Read Online Jealousy by Jessica Burkhart - Free Book Online Page B

Taylor said. “I’ve got an appointment with the guidance counselor—”
    â€œMs. Utz,” we finished together.
    â€œShe’s Canterwood royalty,” I said. “Once you meet her, you’ll never forget Ms. Utz.”
    â€œExplain, please.”
    I stepped on a crunchy brown leaf with my paddock boot. “Can’t, sorry. She’s actually quite . . . indescribable. ”
    We walked past a few more buildings, and I motionedtoward them and told Taylor any extra facts. A slight breeze made leaves tumble across the raked lawn, and I inhaled a big gulp of fresh fall air.
    â€œHow was last night?” I asked. “The party. People. Your roommate.”
    Taylor stuck his hands into the kangaroo pocket of his black fleece pullover. He was casual, but pulled together, in the pullover, dark-wash jeans, his broken-in blue-and-white University of Connecticut hat, and Converse sneakers.
    â€œYour birthday was really fun,” Taylor said. “Your friends know how to throw a serious party! Especially Khloe. She was hilarious, and her toast was awesome. I want her and the rest of your friends to plan my next birthday.”
    â€œSomewhere on this giant campus,” I said, “Khloe Kinsella’s feeling like she’s having a sugar rush. She’ll be able to sense that someone’s saying good things about her.”
    â€œWell, it seems like you and I both lucked out, big-time, in the roommate department,” Taylor said. “My roommate, Matthew, is cool. He was in our room when I got back, and we got along right away. He asked me to play a new game on his Xbox, and we played for hours.”
    â€œThat was nice of him.”
    Taylor stretched his arms to the sky. “It was a no-pressure way to get to know each other. I almost freaked out for a minute, because I kind of forgot where I was. Like, I expected my dad to come in, see me ‘wasting my time’ playing a video game, and get mad at me.”
    â€œTay,” I said, touching his arm. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œI’m not. I’m here. Matt and I played as long as we wanted, and no one made me feel bad for doing something that wasn’t schoolwork or somehow related to learning about finances or business.”
    Quiet anger seeped through me. Mr. Frost had really come down on Taylor even more since I’d been gone.
    I motioned for Taylor to follow me onto another sidewalk that forked away from the main one. “That’s great! What about this morning? Did your stuff come?”
    â€œMovers were here at nine, and they unloaded my stuff like they were trying to break a record. Matt even got up and helped me move boxes from the hallway into our room. That saved me a ton of time.”
    â€œI really can’t wait to meet this guy,” I said. “You’re très right—we both got amazing roomies.”
    â€œI liked Khloe, Lexa, and the rest of your friends that I met last night too,” Taylor said. He hopped over a crackin the sidewalk. “I hope you didn’t think that I was staying away from you on purpose. I mean, I guess I kind of was, because I wanted to give you and Drew space.” He grinned. “Did you tell Lacey to talk to me all night?”
    I frowned. “What? No. Why do you ask?”
    â€œShe came up to me, introduced herself and her friends,” Taylor said. He readjusted his hat. “The way Lacey talked to me—like, asking me a zillion questions about myself, offering to show me around school, stuff like that—I thought you or somebody asked her to make sure I had someone to talk to at the party.”
    A weird feeling of jealousy burned in my chest. There was no reason for me to be jealous! I’d been the one who had told Taylor that I didn’t want to get back together. Drew made me beyond happy, and I wanted nothing more than to keep hanging out with him and exploring a possible