Read Online Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick - Free Book Online

Wednesdays were wild cards and whether he showed up or not usually hinged on his mood. This was a Thursday, and since this had started Paul had never missed a Thursday. So I just satin my bed and waited. I lay on the floor and waited. Time ticked by, the moon rose, I listened two and a half times over to a birthday mix Nils had made for me the year before, and then … nothing. It was one thirty a.m. I checked my phone. I looked out the window and checked the driveway. I tried to sleep but couldn’t, and when I finally realized he wasn’t going to show, I got Harry out of his stinky little bed on the kitchen floor and made him sleep with me.
     
    The next morning I showered really quick and rushed to get to school early. I had twenty minutes before classes started. I sat on the hill by the parking lot and watched for Paul’s BMW. At last, he showed, at twenty to eight, and I skipped down the hill toward his car.
     
    “Hi,” I said, looking around before leaning in for a kiss.
     
    He pulled back, sinking his body back into the car. “What’re you doing? Holly, seriously, get away.”
     
    I flinched, then quickly covered with a smile. “Why? No one can see us. What’s the big deal?”
     
    He grabbed his bag off the passenger side seat, stood up, and slammed his door shut. “Just, not at school, okay?”
     
    I looked down. I mumbled, “Wouldn’t want your precious Saskia to see …” Then, “Where were you last night, anyway?”
     
    “I was at home.”
     
    “
Home
home?
     
    “
What?
Speak English.” We were walking now. Toward the side entrance by the gym.
     
    “It was a Thursday.”
     
    “
English
, Holly.”
     
    “I just mean you could have called if you weren’t going to come by. I waited up for you.”
     
    He stopped and turned toward me. “Holly. We didn’t have plans. I didn’t ask you to wait up.”
     
    “But you always come by on Thursdays.”
     
    “Holly.” The way he kept saying my name over and over made me feel so totally small. “You’re not my girlfriend.”
You’re not my girlfriend. You’re not my girlfriend.
It echoed in my ear.
I hate you,
I thought as he dragged me across the taupe-colored field to the bleachers. We ducked underneath. “Do we need to set some ground rules?” It was cool now where we stood. Mostly shady save for a few skinny bars of gold light that fell across Paul’s body and onto the dry lawn beneath our feet. “I like you, Holly. I do. But I’m not gonna do all this girlfriend-boyfriend bullshit with you, okay? I already have one relationship I have to manage.” He pulled a pack of Camels from his pocket. “What we have should be easy.”
     
    “So
what
? What does that mean? I don’t get to have
any
expectations?”
     
    He lit a cigarette and with the filter pinched between his teeth he said, “Well, when you put it like that, you make me sound like a complete dick.”
     
    I glowered back.
     
    “Don’t look at me like that,” he wheezed, taking a deep drag, then exhaling. “You knew what this was. You knew how this had to be. I’m not making you spend time with me, Holly. You want out, you say the word.”
     
    I looked down at the ground and kicked a pile of dirt.
     
    He slid his pointer finger under my chin. “Why do you have to be so adorable?” he asked, lifting my face up, then pressing his lips to my lips. “… Needy little girl,” he cooed. My stomach turned over.
I’m not needy,
I thought, pulling backward, slipping one hand around his head and grabbing on to this shaggy little chunk of hair he had hanging down the back of his neck. “That feels nice,” he whispered, so I tightened my grip and yanked down. “Fuck, Holly. What the hell?” He let out a small cry, then grabbed my face real quick and kissed me so hard that it hurt.
     
    “Ow,
Christ
,” I squealed, pulling back and stumbling sideways.
     
    He laughed and shook his head, “You’re a funny little girl, you know that, Holly?” He wiped his mouth