Read Online One Hundred Candles [2] by Mara Purnhagen - Free Book Online Page B

Before it could hit the floor, though, someone reached out and grabbed it.
    I smiled at Harris. “Nice catch.”
    He held on to my books. “Yeah, well, it’s good practice for me in the off-season.”
    “Catching books instead of catching footballs?”
    Harris leaned against my locker. “Whatever works.” He nodded toward my arm sling. “I was thinking about you. I thought you might need a little help today.”
    My mind was swirling. He had been thinking about me? He wanted to help me carry my books around? I felt tingly, but I didn’t want him to see me as a feeble girl in need of rescuing. At the same time, I did need some assistance. My arm still ached when I put too much pressure on it, and a pile of heavy books would only make it worse.
    “I guess I could use help,” I admitted to him with a smile. I handed him the rest of my stuff and shut my locker. We began walking down the busy hallway. “This in no way means I’m helpless,” I informed him.
    “Of course not. It means that I feel guilty.”
    I looked at him. “Why would you feel guilty?”
    “I dragged you to that party.” We turned down the hall. “I should have known that wouldn’t be something you’d like. I mean, you probably do stuff like that all the time, right?”
    “Not exactly.” I realized we were headed in the wrong direction. “I need to stop by the main office first,” I explained. “They messed up my schedule. You mind?”
    “Not at all. It gives me an excuse to be late to trigonometry.”
    The main office was packed with students, all of them grumbling about scheduling problems.
    I eyed the long line. “Maybe I should come back later.”
    Harris wouldn’t hear of it. “This way.” He snaked his way past people, his hand firmly grasping mine. I didn’t like to cut, but Harris plowed forward with such confidence that it was hard not to let him take the lead.
    “I’m not here about my schedule,” he announced to the secretary. “I just need to speak with Gwyn real quick.” The secretary waved us toward a counter near the back. “She’s an office assistant this semester,” Harris explained.
    I had been hoping to run into Gwyn. Our stories were connected, somehow, but she didn’t know it yet. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to confide in a stranger, but I felt she would believe me. I didn’t know how to approach her. Maybe, I thought, Harris could help me out.
    Gwyn lit up when she saw Harris. “What can I do for you?” She leaned across the counter, forcing her chest up and creating sudden cleavage. I watched Harris’s eyes. To his credit, he didn’t even glance down.
    “Actually, I need you to do something for Charlotte.”
    Gwyn’s wide smile deflated and she stood up straight. “Oh.”
    I stepped forward and pushed my schedule across the counter. “Hi, Gwyn. I’m scheduled for economics this semester, but I took it last year at my old school,” I said. “I want to drop the course and add a study hall instead.”
    Gwyn didn’t even glance at my schedule. “Your guidance counselor needs to approve this.”
    “She approved it last semester. It just didn’t go through.”
    “Yeah, well, you need to get her to sign off on the paperwork.”
    I felt my frustration beginning to surface again. Why did everything about today have to be so difficult? “I did all the paperwork. It should already be in the computer. And the guidance office is crazy right now.”
    Harris smiled at Gwyn. “I know if anyone can help us, it’s you.”
    He was so blatantly kissing up to her that I expected Gwyn to laugh in his face. Instead, she leaned across the counter again, her eyes on Harris. “I might be able to do something. Of course, I don’t have access to schedules or anything, but I can give you a pass to study hall and an excuse form for economics.” She sounded unconcerned. “You still need to go to guidance, but this will give you a week extension.”
    “Sounds good,” I mumbled.
    “Sounds great,”