Rotten Apple Read Free Page B

answered nervously.
    Apple found it hard to speak in full sentences to this new Zen. Not that she had ever had an easy time talking to the old Zen, before he became Hot Zen.
    Apple could not get over how much he had changed.
    She forced herself to turn her eyes away from his face, and stared at the ground, with the same concentration she usually saved for exams or watching
Minors in Malibu
. God forbid Zen could read in her eyes that her Zen crush had, in the last few seconds, just turned into a super-sized Zen Crush. Apple had always thought Zen was sweet-looking and cute. But now? She had to get a grip!
    “What are you doing here?” Apple asked, finally. Market Mall was a fun place to hang out with friends at night, but not necessarily on a Sunday afternoon, unless you had an appointment at Gossip.
    “I’m just waiting for my mother. She’s grabbing some vitamin E oil or something,” he said, nodding toward Health Nut.
    “Oh,” Apple responded.
    “Yup,” Zen said.
    “Well, I guess I better go. I’m late,” Apple told him. “You know, to meet Brooklyn and Happy. I’m late. We’re meeting at Gossip.”
    Okay, Apple thought, how pathetic am I? I’ve used the words “late” and “healthy” way too many times in the last three minutes. Zen will for sure think I’m a nutbar. How could he not?
    “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school then. I’m dreading going back,” Zen told her. “Being home schooled in Australia was so laid back. There wasn’t anyschedule—I just had to get my work done and send it in. I’m dreading having to go back to a regular schedule.”
    “Yeah, me too,” Apple answered, thinking, I’m so
not
dreading going back—especially now that you look the way you do. This was going to make school so much more interesting.
    “Well, it was nice to see you,” Zen said, “even if you totally didn’t know who I was.” Zen laughed.
    “I knew! I knew! My mind was just somewhere else,” Apple said. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
    Apple turned her back to Zen and headed down the sidewalk toward Gossip, fighting the urge to start running.
    I’m an idiot, Apple thought. I’m a stuttering idiot, with a mono-brow. I’m a stuttering mono-browed idiot.
    “Hey, Apple! Wait up a sec!” Apple heard Zen call out. He ran and caught up to her, two storefronts away from Gossip.
    Please do not notice my mono-brow, Apple thought, turning around to face her super-sized Zen Crush once again. Was it possible Zen wanted to talk to her longer? Or to ask her something important, like if she wanted to hook up sometime?
    “Yeah?” she asked. She could literally hear the gulp in her throat as she swallowed, and wondered if Zen could hear it too.
    “You forgot this. It’s not exactly what I’m into—I have no use for it,” Zen said, holding his arm out toward her, smiling broadly. Oh, that dimple!
    Apple swore that she could actually feel her heart melting.
    “Oh. Thanks very much,” she said, taking the
Teen Vogue
from Zen’s outreached hand, all the while wishing the ground would open and swallow her up.
    “I’m late,” she said again, and raced off past the last couple of doors to Gossip. Why was it always so hard to breathe when Zen was around?

here you are!” screeched Happy the moment Apple raced into Gossip Spa. Happy had been standing near the tower of nail polishes by the nail bar just inside the door. “Where have you been? You’re, like, a month late! I tried calling you, but you didn’t pick up. We had to move our appointments back half an hour! Now come here and give me a hug.”
    “Me too! I want a hug too!” said Brooklyn. “We missed you!”
    “I missed you more than Brooklyn did,” Happy said.
    “Did not,” Brooklyn said.
    “Did too!”
    Happy and Brooklyn embraced Apple into a bear hug, and Apple instantly felt better about life. She inhaled the scent of Happy’s long, straight blond hair, which smelled like peach. Hugging Happy was like coming