Read Online Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) by Douglas Pershing, Angelia Pershing - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Douglas Pershing, Angelia Pershing
Ads: Link
disappears around the corner. When I catch up with her, she’s squatting in the corner of an alcove with a couple of sparsely populated vending machines. People actually pay to stay here? I guess I can ’ t talk; we did.
“What ’ s wrong?” I say as compassionately as I can. I realize I must sound like a total dork.
“ I don’ t want to talk about it. Leave me alone,” she says.
I can tell she’s about to cry. God, don ’ t let her cry. She’s so pretty.
I muster up whatever courage I can and slowly sit down beside her. I expect her to jump up and run away from the loser sitting next to her, but she doesn ’ t. Instead, she lays her head on my shoulder and starts to cry.
Oh, my God! What do I do now? Unsure, I slowly lift my arm to put it around her shoulders. Surely, this will make her run away from the dorky mutant loser boy, but she doesn ’ t. She grabs my hand and holds it, pulling herself into me.
I have no idea what to do now so I say, “That was your dad, wasn ’ t it?”
She pulls away and looks at me with tears and anger in her large brown eyes. Idiot! I think to myself. Now you totally made her mad.
“He ’ s not my dad!” she yells.
Before I can even say I ’ m sorry for misunderstanding, she goes on, “ Dads don’ t run off with younger girls and leave you! Dads don ’ t forget your birthdays and Christmases and daddy-daughter dances, do they? Dads don ’ t leave you with a mother that only thinks of you as a nuisance, like an inconvenience that just gets in the way of her social life. Why would I care what he thinks?”
Obviously, she does care what he thinks, but I ’ m sure not going to say that. She sinks back into me and starts to cry again. I just hold her and let her cry for a while, caressing her shoulders.
“You ’ re right. He ’ s no dad, ” I say softly. “ I don’ t see how anyone could ever leave you.”
She looks up at me and says, “Shut up. I know I ’ m usually a B.”
“What? You? No way!”
She smiles at me and says, “It ’ s really ‘cause I don ’ t know how to be nice to people. You know . . . if I ’ m mean, I know what to expect.”
“I think you ’ re nice, Alice, ” I say.
“I know you really don ’ t, but thanks anyway, Tanner. By the way, Ry doesn ’ t really hate you. She ’ s just a sister, you know? Sisters are supposed to get annoyed with brothers. I think you ’ re actually pretty cool.”
“Really?” I ask with my eyebrows raised.
“Yeah,” she says as she lays her head back down on me. “I wish you were my brother.”
I can ’ t believe what just happened. I not only talked to the prettiest girl in school, but she actually talked to me. Just when I thought everything was going great . . . brother status! Oh, well. What can I expect? I ’ m about six inches shorter than her. More like her little brother.
I start to say, “We should get back,” when my voice jumps up about two octaves. I clear my throat and try again, “We . . .” There it goes again.
You’ve got to be kidding me! Now? Right now my voice has to start freaking out. She sits up and giggles at me. I’m totally humiliated.
She bites her lip in the most adorable way—God, her lips are pretty—and says, “It looks like my little brother is growing up.”
Just when I ’ m about to respond to try to redeem some of my dignity, this guy holding two boxes of vending machine stuff walks around the corner. All three of us jump slightly. He calms down and, realizing he interrupted an intimate moment, starts to apologize. But then he stops and stares at us. Fear is drawn across his face by some unseen artist, and he drops the boxes directly in front of him.
“It ’ s you!” he says as he turns and starts to run.
Alice and I look at each other and realize simultaneously what he meant. He recognized us!
We both say, “Oh, crap!” and jump up to try to stop him.
The guy’s running as fast as he can toward the front office. It ’ s a
“What ’ s wrong?” I say as compassionately as I can. I realize I must sound like a total dork.
“ I don’ t want to talk about it. Leave me alone,” she says.
I can tell she’s about to cry. God, don ’ t let her cry. She’s so pretty.
I muster up whatever courage I can and slowly sit down beside her. I expect her to jump up and run away from the loser sitting next to her, but she doesn ’ t. Instead, she lays her head on my shoulder and starts to cry.
Oh, my God! What do I do now? Unsure, I slowly lift my arm to put it around her shoulders. Surely, this will make her run away from the dorky mutant loser boy, but she doesn ’ t. She grabs my hand and holds it, pulling herself into me.
I have no idea what to do now so I say, “That was your dad, wasn ’ t it?”
She pulls away and looks at me with tears and anger in her large brown eyes. Idiot! I think to myself. Now you totally made her mad.
“He ’ s not my dad!” she yells.
Before I can even say I ’ m sorry for misunderstanding, she goes on, “ Dads don’ t run off with younger girls and leave you! Dads don ’ t forget your birthdays and Christmases and daddy-daughter dances, do they? Dads don ’ t leave you with a mother that only thinks of you as a nuisance, like an inconvenience that just gets in the way of her social life. Why would I care what he thinks?”
Obviously, she does care what he thinks, but I ’ m sure not going to say that. She sinks back into me and starts to cry again. I just hold her and let her cry for a while, caressing her shoulders.
“You ’ re right. He ’ s no dad, ” I say softly. “ I don’ t see how anyone could ever leave you.”
She looks up at me and says, “Shut up. I know I ’ m usually a B.”
“What? You? No way!”
She smiles at me and says, “It ’ s really ‘cause I don ’ t know how to be nice to people. You know . . . if I ’ m mean, I know what to expect.”
“I think you ’ re nice, Alice, ” I say.
“I know you really don ’ t, but thanks anyway, Tanner. By the way, Ry doesn ’ t really hate you. She ’ s just a sister, you know? Sisters are supposed to get annoyed with brothers. I think you ’ re actually pretty cool.”
“Really?” I ask with my eyebrows raised.
“Yeah,” she says as she lays her head back down on me. “I wish you were my brother.”
I can ’ t believe what just happened. I not only talked to the prettiest girl in school, but she actually talked to me. Just when I thought everything was going great . . . brother status! Oh, well. What can I expect? I ’ m about six inches shorter than her. More like her little brother.
I start to say, “We should get back,” when my voice jumps up about two octaves. I clear my throat and try again, “We . . .” There it goes again.
You’ve got to be kidding me! Now? Right now my voice has to start freaking out. She sits up and giggles at me. I’m totally humiliated.
She bites her lip in the most adorable way—God, her lips are pretty—and says, “It looks like my little brother is growing up.”
Just when I ’ m about to respond to try to redeem some of my dignity, this guy holding two boxes of vending machine stuff walks around the corner. All three of us jump slightly. He calms down and, realizing he interrupted an intimate moment, starts to apologize. But then he stops and stares at us. Fear is drawn across his face by some unseen artist, and he drops the boxes directly in front of him.
“It ’ s you!” he says as he turns and starts to run.
Alice and I look at each other and realize simultaneously what he meant. He recognized us!
We both say, “Oh, crap!” and jump up to try to stop him.
The guy’s running as fast as he can toward the front office. It ’ s a
Similar Books
