Read Online Kissing Jayden: a romantic teen thriller by Alessa James - Free Book Online

disbelief.
    “Why would he stalk you ?” she demanded.
    I shrugged. The problem was that I didn’t know, either. I felt better telling Stace, but by the time she went back to her room to go to sleep, my stomach was in a million knots. Why couldn’t things just go back to being simple?
    When I woke up the next morning on the foldout bed, I just wished Mom would get back from staying with Grams. I was craving something kind of normal, since nothing really was lately. Stace insisted we leave early for school because she wanted to get a super-sized frozen coffee drink with a ton of whipped cream. When we got to the coffee place, though, the line was huge, so I dashed over to the drugstore to buy a granola bar to add to my lunch.
    Really, though, I just wanted to print out the picture that Stace had taken of Jayden. I couldn’t help myself. It wasn’t like I was going to put it up in my locker and pretend like he was my boyfriend or anything. But I wanted the picture anyway.
    Maybe I’d keep it in the drawer with the poem. Or I could use it as a bookmark in my history book. Then I froze. What if I left my book somewhere by accident and someone found it with Jayden’s picture in it? That would be awful! I’d probably die of embarrassment.
    That still didn’t stop me from going to the kiosk, printing it out, and slipping it into my backpack. I promised myself that I would stop by home after school to put it in my dresser. Looking around, suddenly I was afraid someone was going to see me. It totally felt like I was the weirdo stalker even though Stace had taken the picture of Jayden, not me. I shook my head. Whatever. It wasn’t like I was following Jayden around or leaving creepy stuff in his locker like a psycho.
    By the time we got to school, I thought I had everything figured out. In other words, I would just avoid all guys. Tyler, Jayden — and especially Mike. Stace, of course, was not a fan of this plan, mostly because it involved me hanging out in Mr. Kaplan’s room indefinitely. Mr. Kaplan, who I’d had for World History, was probably the one teacher who trusted students enough to leave his classroom unlocked. I had gone in there to read or study a million times, and Mr. Kaplan said he barely even noticed I was there. That was how quiet I had been in his class.
    During nutrition, I saw Tyler rushing toward me with this worried look. It made my stomach clench, because I didn’t want to have to tell him anything about Mike Jensen. Tyler had enough reason to avoid Mike. He didn’t need me scaring him.
    “Molly?” he asked, coming up behind me after I tried walking in the other direction.
    I turned reluctantly and smiled.
    “What’s up, Tyler?”
    “Have you been to you locker today?”
    The nervous feeling in my stomach got worse. I didn’t want to tell him that I had completely stopped going to my locker. I shook my head.
    “There’s a note taped to it.”
    “Oh,” I mumbled. “I guess I should go get it.”
    “Who’s it from?” Tyler asked a little more possessively than I liked.
    I shrugged and braced myself to lie.
    “No idea.”
    “Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.
    I shook my head like that was the worst idea ever. Then I tried smiling again.
    “No, it’s all right. I have to get to class early, anyway.”
    When he leaned over and kissed my cheek, I kind of jerked away.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    I nodded, really wanting to stop talking to him. It wasn’t Tyler’s fault, but I needed to get away from him. Like now. I was afraid of what Mike Jensen might do to him. But more than that, I realized that I couldn’t sit with Tyler, hold his hand, or let him kiss me — when I really wanted it to be Jayden.
    Maybe in college I’d meet a guy who made me feel the way Jayden Stone did. Maybe. I could hope, anyway. But I had decided that, for now, the drama wasn’t worth it. I could have my crush on Jayden, but it had to be super-secret from now on. No more poems, no more staring