Read Online Nerve by Jeanne Ryan - Free Book Online Page A

“Did you send Syd the flowers?”
    He stops short with a satisfied expression. “Her ThisIsMe page says roses and peonies are her favorite. They still are, right?”
    “Well, if it’s on her page, it must be true.” I slam the makeup box shut.
    “Great. See you at the party.” He rushes off.
    The last thing I want to do is party. This evening officially sucks. The sooner I get out of here, the better.
    I hurry to the props area, where I left my purse. A thick crowd swarms between me and the door to the auditorium, so I decide to head out via the fire escape. As I pass the girls’ dressing room, Sydney laughs, a star in the midst of her many admirers and all those stinking peonies. I don’t have the energy to push through the crowd or deal with the scene she’s sure to cause if I tell her I’m not hanging around for the cast party. Sooner or later she’ll figure out that I’ve left. Probably later.
    I rush outside in a race against the flood of tears that threaten to spill over. When I’m on the fire escape, I take a big, hiccupy breath. How could I let Matthew lead me around like a love-sick puppy?
    The door creaks open. Aw gee, did he smear off his makeup again?
    Tommy peeks out. “I’m not stalking you, promise. But you didn’t look so good in there.”
    I run a finger under my eye. “I’m okay.”
    He comes outside again. “You want some water or something?” Maybe he thinks we non-obvious girls are fragile.
    I force myself to think of Comedy Central shows to keep the tears in check. “I’m fine.” As a way to avoid eye contact, I pull out my phone, even though I just checked it a few minutes ago.
    My knees go weak when I see my latest text. NERVE is doing a live round in Seattle.
    And they want me.
    With trembling shoulders, I read the rest of the message. “Oh my God.”
    “What is it?”
    “NERVE chose me! They’re doing a live round here.”
    “That’s crazy!”
    “I know. I’ve got ten minutes to give them my answer.”
    He shakes his head. “You saw how they terrorized the players in the last game. Ever hear of PTSD? My cousin has had it since he got back from Afghanistan. No prizes are worth that.”
    I rub my hand along my hip. “I agree. But you know a lot of the scary stuff has to be faked, like the special effects in the play. I mean, do you think that guy who played last time was really trapped in a dark elevator with a rat? I’ll bet they would’ve let him out if he wanted. And that rat was someone’s pet, guaranteed.” I bite my thumbnail. Why did I immediately go into defending NERVE?
    “His fear looked real to me.”
    “It’s supposed to. But it’s not like they can ask you to do anything overtly dangerous or illegal. They’d get sued.”
    Tommy groans as if I’m a moron. “If they’ll never ask players to do anything shady, why are the owners totally anonymous?”
    “They’re probably based in the Cayman Islands, for taxes or something.”
    His voice takes on an urgency. “I don’t think you realize what you’re up against. It’s not like you have to be the girl with the dragon tattoo to dig up personal data on people. They’ll use it against you.”
    “I have nothing to hide.” Well, if you don’t count my little hospital stay. But even NERVE can’t access confidential health records. Besides, I’m tired of being ashamed of something I shouldn’t have been ashamed of in the first place.
    He nods toward the door. “C’mon, let’s just go to the party. You can sing your version of the school song.”
    I pretend to throw my phone at him. He ducks. From beyond the partially open door, the voices of the cast float out, reciting highlights from the play and laughing. Sydney’s and Matthew’s voices carry louder than the others, of course. I move past Tommy to kick the door shut.
    His voice goes soft. “I know that maybe your feelings got hurt tonight. But that’s no reason to turn into some femme fatale.”
    If only. “It just would be fun to do