Read Online Something True by Kieran Scott - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kieran Scott
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Sooner. Please let it be sooner.
“Um, I usually have lunch with Darla. . . .”
“Oh.” I looked away. “Right. I just thought we were going to . . . you know . . . make a plan.”
“We are. No. You’re right. If we’re gonna do this, we should do it. We only have a couple of days,” Orion said. “Lunch is cool. I’ll make it happen.”
“Cool,” I replied, grinning.
“Cool,” he said again.
“So very, very cool,” Hephaestus joked.
I whacked the back of his head just as we reached the front of the line. The security guard, a man with a wide neck and almost no hair whose name was Eugene, according to the gold tag on his pocket, held up a picture of Artemis next to my face. I glanced at Orion to see if he registered any sort of recognition at the sight of his former love.
“Wow,” he said. “This must’ve been some hot gang you were a part of.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You can go through,” Eugene said.
“Thank you.”
I walked into the lobby and stopped in my tracks. Tacked to the wall directly across from the door was a huge black-and-white picture of Orion and Darla, holding hands and laughing. It was at the center of a blue poster with silver lettering that read FLOROS & SHAYNE: PERFECT TOGETHER. HOMECOMING KING & QUEEN . Darla was busy putting up another one over the window in the cafeteria door. She hopped down and helped the sophomore girl next to her reposition her own poster so that it hung straight.
Which was nice. I’d give it to her. But most of the other posters were just of one person. I saw a pretty picture of Zadie sitting alone in a park, and another of Gavin Dunnellon in his football jersey. Why did Darla have to post a picture of herself hanging on Orion? She couldn’t pose for a photo alone?
Hephaestus wheeled up beside me. “You okay?”
“I think I just died a little bit inside.”
He reached out and squeezed my hand. “Hey. You scored lunch.”
I gave him a grateful smile. “I did, didn’t I?”
Suddenly Darla spotted Orion and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms like he was a soldier just returned from the Battle of the frickin’ Bulge.
“When did you do all this?” he asked her.
“I was up half the night and got here at the crack this morning,” she said. “Do you like it?”
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
My heart felt like it had turned to ash. He leaned in for a kiss and I turned away, headed for my locker, Hephaestus trailing along at my side. Orion and Darla were the perfect high school couple. He clearly cared about her. And I was clearly nothing but a peripheral distraction. If I was going to get Darla and Wallace together, I had to do it fast, before these two got any closer.
“It’s gonna be okay, True. One more couple and you get him back.”
Hephaestus was right, of course. And there was plenty to feel positive about. The school was safe from Artemis and Apollo, I had a lunch date with Orion, and today Darla would be attending her first Boosters meeting as Wallace’s assistant.
But still, I couldn’t help wishing that Orion’s love for me was big enough to overcome anything, including a brainwashing by the mighty Zeus. I couldn’t help wishing that Orion— this Orion—would choose me.
CHAPTER NINE
Orion
“I don’t understand why you have to sit with her,” Darla said, crossing her arms over her chest in this pouty, sexy way. She pushed out her bottom lip as she glared across the courtyard. “I mean, look at her. What a total freak.”
True was alone at a picnic table, laid out on the bench with her eyes closed. Her long hair spilled to the ground, where it had caught a couple dozen fallen leaves. The sky was covered in gray clouds, but two tiny shafts of sunlight had broken through and were trained right on her face. Usually she was with Charlie and Katrina or Wallace and/or Heath, which would have made the convincing so much easier. But for some reason, today it was just her.
“Don’t you
“Um, I usually have lunch with Darla. . . .”
“Oh.” I looked away. “Right. I just thought we were going to . . . you know . . . make a plan.”
“We are. No. You’re right. If we’re gonna do this, we should do it. We only have a couple of days,” Orion said. “Lunch is cool. I’ll make it happen.”
“Cool,” I replied, grinning.
“Cool,” he said again.
“So very, very cool,” Hephaestus joked.
I whacked the back of his head just as we reached the front of the line. The security guard, a man with a wide neck and almost no hair whose name was Eugene, according to the gold tag on his pocket, held up a picture of Artemis next to my face. I glanced at Orion to see if he registered any sort of recognition at the sight of his former love.
“Wow,” he said. “This must’ve been some hot gang you were a part of.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You can go through,” Eugene said.
“Thank you.”
I walked into the lobby and stopped in my tracks. Tacked to the wall directly across from the door was a huge black-and-white picture of Orion and Darla, holding hands and laughing. It was at the center of a blue poster with silver lettering that read FLOROS & SHAYNE: PERFECT TOGETHER. HOMECOMING KING & QUEEN . Darla was busy putting up another one over the window in the cafeteria door. She hopped down and helped the sophomore girl next to her reposition her own poster so that it hung straight.
Which was nice. I’d give it to her. But most of the other posters were just of one person. I saw a pretty picture of Zadie sitting alone in a park, and another of Gavin Dunnellon in his football jersey. Why did Darla have to post a picture of herself hanging on Orion? She couldn’t pose for a photo alone?
Hephaestus wheeled up beside me. “You okay?”
“I think I just died a little bit inside.”
He reached out and squeezed my hand. “Hey. You scored lunch.”
I gave him a grateful smile. “I did, didn’t I?”
Suddenly Darla spotted Orion and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms like he was a soldier just returned from the Battle of the frickin’ Bulge.
“When did you do all this?” he asked her.
“I was up half the night and got here at the crack this morning,” she said. “Do you like it?”
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
My heart felt like it had turned to ash. He leaned in for a kiss and I turned away, headed for my locker, Hephaestus trailing along at my side. Orion and Darla were the perfect high school couple. He clearly cared about her. And I was clearly nothing but a peripheral distraction. If I was going to get Darla and Wallace together, I had to do it fast, before these two got any closer.
“It’s gonna be okay, True. One more couple and you get him back.”
Hephaestus was right, of course. And there was plenty to feel positive about. The school was safe from Artemis and Apollo, I had a lunch date with Orion, and today Darla would be attending her first Boosters meeting as Wallace’s assistant.
But still, I couldn’t help wishing that Orion’s love for me was big enough to overcome anything, including a brainwashing by the mighty Zeus. I couldn’t help wishing that Orion— this Orion—would choose me.
CHAPTER NINE
Orion
“I don’t understand why you have to sit with her,” Darla said, crossing her arms over her chest in this pouty, sexy way. She pushed out her bottom lip as she glared across the courtyard. “I mean, look at her. What a total freak.”
True was alone at a picnic table, laid out on the bench with her eyes closed. Her long hair spilled to the ground, where it had caught a couple dozen fallen leaves. The sky was covered in gray clouds, but two tiny shafts of sunlight had broken through and were trained right on her face. Usually she was with Charlie and Katrina or Wallace and/or Heath, which would have made the convincing so much easier. But for some reason, today it was just her.
“Don’t you
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