pinched at the corners, “I’m sure whatever happened is in the past. Coldwater is a great place for a fresh start. Have you registered for classes yet, Scott? Some of them fill up quickly, especially the advanced placement classes.”
    “Advanced placement,” Scott repeated with an amused snort. “As in AP? No offense, but I’m not aiming that high. As my mom”—