Read Online Picture Perfect by Catherine Clark - Free Book Online

I would have. “What were you doing out here, anyway?” I asked as I sat down and propped my feet on the railing.
    “Oh. Well, I was thinking of sleeping out here.” He leaned on the railing, looking up at me.
    “Really? Isn’t it kind of hot?” A couple of motorcycles accelerated from a stop sign out on the road. “And occasionally loud?” I asked.
    “I want some privacy,” he said. “My parents and I have a suite. So even though I have my own room, I kind of don’t have my own room. You know what I mean?”
    I tried to picture the layout of the room. “Not exactly.”
    “I’ll show you tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s just say that the concept of suite is not exactly sweet . How did you get so lucky to score your own room?”
    “We got here before you?” I guessed.
    “Remind me to change the rules for the next trip. We’ll draw straws,” he said. “And I’ll cut the straws, and I’ll go first.”
    “That’s exactly what I’d expect from you,” I said.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Nothing. So what are you doing, reading by the light of the moon?” I asked.
    “That, and some streetlights and a book-light. Kurt Vonnegut. Ever read anything by him?”
    “No, I don’t think so,” I said.
    “Really?”
    “Yes, really.”
    “I’m just surprised. I mean, you go to a fairly decent school, right?”
    “It was a great school, one of the top ones in the district,” I said, defending the place that I’d complained about for four years straight. You found yourself doing strange things when you were insulted, when your West Side Lions pride was at stake.
    “So what are you planning to major in?”
    “I don’t know. I want to leave myself open and be flexible. Photography, maybe?” I said.
    “Photography. Huh. Can you actually major in that?”
    “Why not?”
    “Seems kind of lightweight.”
    I didn’t know if I could do some kind of Spider-Man move and swing down to his balcony and kick him in the teeth, but I was tempted to try. “Do you really need to put me down? You always have to get your digs in, like you’re so much better than the rest of us.”
    “Sorry!” Spencer laughed.
    “It’s not funny.”
    “I didn’t know you were so thin-skinned,” Spencer said.
    “I’m not. You’re so rude and arrogant.” I pushed back my chair and stood up, wondering if it was too late to follow Blake and his pals into town. That sounded a lot more fun than hanging out here, getting insulted by Spencer.
    “Come on, Em, I was only—”
    “And I’m only going inside,” I said, sliding the door closed behind me.
    Some people had changed more over the years than you expected them to, and some people hadn’t changed at all.

Chapter 6
    T he next morning I managed to get up very early and took some gorgeous photos of the sunrise over the ocean. I was hoping that Blake would wake up early, too, see me out on the beach, and feel compelled to come join me. It could be just like in my dream. Sure, why not? He’d run out, call my name…I’d run toward him and jump into his waiting arms, and he’d twirl me around, the way in-love couples were supposed to do.
    But no, the only being that had approached me so far was a seagull—a very aggressive seagull, who’d nearly made off with my breakfast bar. He’d twirled around me for about five minutes before giving up. That was the onlytwirling going on this morning.
    I lay down on my towel and stretched my arms above my head, then I rolled over onto my stomach and rested my cheek against my arms. I was so relaxed that I was nearly ready to go back to sleep. Maybe it was time for me to go get another cup of coffee, I thought. Or maybe I should just give in: After all, this was my vacation, and maybe Blake would see me sleeping out here and decide to…I don’t know…snuggle up against me because—
    Suddenly, I heard someone clearing their throat.
    I looked up just in time to see Blake drop onto the sand beside me. “Morning,” he