Read Online The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt - Free Book Online Page B

do.” I try to appear like I don’t care but Alice narrows her eyes.
    â€œWhat things?”
    â€œDunno.” I shrug. “He said he’d be away tonight and tomorrow.”
    Just then, like it was timed in a cosmic feat of crappiness, I hear a girl’s voice bellow: “Zeeeeeekkkkeee!” down the hallway, like it isn’t midnight and people aren’t possibly sleeping.
    â€œHey, babe, I thought you’d be still out,” I hear. And while for a split second there was the slim possibility that there were other Zekes in the dorm that I had yet to meet, that voice I’d recognize anywhere. Even in English.
    â€œWant to come hang out?” Cloy Voice asks, and Zeke laughs.
    â€œHang out, eh?”
    â€œOh yes,” she whispers, her voice all breathy. Though unfortunately for me and Alice, the fact that she’s directly in front of our door means that even if she was in our room wecouldn’t possibly hear them more clearly.
    â€œPlease kill me,” I mouth to Alice, conscious that if we can hear them from in here, they can hear us from out there.
    â€œYour Zeke?” she mouths.
    I think of shaking my head because there’s no my Zeke, but that seems like splitting hairs.
    Alice presses her lips together and then opens them wide. “Abby!” she shouts. “I’m not going to hang out in the common room and wait for you guys to finish making out. I want to go to sleep, and I’d rather be able to do it without listening to you guys suck face all night.”
    Her speech is so shocking, from the lie to the fact that it’s Alice bellowing it out, that I don’t even think to stop her until she’s looking at me triumphantly.
    â€œAnd I can’t believe you guys are watching that movie together. I mean, get a room. Not my room. A room where you can be alone.”
    â€œAlice!” I squeak, not knowing whether to high-five her or slap my hand over her mouth.
    â€œRawr,” I hear Cloy Voice say, which makes me want to go out there and pull her off of Zeke. Because what kind of girl says rawr in real life?
    â€œC’mon, we should get out of here,” Zeke says, and he doesn’t sound nearly as flirty and happy as he did before.
    And suddenly I’m quite sure that as utterly humiliating asAlice’s speech was, high-fiving her wasn’t nearly enough to thank her.
    So I tackle-hug her.

SEVEN
    I HAVE A RAGING HEADACHE when I wake up.
    Which is unlikely the reason why Alice is upside down. In the middle of the room. And she’s not in a headstand like the ones I struggle through in gym class, arms wrapped around my head, praying I won’t fall over and hurt myself. Or kill someone else. Nope. She’s actually standing on her hands, legs straight and perfectly still.
    â€œAre you—” I try to formulate the question but the truth is, I’m not sure if I’m totally awake or if this is somehow part of my dream.
    â€œOne sec,” Alice stutters.
    Well, at least it’s evidently not quite as effortless as she makes it out to be.
    It takes another fifteen seconds before she flips down, one leg at a time, as controlled and graceful as she was in the position.
    She rolls her shoulders back and forth and stretches out her wrists.
    â€œDo you do that every morning?”
    â€œYup.” She smiles. “Only usually you’re gone before I start my yoga routine.”
    â€œWhy?” My eyes are only open a crack because the light seems especially bright this morning. Like it’s shining from the sun directly into the back of my eyes. Which seems to be impossible, but this morning? Anything’s possible.
    â€œBecause usually you’re up before nine?”
    Nine?
    Nine?
    My eyes screw shut. Not because of the blinding light or the epic eye pain. But because class starts at nine and—
    Merde. Merde. Merde.
    â€œRelax,” I hear Alice say as I whip off the covers and