Read Online Geek High by Piper Banks - Free Book Online

genetics count for anything anymore?
    Besides, Hannah already had a father of her own. A really glamorous dad who was an investment banker in Manhattan. Hannah went to visit him two or three times a year, and spent those trips eating out at swishy restaurants and shopping with her impossibly chic stepmother, who—unlike Peyton did with me—treated Hannah like a daughter.
    Life? Totally unfair.
    We went to Swordfish for dinner, a steak-and-seafood restaurant with a huge window along one wall overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway that winds past Orange Cove. My dad had reserved a table right next to the window, although Peyton and Hannah grabbed the seats with a view, while my dad and I had our backs to the water. The waitress took our order. Dad and I ordered steaks, while Hannah and Peyton, after moaning about the calorie content of each and every entrée, ordered salads.
    I couldn’t help feeling a little smug. As much as I moan about my scrawny frame—I’m about as curvy as a plank of wood—it does have an upside: I can eat whatever I want, and I never gain weight. Sadie always tells me to enjoy it while I can. Apparently all of the women in our family are skinny right up until they hit thirty, at which point their metabolisms crap out on them.
    â€œSo, girls, tell us all about your first day of school,” Dad said brightly. Clearly he wanted this dinner to be Quality Time. I felt another stab of resentment. Did he really think one lousy dinner was going to make up for three years of neglect? Because if so, I had news for him: It wouldn’t .
    â€œYes, Hannah, how were your classes?” Peyton asked, as though I didn’t exist.
    I thought I saw my dad frown at her a moment.
    Hannah shrugged one pretty bare shoulder. “Fine, I guess. Boring mostly. I can’t believe I got stuck with Meloni for English. He’s the worst . He has waxy ears, so gross, and he wears the same pair of pants to school every single day.” Hannah snorted. “We call him ‘Same-Pants-New-Shirt Meloni.’”
    Peyton let out a tinkly little laugh of appreciation for this witticism, but my father’s frown deepened.
    â€œI’m not sure—” he began.
    But Peyton cut him off before he could complete his thought. “How are your friends, honey?” she asked Hannah. “Did Avery have a nice summer? She was in Maine, right?”
    â€œYeah. Her parents have a summer house there. Well, her mom does, anyway. Her parents are in the middle of a divorce, and I think her dad is under court order to stay away from Maine,” Hannah said.
    Peyton’s eyebrows shot up. “ Really ? The divorce is that contentious?” she asked, clearly eager to get all of the dirt.
    Hannah nodded. “They were getting along for a while, but then Avery’s dad piled all of her mom’s shoes in the front yard, doused them with gasoline, and set fire to them.”
    Peyton gasped in horror. “How is poor Avery handling it?” she asked.
    Hannah rolled her eyes. “She’s thrilled . Her parents are both totally sucking up to her, hoping she’ll take their side in the divorce.”
    Hannah launched into a detailed description of the car Avery’s dad had given her for her sixteenth birthday to one-up the Prada handbag her mother had gifted her with. Having lost interest in this conversation, I glanced around at the other diners, wondering if any of them were as miserable as I was.
    And that’s when I saw him: Emmett Dutch . He was sitting two tables away, eating dinner with his parents. My mouth gaped open in surprise. And just then, just as I was ogling him, Emmett turned and looked right at me. As our eyes met, my heart lurched and then began to skitter around in my chest as though someone had just shocked me with CPR defibrillating paddles. We were actually making eye contact!
    And then—I could hardly believe it— he waved at me . Okay, so