Breathless Read Free Page B

about to begin, I felt a cool breeze blow through the room. Before I could grab my sweater, I saw him standing in the corner. My heart paused, and I couldn’t take my eyes away.
     
    “ Look,” Chloe whispered, nodding in his direction. “He’s here. How do I look?”
     
    “ Why does it matter? You have Elliot,” Stella exclaimed. “He seems to think you look just fine.”
     
    I laughed along with Britney and Lainie. They, too, had delicious boyfriends that most girls would be thrilled to even get a glance from. That didn’t mean they couldn’t comment on the new guy, they just had to decide if a shot at him was worth giving up what they had.
     
    “ I’m going to talk to him,” Stella said confidently. Before we knew it, she was gone. As she scurried across the room, she looked back once with a teasing smile. We were in awe. Stella was beautiful and single. I was sure he would bite. Few guys could resist her long blond hair and big blue eyes. Until now, no one at Evergreen High had been good enough for her. We were in shock when we realized someone had finally struck her fancy.
     
    We were even more shocked when he didn’t even to turn talk to her. In fact, as she drew near, he turned and walked swiftly out of the room. Suddenly, the room got warm, and I had to take off my sweater to cool down. Stella looked awestruck. Never had a boy blown past her without so much as a mild stare. We tried not to laugh, but it was hard. I couldn’t wait to tell Addie.
     
    We took turns passing the scalpel around our little group, slicing pieces of the mushroom away and identifying its tiny parts. My mind was on other things when Lainie passed the knife my way, and my index finger took another gash in the exact same place as the night before. I winced at the pain, and as the blood started to flow, I heard a low gasp. I looked to see who made the shallow sound, but no one was nearby. Lainie was on the verge of crying, and Britney was screaming for the teacher. Panic ensued until I was able to convince the class that I was fine. Max ran to the nurse’s office and grabbed a large bandage. Once I was wrapped up tight, everyone relaxed and went back to work. Still, I couldn’t help but think something just wasn’t right. I felt fine, but there was something strange about this wound and the sound that I kept hearing in my head each time the blood began to flow.
     
    When the bell rang signaling lunch, I dashed out of the room. I couldn’t wait to see Addie, and I ran to the cafeteria without stopping at my locker to grab my bagged lunch. Over the next twenty minutes, I told her everything, but she didn’t seem surprised.
     
    “ I’m telling you, he only has eyes for you,” she said smugly. A teasing grin crossed her lips, and I knew she wasn’t going to let this go.
     
     
     

Chapter 4 - A New Day
     
    The next four days passed in much the same fashion. The school was abuzz with theories and stories about him , but no one seemed to know the truth. Of course, he was there every day now. He hovered in the background, only lingering as long as he had to in each class. He was never seen at lunchtime, and he seemed invisible between classes. He was a true enigma. I’d never paid much attention to the boys at my school, but I had to admit that it was hard to keep him out of my head.
     
    On the upside, I was sleeping great. Though I couldn’t keep the chilly draft from breezing through my room at night, I managed to drift quickly into a sound state. I stayed there for hours, until the sun crept through the cracks in my blinds. Despite the voice in the back of my head telling me that I should dress to impress, I awoke from my dreamless slumber far too late to beautify. I bounded out the door each day just in time to ensure Addie and I would make it to school before the first bell rang. Still, the look of disgust on her face never eased as she realized I was wearing sweats, torn jeans, and wrinkled shirts.
     
    “ Can’t