Read Online Dream Smashers by Angela Carlie - Free Book Online Page B

whispering to the other girl whose name has
left me—Abby! I think she’s in one of my classes, algebra. Now they
look at the table, the floor, each other, anything but me. They
know my plan. They must.
    I stop in front of the nerd table. Abby, the
girl with the glasses and a greasy boy look up at me. Silence. Oh
my God. No words come to me. My face is red. I know it is; I can
feel my cheeks burning.
    Abby giggles. The boy’s mouth gapes.
    Sweat stings my upper lip. Just say something
already.
    “Hi,” I say.
    “Uh, hi,” Abby says. Her nose crinkles. “Is
there something wrong with your mouth? It’s frozen in a crazy
smile.”
    Oh gosh. I pivot and walk away, not looking
back for a second.
    “That was weird,” Glasses-girl whispers
before I bolt from the cafeteria.
    Oh gosh, oh damn, oh fuck. What a disaster.
It’s not like I can just waltz back in there. I can stand in the
hallway for a minute though. Take a deep breath, calm down. I’m
supposed to be carefree. Who cares what those nerds think? Is that
a rule?
    Who am I kidding?
    My footsteps echo through the empty locker
bays as I pass them down the hall to the doors at the end. No
destination in mind, just an exit to the outside world where the
air will set me free of my bindings. My stomach grumbles. Lucky for
me I have a healthy lunch ready to be devoured. It consists of five
carrot sticks, two pieces of broccoli, a peach yogurt and a Diet
Dr. Pepper. Not really that lucky. A cheeseburger and fries sounds
more my style.
    On bike, the Burgerville down the street is
only five minutes away. This will help me feel better. Who can deny
a Burgerville cheeseburger with extra spread? Maybe I’ll even order
a double cheeseburger. And the fries are to die for.
    But that’s totally against rule number, eh,
two. No, I mean three. What number is it? I reach into my back pack
to pull out my rules list. Rule Number Four: eat well balanced
meals.
    You know, these rules are a little irritating
and it’s still the first day.
    I get on my bike, pedal off toward
Burgerville, and remember Rule Number Five. Exercise Regularly.
Nice. At least I got one right today.

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    “May I help you?” asks the girl behind the
counter with tattooed arms and flesh tunnels in her ears.
    “Yeah,” a pretty red-headed girl says, “can I
get a double cheeseburger in a basket with a Coke?”
    When the red-head finishes her order and
receives her basket and soda, she sits down next to me on a bar
stool in the dining room, turns to me and says, “Hey.”
    That’s when I recognize her. “Hi,” I say, a
little unsure I should be saying anything to the enemy. The girl
who turned James into a tweaker, according to Rainy.
    “Don’t you just love Burgerville’s burgers?”
Angelica twirls copper curls around her finger.
    “Yeah.” They truly are the best. I’d eat here
every day if I had the cash.
    Even though Rainy will kill me, I attempt to
follow Rule Number One—smile—but the ache reminds me how retarded
my rules are, so I nix the smile for a more neutral facial
expression.
    James, Rainy’s older brother, walks through
the door. I haven’t seen him in months and he’s hotter than ever.
His face is fuller and his body has more mass. He no longer looks
like the tweaker as I remember him. Rehab must have done him good.
He pushes his shaggy brown hair out of his hazel eyes before
stepping behind Angelica Cox and nuzzling his face into the soft
curls along her neck. She turns to catch his lips with her own and
then they begin sucking faces right in front of me. James’ tongue
is practically down her throat within two seconds.
    I swivel the bar stool away from the vacuums
and concentrate on scooting down to the next stool without being
noticed. Slurping and wet skin smacking noises ignite my legs to
get away just as a guy from nowhere sits on the other side of me.
I’m trapped.
    I have mixed emotions about this predicament.
The disgusting display of PG-13 sitting