Bitter End Read Free Page B

her hand on my shoulder. “Alex,” she said with a wide smile. Mrs.
     Moody always smiled, even if you were in trouble. Talking to her was like talking to a cloud. She was soft, graceful. She
     smelled like honeysuckle and vanilla, and her clothes always drifted around her like ribbons on a breeze, giving the illusion
     that she was moving faster than she actually was. When she spoke, she had this even, measured rhythm to her voice that made
     me automatically think of bedtime stories. She was easily my favorite teacher. Hell,she was easily
everyone’s
favorite teacher. “Come with me. I’ve got a new student for you.”
    She turned and headed down the short hallway to her office, her shirt and skirt billowing out behind her, and I followed.
    “He’s transferred over from Pine Gate,” she said over her shoulder. “Just needs to do some catching up so he can hit the ground
     running in senior English. I thought you’d be the best choice for him, being our expert writer and all.” She flashed me a
     smile as she paused at her office doorway, then stood to the side and ushered me through.
    “Oh,” I said. I didn’t even know we had a new student from Pine Gate. But then I stepped into the office and there he was,
     standing next to Mrs. Moody’s file cabinet, holding a little ceramic duck. He saw us come in and quickly set the duck back
     down on top of the cabinet, as if he was embarrassed to be caught holding it. “Hey,” he said.
    “Hey.” There was an awkward pause between us while Mrs. Moody grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door shut. “I guess I’m
     your new tutor.”
    “Totally unnecessary,” he said. “But Coach Dample disagrees, so…” He shrugged and then added, “Cole,” and he stuck out his
     hand to shake mine. When I put my hand in his, it felt warm and strong and comfortable. And kind of weird. Like we were business
     partners or something.
    Mrs. Moody took a seat behind her desk, and we both fell into place in chairs across from her. I sat on my hands, while Cole
     lounged comfortably in the chair next to mine,one foot tilted sideways and propped up on top of the other, his legs stretched out in front of him.
    “Um, what about Zack?” I asked. “He really needs help with his sentence diagramming.”
Plus
, I didn’t add,
we were having fun in there
.
    Mrs. Moody spoke up. “I’ve moved Zack over to Amanda for tutoring from here on out. She can handle sentence diagramming just
     fine. Cole, I’m sure you’ll find Alex to be just what you need to get caught up and secure that spot you’re looking for on
     the basketball team.” She glanced at her watch. “We’ve got a few minutes before the final bell. Why don’t you two go to the
     lab and get acquainted? You can start working on assignments tomorrow.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Cole said with a pleasant grin. He had a dimple, just one, on the left side. But the dimple was kind of cute.
     I didn’t even notice I was staring.
    “Do you have questions, Alex?” Mrs. Moody said, snapping me out of it. I jumped.
    “Uh, no. I’ll tell Zack to go with Amanda.”
    But Zack had already moved to Amanda’s room when I got back to the lab, leaving my room completely empty for me and Cole.
    I sat in the chair I’d been sitting in before, but Cole moved to the window and looked out, his hands on the sill in front
     of him. I gazed at the back of his letter jacket, which was so full of patches there was hardly any jacket showing.
    “Wow,” I said finally. “Pine Gate must really be missing you.”
    He turned. “Why do you say that?”
    I pointed at his jacket. “Looks like you’re a sports star.”
    He glanced down at the front of his jacket, where there were even more patches and a few medals. “Yeah. I did okay. I thought
     maybe you meant they were missing my sparkling personality and unforgettable good looks.”
    I blushed, hard, and looked down at my hands. “No, I didn’t mean…” I said, mentally kicking myself for