An Infidel in Paradise Read Free

always some parent drivel anyway, about what a great kid I was.
Seriously, do parents really think we believe that junk?
But somehow it helped. Even if I didn’t read it – and sometimes I wouldn’t until I got home – I knew it was there. I knew he was there.
    “How long?” Mandy has the tenacity of a tick. I wonder when she’ll find the note. I don’t know if Dad used to leave notes for her as well. I always thought it was just our thing, but I couldn’t take the chance. I’d like to think I at least had some originality. When it came down to it, though, I spewed the same BS he did all those years. I tried to fake Mom’s handwriting. Like Mom would ever do something like that.
    “Almost there,” I say.
    I’m as desperate to finish this trip as she is, yet dreading our arrival. Suddenly the miles of empty brush give way to the high fortress walls of the school, as startling as a pyramid in the desert. We stop just outside the gates while two guards use a mirror attached to a long rod to check under our van for bombs. We’re cleared through, and the driver pulls into the parking lot and stops. When the doors open, a sudden blast of heat sears my flesh. Lightheaded, I slide across the seatand try to hop down but catch my foot at the last minute. Seconds before my face would have hit the pavement, a firm hand encircles my upper arm and swings me up in a surprisingly graceful maneuver. I land against the chest of my rescuer, my free arm instinctively reaching up to grab his shoulder. All we need are ice skates and it would be a perfect ten.
    I’m about to share this insight when I look up and any intelligible thought evaporates. I’m gawking into the face of a boy who is surely the product of genetic engineering. He is that beautiful.

CHAPTER 2
    “S orry,” I mumble, looking into the thickly fringed green eyes of the gorgeous godlike creature while my heart does little cartwheels in my chest.
    “Don’t apologize. It’s not like every day starts with a pretty girl falling into my arms.” He smiles and it’s like being zapped by a Taser, not that I’ve ever been zapped by a Taser, but I’m pretty sure this is what it would feel like. It’s a good thing he’s still holding me because I may just swoon in his arms. And I’d be only half-faking it.
    “Mustapha!” A loud voice shatters our magic moment.
    We both jump and take a few steps back as the beautiful boy drops his hands.
    The girl striding purposefully toward us could be his twin. Tall and slender, she has the same pale olive skin and glittering green eyes. She puts a hand on his arm.
    “Everyone’s been looking for you,” she says to him, completely ignoring me. “You have to see Saalima’snew cell phone. I’m going to ask Daddy to buy me one.” She flicks back a strand of glossy black hair, adjusts her
dupatta
, which is already draped perfectly around her neck, the ends fluttering down her back, and she eyes him impatiently. She still hasn’t acknowledged my presence.
    “Didn’t your father just buy you a new phone last spring?” He chuckles.
    “That was months ago,” she pouts. “Come on, you have to see it.” She pulls at his arm.
    By this time, I’ve decided I must have become invisible, so I’m startled when he turns back to me.
    “I must go,” he says, “but it was a pleasure. Try to stay on your feet now.” He beams one last heart-stopping smile, but it’s the girl who takes my breath away. She shoots me a look of pure hatred before she escorts him away.
    By now, the other embassy kids are out of the van, and Vince and Michelle are trying to get Mandy to remember the name of her teacher.
    “It’s O’Grady,” I say distractedly, still watching the departure of the god-creature and Angry Girl.
    “Oh, Mandy, you’re so lucky,” gushes Michelle. “She’s, like, the nicest teacher in the whole universe. And I know exactly where her room is. Do you want Vince and me to take you, sweetie?”
    I give Vince a look.