Girl Against the Universe Read Free Page B

chapter, he’s back, a cup of ice cream in each hand. “I got you vanilla,” he says. “You seem like a girl who plays it safe.” He sits down in the chair next to me again.
    â€œYou got that right,” I say. “And playing it safe does not involve being accosted by random strangers.”
    â€œI’m not random. I’m the guy after you at Daniel’s office.”
    I arch an eyebrow. “You call Dr. Leed Daniel?”
    He mimics my eyebrow and scornful tone. “You call Daniel Dr. Leed?”
    â€œI don’t really call him anything. I try not to talk much,” I admit.
    â€œOh, so you’re one of those. Perfect. You don’t have to talk much to me either.” He thrusts the ice cream in my direction. “Here. Take this in exchange for putting up with me for a few minutes.”
    â€œWhat is your deal?” I take the paper cup he’s offering. The ice cream is starting to melt. “I thought you knew when to quit.”
    His cheeks go pink—I’ve touched a nerve. “Sorry. It’s just, you seem normal, and I need to hang out with someone who doesn’t know who I am.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œFor my homework.” He pauses. “You know—the shrink homework.” Without waiting for me to respond he says, “Are your sessions different? Do you not get homework?”
    â€œNone so far.” Is this what I have to look forward to? Shrink homework? On top of the school homework I’ll have soon?
    The boy taps one foot against the tile floor. “Mine go like this: Small talk. Then I discuss how I’m doing with my goals. Then I think up more homework assignments while Daniel flips through the latest issue of Guitar Player . Basically he makes me do all the shrink work and the client work.Pretty clever on his part.”
    â€œ Guitar Player —I knew it!” I say. “What is he? Full-time psychologist, part-time rock star?”
    â€œNo idea,” the boy says. “But I’m supposed to find someone who doesn’t know me and hang out with them, and since most people know me, I had to seize this opportunity.”
    â€œWho are you?” I take a small bite of ice cream, doing another five-second check as it melts on my tongue.
    He shakes his head. “Nope. That’ll wreck things.”
    â€œThis is really good.” I take another bite. “Are you, like, famous . . . or infamous?”
    The boy grins. “I would say neither, but certain people would disagree.”
    â€œBoy band singer?” I ask. “Reality TV show contestant?”
    He shakes his head.
    â€œFailed child actor? College basketball star?”
    â€œHa. You’re getting warmer.”
    â€œI give up. You’re not even going to tell me your name?”
    â€œI’d prefer not to.”
    I shrug. “Works for me.”
    And so the two of us sit there for a few minutes, eating our ice cream and making vague noises of approval. The boy slides my book out of my hand. He flips it over and makes a face. “A book about a boy with mad cow disease? Sounds uplifting.”
    â€œYou’d be surprised.” I peek over at his cup. “You got yourself vanilla too?”
    He nods. “I’m more of a mint chip guy, but it’s good to do something different now and then.”
    I think about that for a second. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
    The boy gives me another smile and the temperature in the room goes up a couple of degrees. “Do you want to see where I was going to take you?” he asks. “You totally missed out.”
    â€œOh yeah?” I finish the ice cream and set my empty cup on the table between us.
    He pulls out his phone and swipes at the screen. A folder of images pops up. “Yeah. My friend showed me this place up the coast that you can only get to when the tide is low, this little rock island. Dolphins hang out there a lot.” He hands the phone