Read Online Discovering April by Sheena Hutchinson - Free Book Online Page B

lights out and put boring slides on right before a lunch break, only to end in an even more boring advanced math class with a lady that sounds a lot like Charlie Brown’s teacher.” By the time I finish, my feet are propped up on the round table and my hands are around the coffee in my lap.
    “Sounds like I’m not missing much.” He looks amused at my change in disposition.
    “Thousands of dollars a year only to learn that common sense can’t be bought… nah, not much to miss,” I joke, taking another sip of my coffee. I begin to feel the caffeine spreading its warm way through my veins, finally waking me up. “Do you regret it? Not going to school, I mean?”
    Jared’s brown eyes lock with mine and I regret the words as soon as they’re spoken. It must still be an open wound; I had no right to bring it up.
    “It’s not like I had a choice,” he says, so softly I almost miss it. My heart drops. He coughs. “After your brief rendition, I can’t say that I’m missing anything. Plus, I was always better with my hands than my brains.”
    I smile, wondering if that is really true. A blush creeps into my cheeks at the turn my thoughts have taken and I have to look away.
    “So, what’s the plan? After school?”
    “Like after graduation?” I ask. He nods and I think for a minute. “Uh, well… I don’t exactly know.” I begin to lose my confidence and I drop my feet back down to the pavement.
    “Well, what’s your major?” He leans in slightly over the table.
    “Undecided,” I practically whisper, kind of ashamed. It’s not like I haven’t given it any thought; I just can’t seem to come to a decision. “I just don’t know what I could stand doing for the rest of my life. Deciding a major just seems so… final.”
    I watch as Jared digests this for a minute before leaning back and muttering, “I think that’s just an excuse.”
    “ Excuse me ?!” I just put it all out there and he stomped on it!
    “I don’t think you know yourself. If you did, you would know what you like.” He shrugs like it’s the most logical conclusion.
    Jerk . I think I hate him more because maybe he’s right.
    “I … I,” I say, trying to come up with some smart-ass comeback. But nothing comes to mind.
    “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Just get to know yourself again.” He tosses his empty coffee cup in the garbage behind him before turning to me. “Life is all about choices. Choices define us, sculpt us. What will your choices say about you?”
    I feel as if all the wind is knocked out of me as his big brown eyes laser into me like he’s drilling in a point. Jared has made me speechless, twice in the past five minutes alone. What would my choices say about me? What would people think if they knew how deep I fell after Hunter? What would they say if they knew I had slapped him? That I probably would have stayed even though he was cheating on me? What would those decisions make me?
    Breaking me out of my internal breakdown, I hear Jared cough, a little uncomfortable. His eyes come into focus again and I think I see a trace of guilt. “Do you still like that band, what were they called?” he asks, thankfully changing the subject.
    “Blue Lagoon?” I smile. It was a band I was mildly obsessed with in high school. The main singer is still super dreamy! I still listen to their music, but I haven’t been to a concert since I started dating Hunter. Rock and roll just isn’t his scene. “I don’t think you ever really get over your one true love!” I exaggerate, looking out into the distance, pretending to be in deep thought. Jared practically falls out of his chair in a fit of laughter.
    “Especially, if its unrequited love!” He stops laughing long enough to tell me this. “There’s just something about it; you never really get over something you can’t have.” His eyes gleam.
    “Hey, who says I can’t have him?”
    Rolling his eyes, he climbs out of the chair. “Come on, we are going