Read Online Footloose by Paramount Pictures Corporation - Free Book Online Page A

hung all over one another as they posed for the picture. The smiles on their faces were full of playfulness, like they all knew some secret joke the person looking at the photo wasn’t in on. The three guys wore football uniforms. The girls were dressed casually. One of them wore bright pink high-tops. A small plaque beneath the wreath read, “You will not be missing from our lives.”
    That was it. No names. No explanation of what happened to them, why they were missing from anyone’s lives. It made sense, though. Anything that ended in the deaths of five teens in a town this size wasn’t something that needed to be explained. Everyone must’ve known the story; only outsiders would need to be clued in.
    Ren pushed the dark message from his mind and turned down the hall, walking right into a big, beefy guy who was all arms and gangly body. “Hey, why don’t you watch where you’re goin’?” He had the thickest southern accent Ren had ever heard.
    â€œI’m sorry.” Ren’s brain was still a bit rattled from the collision. “I just didn’t—”
    â€œIt’s like driving,” the guy said, cutting him off. “Keep to the right side of the hallway.”
    Okay, now Ren’s brain was functioning again. He wasn’t going to let some rube in a camouflage shirt and trucker hat think he was the one who didn’t know how to walk. “You’re kinda hard to see with all that camo. Aren’t you supposed to wear one of those orange vests so hunters don’t shoot you?”
    â€œI wouldn’t be caught dead wearing orange,” he said. “I ain’t no Tennessee Vols fan. I’m a Georgia Bulldog, head to toe.” It was like he was speaking a different language, and not just because of the accent. “Where you from?” he asked. “You talk funny.”
    Ren let out a snort of laughter. Something about a pot and a kettle came to mind. “ I talk funny? You should hear you from my end.”
    Uncle Wes probably would have warned him to dial back the sarcasm. Don’t want to make for a bad first impression . But Ren wasn’t really worried about impressing this young man. “Boston,” he said, answering the guy’s question. “Massachusetts. It’s in the United States.”
    â€œYeah, I read that somewhere.” The big guy’s hand shot out. For a brief moment Ren though he was about to get a punch for his troubles, but the smile that came with the extended hand said otherwise. “I’m Willard.”
    Ren shook Willard’s hand and introduced himself. “Ren McCormack.”
    â€œAnybody give you grief about that tie yet?” Willard asked.
    Only everyone. But Willard didn’t need to know that. “Well, the day just started,” Ren said.
    Things looked up for a bit after that. Willard directed Ren to the main office, then went along with him to make sure he made it there safely. The guy had a bit of a puppy-dog quality, and spent the rest of the morning following Ren around school. Since they had pretty much the same schedule, it made sense. The school wasn’t big enough to get lost in, but Willard saved him from making a few wrong turns between classes.
    By the time they got to gym class, Ren had a good idea on the layout of the place. He quickly changed in the locker room and headed outside with the rest of the class. They were doing track and field, but it wasn’t an organized activity in any way that Ren could see.
    Halfway through the period, it was Ren’s turn to step up to the starting line at the track. Willard was beside him. The gym teacher, Coach Guerntz, barked out orders as they took their starting positions. “Keep that head down. Keep it down! All the way! Good. Next group, on your mark, and … Go!”
    Ren took off, leaving Willard and the others in the dust. It was just a short sprint, but it felt good to get his blood