Read Online Easy by Tammara Webber - Free Book Online Page B

a
scientist, I lean toward the latter. Either way, you’re off the hook. You made
a decision; now you make the best of it. That’s all you can do, right? On that
note, I’m off to study for a statistical mechanics quiz. Who knows, maybe I’ll
be able to prove scientifically that your ex isn’t worthy of you, and you’re
exactly where you should be.
    LM
     
    ***
    When Erin came through the door, I
was half-asleep and surrounded by conjugated Spanish verbs printed on colored index
cards. I scooped most of them up just before she bounced onto the edge of my
bed.
    “So? Did you call
him or text him? Did you use the stuff we went over? What did he say?”
    I sighed. “Neither.”
    She lay back on
the bed, flinging her arms wide dramatically as I snatched up cards before she
creased them. “You chickened out.”
    I stared at the cards in my hand. Yo habré, tú habrás, él habrá, nosotros habremos… “Yeah, maybe.”
    “Hmm. You know, this is better. Don’t call. Make him chase you.” She laughed at my creased brow. “Guys like Chaz are
so much easier. Hell, I could tell him to chase me and he would.”
    We laughed at the
visual that produced, because it was probably true. I thought about Kennedy.
About what kind of guy he was. He’d chased me in the beginning, but he didn’t
have to try very hard to catch me. I was swept off my feet by him, swept along
in his dreams and plans, because he’d made me part of them. Until a few weeks
ago.
    “Aw, shit, J. I
know what you’re doing. Don’t think about him. I’m gonna make some cocoa. Get
back to—” she sat up, picking up a card I’d not grabbed hastily enough, “— ugh ,
Spanish verbs.”
    Erin filled mugs
with tap water in the bathroom and stuck them in the microwave to heat. I
stared at the blurry cards in my hand. Damn Kennedy. Damn him, damn him. It
would serve him right to see me with someone like Lucas. Someone so different,
but equally hot. More so, if I started calculating details.
    Operation Bad Boy
Phase was on . But I wasn’t calling Lucas, or texting him. If Erin was
right—if he was a chaser—he’d not done enough chasing, yet.
    When she handed me
the mug, I took a deep breath and smiled. She’d piled mine with marshmallows
from the little stash of them we both occasionally dug into without bothering
to make cocoa. “So if I don’t text him, what’s next?”
    She smiled and
squeaked a triumphant little squeal. “He must be digging the good girl thing
you’ve got going on…” Her eyes widened. “Jacqueline—maybe he’d noticed you in
class before the breakup. You changed seats, right? Making it obvious you two
broke up. This is perfect .” I was back to confused and she was laughing.
“He’s already chasing you. Now all you have to do is keep running. Just
not too fast.”
    I licked chocolate
from my upper lip. “Erin, you’re dangerous.”
    She smiled wickedly. “I know .”
     
    ***
    Wednesday, I got to the classroom
before the 8:00 class let out. As soon as most of the students had filed out
the door, I slipped in and took my seat, determined not to pay attention to Lucas
when he came in. To that end, I flipped through my index cards, though I was
more than ready to ace the quiz in Spanish.
    When Benji slid
into his seat on my left, I didn’t pause in my review. I refused to be
distracted from not paying attention to Lucas’s seat, and whether or not
he was in it.
    “Hey, Jacqueline.”
That wasn’t Benji’s voice.
    The seats were
bolted to the floor, with right-handed desktops. Lucas leaned slightly over the
side of Benji’s, pushing into the very margin of my space. My breath caught,
and I focused on letting it out, appearing unaffected. “Oh, hi.”
    He bit his lower
lip once, briefly. “I guess you didn’t notice the phone number on your coffee
cup.”
    I glanced at my
phone, sitting on the edge of my textbook. “I noticed.” I watched his reaction,
knowing I was practically telling him to chase me.
    He