Read Online Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman - Free Book Online
Authors: Sarah Darer Littman
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Faithfull205: We hardly see each other.
That’s because you’re so wrapped up in Ted and Grace and stage crew and all the stuff you know I can’t do. You’re the one who changed everything. Not me
.
AbyAngel99: Yeah. Well, maybe another time.
Faithfull205: K. Definitely. Well, GTG do homework.
AbyAngel99: K. Bye.
I stare at the screen after Faith signs off, a sudden heaviness in my chest. My cell phone is sitting on my desk and I reach for it to call her back and tell her that I
will
come for the sleepover, after all, but something stops me from pressing the speed dial key with her number. I put the phone back on the desk, and check again to see if Luke’s online. When I see he’s not, I force myself to turn off the computer and pick up a book to read until I fall asleep. Even after Mom comes and tells me to turn the light out, I can’t stop myself from sneaking over to my desk and checking one last time. When Luke’s online icon is still set to AWAY , I want to cry. When I get back into bed I give in, and tears of longing and frustration silently soak my pillow.
CHAPTER 6
OCTOBER 7
“Are you okay, Abby?”
Billy is looking at me all worried. I must have completely spaced out.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that’s all.”
“You look pretty out of it. Maybe you should go to the nurse or something.”
As tempting as it sounds to go down to the nurse and fake a headache so she’d let me lie down for a while, I don’t want to risk her calling Mom.
“I’ll be okay. So where were we?”
“We’re on step four. Here, I’ll do this part. You get the petri dishes, okay?”
I go to the front of the room and collect our petri dishes, then set them up on our lab bench. My hands are all trembly, probably because I barely slept last night. Luke better be online tonight to put me out of my misery.
“Okay, here goes nothing,” Billy says. He takes a step closer to me and our arms touch. I notice that he’s flushed from the neck up. Weird.
We start to label the petri dishes. My hands are shaking so much I manage to drop one. Luckily, it doesn’t break, but the lid comes off so I have to go up and get another.
“Are you
sure
you’re okay?” Billy asks. “Because you don’t seem like your usual bright, funny self.”
It takes a moment for his words to pierce through the fogginess in my brain.
Whoa. Hold the phone. Did Billy just say he thinks I’m bright and funny
?
“I … uh … well …” I kind of just stare at him, noticing for the first time how his eyes are a really cool shade of blue.
“And you definitely aren’t as quick with the words as you normally are.”
He taps lightly on my head with his fist.
“Hello? Is the real Abby home? Can she come out to play?”
I can’t help giggling as I push his hand away.
“Stop it, you dork! You’re messing up my hair.”
“Now that sounds more like the Abby I know,” Billy says, grinning. “But I still think I’m going to nominate myself to be in charge of the experiment today, okay? Since you’re so out of it, you can just be Lab Flunky to my Evil Genius and take notes. What do you say?”
“I say it sounds good to me. Anything as long as I don’t have to think too much.”
With Billy in charge, we manage to get through the rest of the experiment without any disasters. I write down what he tells me to, and surreptitiously check the clock, counting down the minutes till class is over.
“So … Abby,” Billy says, as we’re waiting for the bell to ring. “Do you maybe want to get together this weekend and … uh … study for the science test? And then I thought maybe … wecould … you know … uh … go see a movie … you know … or something like that.”
My head’s spinning from lack of sleep and the unexpectedness of Billy’s question.
“I … I … maybe … I …”
“Well, I know you’re kind of out of it right now, so why don’t you, uh, you know, think about it and then when you’re a
Faithfull205: We hardly see each other.
That’s because you’re so wrapped up in Ted and Grace and stage crew and all the stuff you know I can’t do. You’re the one who changed everything. Not me
.
AbyAngel99: Yeah. Well, maybe another time.
Faithfull205: K. Definitely. Well, GTG do homework.
AbyAngel99: K. Bye.
I stare at the screen after Faith signs off, a sudden heaviness in my chest. My cell phone is sitting on my desk and I reach for it to call her back and tell her that I
will
come for the sleepover, after all, but something stops me from pressing the speed dial key with her number. I put the phone back on the desk, and check again to see if Luke’s online. When I see he’s not, I force myself to turn off the computer and pick up a book to read until I fall asleep. Even after Mom comes and tells me to turn the light out, I can’t stop myself from sneaking over to my desk and checking one last time. When Luke’s online icon is still set to AWAY , I want to cry. When I get back into bed I give in, and tears of longing and frustration silently soak my pillow.
CHAPTER 6
OCTOBER 7
“Are you okay, Abby?”
Billy is looking at me all worried. I must have completely spaced out.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that’s all.”
“You look pretty out of it. Maybe you should go to the nurse or something.”
As tempting as it sounds to go down to the nurse and fake a headache so she’d let me lie down for a while, I don’t want to risk her calling Mom.
“I’ll be okay. So where were we?”
“We’re on step four. Here, I’ll do this part. You get the petri dishes, okay?”
I go to the front of the room and collect our petri dishes, then set them up on our lab bench. My hands are all trembly, probably because I barely slept last night. Luke better be online tonight to put me out of my misery.
“Okay, here goes nothing,” Billy says. He takes a step closer to me and our arms touch. I notice that he’s flushed from the neck up. Weird.
We start to label the petri dishes. My hands are shaking so much I manage to drop one. Luckily, it doesn’t break, but the lid comes off so I have to go up and get another.
“Are you
sure
you’re okay?” Billy asks. “Because you don’t seem like your usual bright, funny self.”
It takes a moment for his words to pierce through the fogginess in my brain.
Whoa. Hold the phone. Did Billy just say he thinks I’m bright and funny
?
“I … uh … well …” I kind of just stare at him, noticing for the first time how his eyes are a really cool shade of blue.
“And you definitely aren’t as quick with the words as you normally are.”
He taps lightly on my head with his fist.
“Hello? Is the real Abby home? Can she come out to play?”
I can’t help giggling as I push his hand away.
“Stop it, you dork! You’re messing up my hair.”
“Now that sounds more like the Abby I know,” Billy says, grinning. “But I still think I’m going to nominate myself to be in charge of the experiment today, okay? Since you’re so out of it, you can just be Lab Flunky to my Evil Genius and take notes. What do you say?”
“I say it sounds good to me. Anything as long as I don’t have to think too much.”
With Billy in charge, we manage to get through the rest of the experiment without any disasters. I write down what he tells me to, and surreptitiously check the clock, counting down the minutes till class is over.
“So … Abby,” Billy says, as we’re waiting for the bell to ring. “Do you maybe want to get together this weekend and … uh … study for the science test? And then I thought maybe … wecould … you know … uh … go see a movie … you know … or something like that.”
My head’s spinning from lack of sleep and the unexpectedness of Billy’s question.
“I … I … maybe … I …”
“Well, I know you’re kind of out of it right now, so why don’t you, uh, you know, think about it and then when you’re a
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