Read Online The Taming of the Drew by Jan Gurley - Free Book Online

hundred-year-old redwood tore at the base and began to topple.  
    No way would I let that happen. I was going to force this deal to work. “He can roar all he wants. I’m not afraid of boys.” There. See? My voice didn’t tremble. Much.  
    Tio popped up to face me where I sat beside him. “You think he’s a boy ? He’s a man. Didn’t you hear the things those guys said in the locker room? Didn’t you see them crushing college men on the field? Don’t you realize the Dog is going to crush you when he finds out about this?”
    Mrs. Bullard opened the door. “Are you ready to meet my son?”
    I must have looked clammy and pale, because when I couldn't answer, Mrs. Bullard just handed me a paper cup of water. She gave me a hard look as I drank it. “Even if my son doesn’t know it, he has more at stake here than you. I’m not playing at this. I have no more options, other than to stand by and watch him destroy himself. There are only two months left for him to prove he’s changed, or no decent college program will take him. I will not back down one inch, not with his future hanging in the balance. Young lady, this is your last chance to refuse. If you take this on, there’ll be no going back. I’ll hold you to our agreement down to the very last day of high school.”
    Mrs. Bullard and Tio waited.  
    Mrs. Bullard said, “Shall I send my son to you?”
    I tugged at my shirt and smoothed down the back of my crinoline. “Might as well get this over.”

    ***

    Don’t look scared. Don’t look scared. Don’t look scared.
    See, I guess I’d started to channel the Dog image a bit too much. I worked last summer as a dog-walker. Most dogs that truly need a dog-walker are big. First thing you learn is, you can’t let them see fear, or you’re dead before you start. Attitude is everything. The fact is, when you're dealing with a pack of big dogs, they out-number you, they’re stronger than you, and each one could rip your throat out faster than you can blink. If they wanted to. In my head, where panic was a humming, high whine, that was all I could hear — the same words I told myself then:
    Don’t look scared. Don’t look scared. Don’t look scared.
    If he says he won’t do this deal, I’ll say fine by me. Go ahead and trash your future. If he says I’m ugly, I’ll say he is too. If he says I’m the most interesting person he’s ever met and he can’t wait to start hanging out with me…I’ll get his head checked.
    Oh, God. This was never going to work.
    The door opened.
    “Hello, Drew,” I said, leaning back against the desk, hands flat on either side of me. See how cool I am about all this.
    “What are you, deaf? My name’s Andrew. Not Drew.”
    “You’re Drew to me.” His eyes narrowed and he came across the room to loom over me. I swallowed and kept going, my voice light and bouncy. “Determined Drew, defensive Drew. Drew, the damned. Drew, the — “
    “Don’t you dare say it!” His voice growled, low and harsh. He took a deep breath. “And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Drew the Dog .”
    “Ah,” I said (mental note: not keen on Dog nickname), “actually I was going to say Drew the debonair.”
    Silence. He put his hands on his hips. “That’s a weird, old-fashioned word. What are you, some kind of geek freak?”
    Okay, that stung, but who was I to say it wasn’t deserved, at least a little bit, given the way I looked and what his mom had just told him I was going to do? “I’m a trifle weird and old-fashioned too, just like that word. Debonair.”
    Silence. “Are you actually trying to flirt with me?”
    “You’re kidding. Right? Your mom wants me to somehow make you behave. Why don’t we get the real problem out in the open here. First, I can’t make you do anything.”
    “Damn straight.”
    “In fact, no creature can make another creature do something. Not really.”
    “Shows what you don’t know. Drop a fumble and my coach’ll make