Pieces of Me Read Free Page B

widely.
              “It's very nice to meet you both,” Holden says with a wink before walking away with Beck.
              “Okay, first, whoa. Schmexy, schmexy men. Second, explain that. Do you guys know each other?” she asks, a perplexed expression on her face. “I feel like I'm missing something here.”
              “No. I mean, I sorta ran into him last night at the park but I don't know him-know him,” I explain lamely.
              “I wondered. He kept looking at you during the tour.”
              “I seriously doubt that. I think he's just making eye-contact with everyone. Maybe he's a political science major.”
              “Fine, deny it all you want but I have eyes you know.” She smiles coyly like she knows something I don't know. “So what brought you out here?”
              I sigh, so much for blending in. Olivia apparently wasn’t going to ignore me like I wanted.
              “Escaping,” I answer truthfully, but she just laughs.  She seems like the kind of person to do that a lot and I think that it must be nice to have something to laugh about. I wonder if it's actually possible to forget how to be happy. It's been so long since I've felt like smiling that it wouldn't surprise me if I have forgotten.
              “What are you going to major in?” It’s a perfectly simple question, but suddenly I’m not sure why she's even talking to me I look around the room at all the other people who are smiling and laughing and talking like normal people do and here I am sitting alone, sullen and staring dejectedly out the window. Obviously I just want to be left alone.
              “Not sure yet.”
              “Me neither.” She takes a long sip of her water. She sticks her fork in her salad, but scrunches up her nose before she puts the bite in her mouth. “Wilted,” she complains.
              I am so out of practice with this whole conversing thing that I just sit stiffly, biting my lip, playing with my own crappy cafeteria food. 
              “I can't stomach any more of this mess. I'm done. You coming?” she asks.
              “Um...” I rack my brain for some excuse. “I'm not finished yet.”
              “Suit yourself. I'm going to go find Beck.” She smiles. “See you later, Aria.”
              She glides away so gracefully I am almost surprised when she doesn’t begin to pirouette through the cafeteria.
              I get out my notebook and pretend to be engrossed in the blank pages in hopes that no one else will bother me.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
     
    The beginning of a new school year used to be my favorite time of year. I would get so excited about school supplies that I would buy everything I needed as soon as Wal-Mart had them on their shelves.
              There's just something about the smell of new notebooks and unsharpened pencils that feels like fall even before the cool crisp air of my favorite season makes an appearance and the leaves begin changing into their glorious shades of red, orange, and yellow.
              This year, I couldn't muster up a single ounce of the excitement I used to feel. In fact, the only thing I feel is the urge to vomit.
              I recheck my backpack for probably the twentieth time this morning, just to make sure that I have everything I  need for the entire day so I don’t have to leave campus.  My bag is heavy with all the books required for my very full class schedule. 
              My only goal in life now is to stay as insanely busy as I can possibly manage. If there's one thing I've learned from the last two weeks it’s that I don't do well with downtime.