Read Online The Weight of the World by Amy Leigh Strickland - Free Book Online Page B

some of the least feared modern creatures. As they
slowed through a toll booth, the topic had changed to the diversity
of dog genetics and curiosity about how dogs saw breeds vastly
different from their own, and by the time they arrived at Jungle
Island, Diana was explaining that dogs care more about smell and
energy than what other dogs looked like.
    They
spent the afternoon walking around Flamingo Lake and socializing with
the animals in the Petting Barn. Ryan paid for concessions.
    “ You
really like animals,” he said, watching a lamb eat a handful of
straw. Diana was busy trying to coax a rabbit into taking food from
her outstretched palm. She was very quiet and still, but she twitched
her nose at the creature as she waited. Slowly, cautiously, it hopped
closer.
    “ What're
you doing with your nose?” Ryan asked, staring at her with complete
focus.
    “Oh,”
she shrugged, “Just twitching my nose like a bunny. It's fun. You
should try it.”
    “ So
you were a rabbit in another life?”
    Diana
laughed. If only he knew.

    After
the park closed at six pm, they stopped for dinner at a Chinese
restaurant near home.
    “ Have
you seen that blog,” Ryan asked over a plate of Mongolian Beef.
    Diana
nodded. “Discordia. Chaos. They're just trying to stir things up.”
    “ I
think it's someone with delusions of grandeur,” he said.
    “ Oh
yeah?”
    “ Like
they think they're Perez Hilton or something. As if the lives of high
school students are gossip worthy of Hollywood.”
    “ It's
pretty stupid.”
    “ It's
pretty evil.”
    Diana
put her fork down. “Do you know someone who has been feautured?”
    Ryan
shook his head. “No. Not yet. I mean,” he knocked on the table,
“thankfully. Do you?”
    “ Devon
Valentine.”
    “ You're
friends?”
    Diana
hesitated, “Kind of? Not really. But we--”
    “ Oh,
right. You guys had that whole thing in February.”
    “ Yeah,”
Diana picked her fork up again. “That thing.” Diana had been
stabbed during “that thing.” It wasn't a moment she liked to
relive very often.
    There
was a moment of quiet before Ryan spoke up again. “So what was your
favorite movie as a kid?”
    “ 101
Dalmatians ,”
Diana said. “Yours?”
    “ Cinderella .
I liked the mice. Favorite TV show?”
    “ Now
or then?”
    “ Any
time.”
    “ Wilfred .”
    “ Mine's Battlestar
Galactica .”
    “ Favorite
book as a kid?” Diana asked.
    “ Goodnight
Moon .”
    She
smiled. “Good answer.”
    The
waitress came with their checks. Ryan paid while Diana opened her
fortune cookie. She ate the entire cookie before even glancing at the
tiny slip of paper. It read, “A dubious friend may be an enemy in
disguise.” Ryan's simply said, “You have a long life ahead of
you.”

    As
night fell, they took a walk around the lake out behind the Hill
family's one story home. There weren't many places within the city
limits to commune with nature. Some nights Diana had to settle for
the mowed lawn and scattered palms around the banks of the lake.
    “ Next
time we go out, I'll have to take you out to Snapper Creek Trail,”
Diana suggested.
    “ S'that
out by Kendall?”
    Diana
nodded.
    “ So
I get a next time?” he asked with a smile.
    She
nodded again, looking down at her feet. Diana didn't have much
experience with dating or boys, but she liked Ryan. He made a good
companion and the girl couldn't help but notice how his almond-shaped
eyes and deep voice combined to make him extra attractive.
    Ryan
took the suggestion of a second date as a good sign and decided to
try his luck. Diana wasn't very short, but he still towered over her.
He bent down and pressed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes
and breathed in, allowing herself to relax in the moment. It was
Diana's first kiss.
    In
this life or the one before it.
    Ryan
kept the kiss simple and polite. When he stood up straight, he was
smiling. Diana really wanted him to kiss her again. She was debating
whether or not she should tug him down