Read Online Kiss & Sell by Brittany Geragotelis - Free Book Online

stevenson get
Turned down
? Was Friday night the first time, or have there been other girls who’ve realized what a tool you are?”
    “Oh. I get it now. Don’t worry, Janning, there’s enough of me to go around,” Dan said, tilting back in his chair again.
    “You really should consider thinking a little
less
of yourself, Danny-boy,” McCartney said, not missing a beat. “Besides, I just read an interesting e-mail that pretty much proves there are plenty of girls out there who are on to the jerk-wad you really are.”
    McCartney looked at me triumphantly, then back at the table of guys.
    “Toodles,” McCartney said, waving her fingers at them.
    As we began to walk away, a familiar tune started up behind us.
    “Sha, la, la, la, la, la…go on and kiss the girl,” Dan sang softly. I stopped in my tracks and listened as Dan’s friends joined in by humming the tune. Finally theguys erupted into laughter behind us, slapping high fives and patting each other encouragingly.
    “Oh,
real
original guys. What, because my name’s arielle and I have red hair? Clever. Like I’ve never heard
That
one before. You guys are so
lame
,” I said, growing annoyed.
    What I didn’t tell them was how close they were to the actual truth. That my mom had allowed me to choose my own name when I was old enough to do so—she thought that it was good for a person to choose their
own
identity. Unfortunately I was going through this whole Disney princess phase and my favorite movie at the time was
The Little Mermaid
...you get the picture. Naming yourself after a mermaid is cool when you’re five, not so much when you’re a teenager.
    Then, Dan and his buddies were doing it again, singing the theme song, this time adding in obnoxious kissing noises into the mix. For his finale, Dan looked right at me as he sang, “I went and kissed the girl.”
    Before I knew it, I was stomping back toward the table. My fury from the night before came raging back, and I walked over to Dan until I was standing right over him again. Without hesitating, I reached out and pushed Dan back in his chair, until it toppled over with him still in it.
    “Oh,
I’m
sorry!” I exclaimed, covering my mouth dramatically, before leaning in toward him. “I guess your chair just couldn’t hold your big ego anymore. Might want to get that checked out…and maybe work on your dating skills, too, while you’re at it. I was
so
not impressed.”
    Dan jumped up from where he’d landed on the floor and took a few steps forward like he was going to get up in my face. Before he could reach me though, somebody stepped in between us.
    “Hey there, Dan. Why don’t you go take a walk,” a voice said, sharply from out of nowhere.
    “You think I’m gonna let some wi-atch talk to me like that?” Dan asked.
    “I think she just did,” the guy replied. “Now, trust me. Go. Take. A walk.”
    Dan squinted his eyes at us a few seconds before silently stalking off.
    Suddenly, the cafeteria was buzzing again, and I realized I’d been holding my breath through the whole embarrassing confrontation. Letting it out deeply, I tapped on the shoulder of the guy who was still standing with his back to me.
    “Hey, thanks for that,” I said.
    The guy turned around and I was surprised to see who it was.
    “No problem,” Cade Jones said, tucking his dark locks behind his ear. “It’s guys like him who give the rest of us bad reps.”
    “He
is
kind of a jerk, isn’t he?” I agreed.
    Cade smiled at me, and let out a little laugh.
    “What?” I asked, starting to feel defensive again.
    “I was just thinking of the look on his face when you pushed him over,” He said. “It was seriously priceless.”
    “Oh. That,” I said, suddenly very self-conscious.
    “Yeah.
That
,” He answered.
    Cade started to walk away, but then stopped and looked back at me. “If it’s any consolation, I never believed the rumors.”
    I was surprised to find it actually was a consolation, but before I