Read Online The Boarding School Experiment by Emily Evans - Free Book Online Page B

sentiment with humor, which was critical, because her segment depended on the audience’s vote. They’d key in a score after watching her perform. Unless they hated life, she’d win.
    Declan shifted so he lay flat on his back and lowered his eyelids. “I don’t know. There’s a chick in the north dorm who can sing. We’ll probably lose that round to her.”
     
    ***
     
    I rolled one of my extra blankets under my pillow and propped up on it to see my roommates better. “I could imagine liking it here, if the cafeteria served TexMex, the city had a mall, and my family lived closer than nine hours away. Basically, if they plopped the igloo in the middle of Houston, it’d be okay. Bizarrely out of place, but survivable.”
    Geneva snorted, and shook her bottle of bright orange nail polish. The manicure caused our whole room to smell like a poorly ventilated salon, but Kaitlin and I didn’t care. Our suitemates had bitched about the stench, and their grumpiness made us not care even more.
    Kaitlin lay curled in a ball. She flushed a little. “I kind of like being here. I’m not so alone.”
    I thought of Piper. “My best friend’s an only child, I get that.”
    “Lonely Only.” Geneva shook the bottle again, and the little ball rattled. “I have three kick ass brothers in the Navy. When they’re home, I share meals with men who do pushups in the mud and eat things that crawl on the floor. I’d loan ’em out to you.”
    “My younger brothers eat stuff off the floor and play in the mud, too.”
    Geneva nodded. “Genetic barbarians. I’ve dated some of the kings of the Y chromosome.”
    Kaitlin stared, eyes wide. “I haven’t been around guys much.” She rolled on her side, plucking at the extra blanket. Her face flushed. “I’ve never even been kissed.”
    Geneva shook the bottle with more force. “Lady. What are you waiting for?”
    Kaitlin shrugged and blushed a deeper, painful-looking red. “I was always shorter, smaller, younger. Guys treat me like a kid.”
    “You’re normal-sized, just petite.”
    “This summer, I grew and got curvy.” Kaitlin curled into a seated position. “But the boys still acted like I was their sister.”
    “That’s just sad,” I said.
    “Sad?” Geneva said, half in agreement, half in question. “Who’ve you been kissing?”
    I breathed out, clasped my hands overhead and stretched. “My last kiss was a shithead back home, but he could kiss.” I grinned at the electric memory.
    Geneva swiped a hand in front of her throat and pointed at the door. Our team leader leaned against the doorjamb, wearing a tight navy v-neck shirt and a cocky expression.
    “He could kiss, huh?” Thane said.
    “That’s the part you heard? Not the shithead part?”
    Thane shrugged and dropped beside me. His weight depressed the mattress, upsetting my balance.
    Geneva’s eyes narrowed with enlightenment while Kaitlin buried her face in her pillow. Clearly, Kaitlin hoped he hadn’t overheard the first part of our conversation. I wished he hadn’t heard the last.
    I poked his thigh with my foot. My bright orange pedicure stood out against his navy sweats. “Are you here to talk strategy or have your ego stroked?”
    Thane ignored my toes, leaned back on his arms and shrugged, making his biceps bulge in that guy who works out and eats protein way. “Can’t we do both?”
    Geneva put her polish away. “I’m up for some strategizing.”
    Thane hung out with the three of us for a couple of hours, talking about the other teams and how best to take them down.
    Declan never joined us.
     
    ***
     
    Game day arrived. I stood at the base of the mountain, assessing the anchors. Rising on my tiptoes, I stretched my arms overhead, enjoying the pull of muscles and looked up high, trying to spot Declan. He stood with the other teams’ divers on the outcropping at the top of the ramp. He lowered to a seated position and kicked his legs out.
    Grr. The other contestants stood ready at the edge