Read Online Gravity, a young adult paranormal romance by Abigail Boyd - Free Book Online

the experience endlessly interesting. We
were trying to get through the revolutionary war as fast as
possible, and George Washington was crossing the Delaware
today.
    Henry seemed to be busy chatting with
his new friends. The group of guys were all laughing like they had
known each other for years, in the way that people like that seem
to do. Sticking with their own kind. Several of them wore gold and
purple school jerseys.
    The brief thought that I'd lost him
flashed through my head. He was never mine to begin with, I rebuked
myself. It should have been easier for me, because I didn't have to
try. It should have been a relief.
    In English, the same alone-in-the-dark
feeling overtook me when the lights went out for the overhead
projector. Luckily, Ms. Fellows didn't seem to notice as my eyelids
drooped and I began to zone out. My thoughts still automatically
went to Jenna, the empty hole in the room.
    By the end of the day, I wanted out,
though for no particular negative reason. Sleep chased me after the
previous night, and my clothes reeked of ground pencil lead and
cafeteria smells. I felt much less optimistic than yesterday, but I
tried not to dwell on it. In art, I sat in the same place, with the
same indifferent male, because the other seats were full
up.
    "All I'm saying is, since it's Hell,
we should be able to sin and get away with it," Henry joked around
with Lainey. His charming voice carried over to my seat, broken by
Lainey's high-pitched, fake giggle.
    "You're really bad," she tittered.
"I'm surprised you've lasted this long without getting in
trouble."
    She tossed her shiny blond hair. The
strands shimmered like a waterfall as they caught the light. For
the slightest moment, I wished I was her. The biggest thing that
scared her was that she hadn't put on enough eyeliner. Not that her
best friend was never coming back. Or that pretend boogeymen lurked
in her basement.    
    I dutifully texted Hugh as I set out
on my journey back home. As I came around behind the house, I
noticed my neighbor sitting on the swingset next door. She
scribbled in the sketchbook on her lap, never taking her eyes from
the paper. She wore a poufy, tutu-like black skirt and black and
white striped leggings, and her glitter today was red, matching the
vivid, artificial red of her hair. Her glasses kept sliding down
her nose and each time she would push them up with two fingers. She
didn't look so intimidating now; in fact, considering how little
she was, she didn't look intimidating at all.
    An impulse hit me. I was prone to
them, but up until then I very rarely acted on them. I peeked my
head inside my own house.
    "I'm home," I said to Hugh, who sat at
the table. "But I'm going to hang out in the backyard for a few
minutes."
    He saluted me and went back to his
laptop. Paint drops splattered the shoulder of his shirt. He chewed
the end of a pen to ruin, which meant he was concentrating deeply
on something. I tossed my backpack on the floor of the dining room
and slid the door shut. As I walked over to the fence, I
anticipated what to say, and whether it was a good idea to say
anything at all.  
    "Hey!" I called to the girl. She
startled, and almost fell off the swing. The sketchbook went
sprawling on the grass.
    "Sorry!" I said.
    I hadn't expected that kind of
reaction. Most of the alt-kids in our school were tough and aloof,
and talking to them was risking getting your teeth realigned. I
noticed a bandage around her ankle, pushing up her left
legging.
    "What do you want?" she asked, picking
up her book and sitting back down on the swing. The words didn't
come out rudely, merely curious. She capped the pen she had been
using to draw and looked up at me. I had never seen such vibrant
green eyes; they were the color of limes. I assumed
contacts.
    "I just wanted to know if I've done
something to offend you," I said calmly. "As far as I know, I've
never talked to you before today, but it seems like I've done
something to you."
    She looked