Read Online Unleashed by Nancy Holder - Free Book Online

suggested, then pointed to the window. “Who’s this holy man in the middle? A saint?”
    “I’m not really sure.” Cordelia shrugged. “He’s just always been there.”
    “We could find out,” Katelyn said, prodding. “Do that for our project.”
    “That could be ‘cool.’ ” Grinning, Cordelia made air quotes.
    By then they had reached the entrance to the gym. Cordelia pointed to a small door next to it.
    “Coach Ambrose is in there. You should check in with him. I’m going to the locker room. See you in a few.”
    Cordelia disappeared inside the gym and Katelyn stuck her head into the coach’s office, which looked out onto the gym floor.
    “Coach Ambrose?”
    A broad-shouldered bald man wearing a gray sweatshirt and a whistle on a lanyard around his neck looked up from his desk. “New kid, right?”
    She nodded.
    “You buy a set of gym clothes from the office yet?”
    “No.” She was kind of glad Mrs. Walker had forgotten to sell them to her. She really wanted just to be by herself for a bit. After only one class period, she was feeling overwhelmed. She wasn’t ready to undress with a bunch of girls she didn’t know yet.
    “Then you can sit in the bleachers and watch today. Get some gear for tomorrow.”
    “Okay, thank you.” She offered the man a small smile, then headed into the gym, relieved to be excused from participation.
    It was still raining. She could hear it beating down hard as she sat on the bleachers and took in her surroundings. It looked a lot like the gym back in Santa Monica—though, she supposed, all gyms probably looked alike. Basketball hoops towered above the shiny varnished floor. Banners were draped on the walls. YOU’RE IN TIMBERWOLF COUNTRY. GO, TIMBERWOLVES! She thought about the saint and his pet in the window. Banjo Land certainly had a theme—wolves, wolves, and more wolves. She’d have to tell Kimi.
    Gradually, boys and girls started trickling out of the locker rooms, a handful stretching out, doing sit-ups. The uniform was simple—white shorts, gray T-shirt with a wolf’s head silk-screened on it.
    Cordelia appeared, plopping down on the floor, extending her legs, and making a halfhearted effort to touch her running shoes. Her fingertips only grazed her shins. She glanced up at Katelyn and made a little face, then stopped trying altogether and yawned.
    “I’m too tired to do this today,” she said.
    “Wonder why?” a nearby boy said, snickering. Katelyn looked at him. He had brilliant red hair, redder than Cordelia’s, but his blond eyelashes and upturned nose gave him a piggish look. He was a hulk. The king of the banjo men.
    “Mike, honey, I’d appreciate it if you would keep your snorts to yourself,” Cordelia said sweetly.
    “Ooh, touchy.” Mike gestured to Cordelia. “C’mon over here and make me, honey. ”
    Face darkening, Cordelia made a show of ignoring him. Mike rolled his shoulders and grinned.
    “C’mon, Fenner.”
    Something flashed across Cordelia’s features and she balled her hands into fists. Katelyn blinked, a little startled. Cordelia’s entire demeanor had changed.
    But before the confrontation could escalate, Coach Ambrose appeared with a clipboard, pen, and stack of handouts. He blew a sharp blast on his whistle and looked down at the clipboard. “Okay, today we’re starting our section on strength training and balance. You’ll do a series of exercises and record your numbers for comparison against your numbers three weeks from now. Here are your forms.”
    He set the handouts on the ground, along with a few pencils. “Let’s start with sit-ups. Everyone grab a partner.”
    “I’d like to grab you,” Mike whispered loudly at Cordelia. The coach didn’t hear him, but some of the other students did. Three or four boys snickered, and Katelyn heaved a sigh. Jack-holes.
    Cordelia’s jaw was clenched as she paired off with another girl, dark-skinned with gold fingernail polish. They took turns being the one to do the