Read Online Frozen Stiff by Mary Logue - Free Book Online Page B

try that. When he went to give her the popcorn back, she just pushed it away. She wasn’t really hungry anymore.
    In the meantime, Coraline was having a rough time. She had found a secret door in the wall, which led to a parellel world that at first appeared to be perfect, but then the cracks started to show. With the help of the scrawny cat and the geeky guy, she managed to thwart the evil witch-type lady, Belle Dame, and get her real life back, spacey parents and all.
    Meg wondered if something similar was happening between her and Curt—she had thought he was perfect and now she was seeing his warts. Maybe what she needed to do was kiss him more often so he wouldn’t be such a frog, but she sure didn’t feel like doing it now.
    When the movie ended they didn’t stand up immediately. They sat there as the lights came up.
    Curt said, “Cool animation.”
    “I didn’t like the tunnel between the two worlds. It looked like an old dryer vent tube,” Meg blurted out, even though she usually had a rule—no comments on the movie until they were safely in the car.
    She stood up and started walking out of the theater. Curt followed her. When they got out to the hallway, he tried to swing his arm onto her shoulder, but she shrugged out from under it.
    “Hey, listen,” he said. “We need to talk. Why don’t we go get a cup of coffee at the Jenny?”
    “I need to get home.”
    “Meg, don’t do this to me.”
    She felt her anger burbling inside of her. She turned on him and yelled in a quiet voice, “Excuse me. Who did what to whom?”
    “Whoa. What’s the matter with you?”
    “I don’t like being stood up.”
    “The time slipped away...”
    “I can guess where you were,” Meg said, hoping he’d tell her differently.
    But he didn’t say anything. Just looked down and shuffled his shoes.
    “I gotta get home,” she said and turned toward the parking lot. “It’s a school night.”
    “Too bad we can’t drive together,” he said.
    “You should have thought of that a few hours ago,” she said and walked away.
    He didn’t try to stop her; he didn’t come running after her. She climbed into her car and was happy when it started on the first try. She sat and let it run, but didn’t even bother to turn the heat on yet. It would just blow frigid air at her.
    She watched Curt walk to his truck, his shoulders hunched inside his thin jacket. He never wore enough clothes. She had knit him a scarf for Christmas and she could see that he had that wrapped around his neck.
    What was the matter with boys? Don’t they even know enough to say they’re sorry when they mess up? That’s all she had wanted to hear from him, but he hadn’t known enough to apologize.
    7:30 pm
    “Where’s Meg?” Claire asked as she walked in the living room and saw only Rich sitting by the fire.
    “Well, hey to you too.” Rich laughed. “I think she went into Red Wing to see a movie with Curt.”
    Claire walked over and tilted his head back and gave him a just-came-out-of-the-cold kiss on the lips. “Those two. They’re so serious. Makes me nervous.” Then she tried to slide her hands down the neck of his flannel shirt to warm them up.
    “Don’t you dare put your cold hands on me.” Rich grabbed her around the neck and pulled her down for another, deeper kiss, then said, “Curt’s a nice kid. Relax. It’s always intense at that age.”
    “I guess. How about our age? I’m freezing here. You need to warm me up.” Claire wrapped her arms around him.
    “Well, I’ve been thinking about that. As I recall you propositioned me the other night.”
    “Correction. Let’s get it straight. After much consideration, I proposed to you. Just wanted to make you an honest man.”
    “Yes, and after equally careful consideration, taking into account all your hard work and effort in bringing some couth to my simple life, I’ve decided to take you up on it. My answer is yes.” Rich pulled her down into his lap.
    Claire felt something