Read Online Everything by Jeri Williams - Free Book Online Page B

climbed in beside me in bed.
    “Come here,” he said, and dragged me to lie on his chest. He undid my hair tie and began to run his fingers through my hair like he did when he knew I needed to unwind. Before long, I would be asleep if he kept at it.
    “Hum,” I exhaled deeply. “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “For this.”
    “It’s part of my duty as a great boyfriend.”
    “Well, you’re good at your job.”
    “I know,” he said smugly as he leaned down and kissed my forehead.
    There was a knock at my door, then two seconds later, it opened and Aria came in.
    “Ugh, you guys are worse than Mom and Dad. Get a room. Hey, Trev,” she said as she covered her eyes.
    “First, we are not doing anything. Second, you are in my room. And third, don’t compare us to Mom and Dad—that’s just gross.” I sat up as she sat down on the futon.
    “Hey, Aria,” Trevor sighed.
    “I don’t know. I saw legs and a bed. I didn’t want to see any more,” said Aria.
    “Whatever, you’re the one who barged in, you perv,” I said.
    “True, but if I was a perv, I’d totally pick someone else to spy on other than my sister— gross .”
    “I would pay you to,” I agreed.
    Trevor’s hand had taken to rubbing my back now as I sat talking. “Have you talked to Mom today yet?” I asked Aria.
    “Yeah, she said for you to call her and told me to ask you about Aunt Opal.”
    I told them both about the fried toad this morning, and they reacted the same way Tina had, although Aria was more vocal about it.
    “Ewww, ewww, ewww!” She jumped up and down as if the frying pan full of toad were there in my room. “Which frying pan was it, the red one? She made me pancakes from that frying pan before!” she exclaimed, her eyes wide. “What if she always cooks toad and in that pan and we have been eating toad pancakes!”
    Leave it to Aria to take it there. I looked at her. “I’m sure she washed the pan over the years, A. Calm down.”
    “Wow, theater fits you,” Trevor chuckled.
    “Right? She’s taking those classes a little too seriously,” I added.
    Aria just cut us a look and laughed. “Gotcha!”
    Trevor and I exchanged looks.
    “Guess I’m gonna totally pass my Intro to Acting class with an A-plus, ’cause I totally had you guys.” She kept laughing as I rolled my eyes.
    “Anyways, what time do you have to be home? I was thinking we could grab dinner?” I looked at Trevor hopefully.
    “Yeah, sounds good. I have a feeling you haven’t eaten anything all day,” he eyed me suspiciously.
    “Guilty.”
    “That’s what I thought,” he said, creasing his brow.
    “Ohh, I’m telling,” Aria sang out.
    “What are you, seven? Hush up,” I scolded.
    “And what are you, fifty? Who says hush up?”
    “Opal.” I said her name like a curse.
    “That darn Aunt Opal, just messing up the language of the future generation,” teased Aria.
    “Do you want free dinner or not?”
    “What kind of teenager would I be if I passed up free dinner?” she stated plainly.
    “The dumb kind.”
    “I have been known to be that, but not tonight.”
    “Good,” interrupted Trevor. “Now that that’s over, let’s get going.”
    “A, text Mom and let her know so she won’t freak out when you don’t come home.”
    “Okay.” She pulled out her phone and sent Mom a quick text.
    We all decided to go to Sharkey’s, since that was the only decent local place with good food. Shaddy Groves had the normal fast-food joints, but we didn’t feel much like burgers and fries tonight. Sharkey’s was always packed with either families or booster clubs holding meetings or retirement parties. Tonight, it looked like there were two retirement parties going on at once, so it was extra-packed, but we still managed to get a table for three. Dinner went as it normally did, with the conversation flowing between me, Aria, and Trevor.
    “Hey, Aria, Trevor. Dacey,” said an annoyingly familiar voice. Shannon Miller, Trevor’s “gal