Read Online Spectacle (A Young Adult Novel) by Angie McCullagh - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Angie McCullagh
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shrug. But she loved that outfit. “Get over yourselves,” Trix said. Then to Emily, “You ready?”
Emily wrapped her apple core in a napkin, closed her book, and followed Trix out onto the school’s lawn. It was spring term and kids were playing hacky sack and lying on the grass soaking in as much sun as possible before clouds rolled in again.
“Um, thanks,” Emily said. “I think.”
“You think?”
“I was doing okay. But I appreciate your trying to help.”
“Doing okay? They were all over you like dogs on a dead squirrel.”
“Well, I mean, I was using my obliviousness strategy.”
Trix cocked out her undeveloped hip and said, “It wasn’t working. They needed verbal bitch slaps.”
Emily laughed and Trix did, too.
After that, they began seeking each other out at lunch and soon, outside of school. Over the last few years, their friendship had morphed into what it was now. Trix wondered if it had run its course.
David the cat was curled up on Trix’s feet. She sat, grabbed the flea comb off her chipped dresser, and began to rake it across his back. Every time she found a flea, she flicked it into a bowl of soapy dishwater she’d been keeping next to her bed for drowning purposes. She’d discovered an odd satisfaction in hunting down the fleas and killing them.
Her thoughts drifted to Ryan. Quirky, handsome Ryan. While Trix snagged all the skeeves who just wanted to hook up and throw her away like a snotty tissue, Emily got Ryan. Or was on her way to getting him.
David yowled and hissed. Trix realized she’d been pushing down too hard on the comb. She let up and tossed it back onto her dresser.
Why couldn’t she just walk away from this and let Emily live a little? Why did Trix have to begrudge her?
Because she’d liked Ryan for so long. And she was insecure. She hated feeling she wasn’t worth as much as Emily because Emily’s dad had money and she was blooming into this pulled-together, statuesque beauty and a normal guy liked her.
The question was, could Trix stop herself from trying to destroy what her friend had?
16. First Date
O N M ONDAY NIGHT , Sam, the tall guy from the party, called Emily. She answered her cell, already knowing it was a Sam Stone, but pretending she didn’t. She let him explain himself, how they’d met.
“Oh, right,” she said. “Hi.”
“How’s your week going?” he asked.
“Well, considering we’re only one day in, I’d say fine.”
He asked about classes. About what public high school was like, if it was true that CHS had its own bowling alley.
“No,” Emily said. “That’s a rumor.”
“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “I was hoping I could talk you into showing it to me.”
Her mind suddenly spun fast. He was going to ask her out. Of course he was. Why else would he have called?
Yet, despite her desire for interaction with the opposite sex, she found herself shrinking away from the idea of spending time with him. Alone.
How would she handle this? She could lie and say she had a boyfriend. She could flat out say, “No, thanks.” She could pretend to be sick.
Then the question came, “So, think you’d be up for a movie or something Friday?”
Emily thought of Ryan and how she wished he were the one on the other end of the conversation. Ryan McElvoy who was a good couple inches shorter than she was. Right.
“A movie?” she said.
“Yeah. The new James Bond.”
“James Bond?”
“I’ve seen it twice and it’s awesome. You game?”
Emily frantically racked her brain for an excuse, but in the end, she squeaked, “Okay.” Her first date. At sixteen. And not with someone she would’ve chosen. But, as Trix would say, Chalk it up to experience . God knew Emily needed some.
That week flew by in a blur of homework, strained run-ins with Trix, and a walk through Fremont where Emily took tons of photos and, later, spent hours editing them on the computer.
When Friday night rolled around, she searched hard for
Emily wrapped her apple core in a napkin, closed her book, and followed Trix out onto the school’s lawn. It was spring term and kids were playing hacky sack and lying on the grass soaking in as much sun as possible before clouds rolled in again.
“Um, thanks,” Emily said. “I think.”
“You think?”
“I was doing okay. But I appreciate your trying to help.”
“Doing okay? They were all over you like dogs on a dead squirrel.”
“Well, I mean, I was using my obliviousness strategy.”
Trix cocked out her undeveloped hip and said, “It wasn’t working. They needed verbal bitch slaps.”
Emily laughed and Trix did, too.
After that, they began seeking each other out at lunch and soon, outside of school. Over the last few years, their friendship had morphed into what it was now. Trix wondered if it had run its course.
David the cat was curled up on Trix’s feet. She sat, grabbed the flea comb off her chipped dresser, and began to rake it across his back. Every time she found a flea, she flicked it into a bowl of soapy dishwater she’d been keeping next to her bed for drowning purposes. She’d discovered an odd satisfaction in hunting down the fleas and killing them.
Her thoughts drifted to Ryan. Quirky, handsome Ryan. While Trix snagged all the skeeves who just wanted to hook up and throw her away like a snotty tissue, Emily got Ryan. Or was on her way to getting him.
David yowled and hissed. Trix realized she’d been pushing down too hard on the comb. She let up and tossed it back onto her dresser.
Why couldn’t she just walk away from this and let Emily live a little? Why did Trix have to begrudge her?
Because she’d liked Ryan for so long. And she was insecure. She hated feeling she wasn’t worth as much as Emily because Emily’s dad had money and she was blooming into this pulled-together, statuesque beauty and a normal guy liked her.
The question was, could Trix stop herself from trying to destroy what her friend had?
16. First Date
O N M ONDAY NIGHT , Sam, the tall guy from the party, called Emily. She answered her cell, already knowing it was a Sam Stone, but pretending she didn’t. She let him explain himself, how they’d met.
“Oh, right,” she said. “Hi.”
“How’s your week going?” he asked.
“Well, considering we’re only one day in, I’d say fine.”
He asked about classes. About what public high school was like, if it was true that CHS had its own bowling alley.
“No,” Emily said. “That’s a rumor.”
“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “I was hoping I could talk you into showing it to me.”
Her mind suddenly spun fast. He was going to ask her out. Of course he was. Why else would he have called?
Yet, despite her desire for interaction with the opposite sex, she found herself shrinking away from the idea of spending time with him. Alone.
How would she handle this? She could lie and say she had a boyfriend. She could flat out say, “No, thanks.” She could pretend to be sick.
Then the question came, “So, think you’d be up for a movie or something Friday?”
Emily thought of Ryan and how she wished he were the one on the other end of the conversation. Ryan McElvoy who was a good couple inches shorter than she was. Right.
“A movie?” she said.
“Yeah. The new James Bond.”
“James Bond?”
“I’ve seen it twice and it’s awesome. You game?”
Emily frantically racked her brain for an excuse, but in the end, she squeaked, “Okay.” Her first date. At sixteen. And not with someone she would’ve chosen. But, as Trix would say, Chalk it up to experience . God knew Emily needed some.
That week flew by in a blur of homework, strained run-ins with Trix, and a walk through Fremont where Emily took tons of photos and, later, spent hours editing them on the computer.
When Friday night rolled around, she searched hard for
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