Shadow Keeper Read Free Page A

“No wonder you took her straight home,” he said between gulps of laughter. “No telling what name Regina would’ve come up with if you weren’t any good in the sack.”
    “Shut up, Carson.” Paul took a step closer. “Nobody wants to hear about Regina or her stupid nicknames.”
    Carson continued to laugh. “I know you don’t want to hear it—Minute Man.”
    Paul shuffled his feet around on the sidewalk, and his hands tightened into fists.
    “Stop it.” Sherry grabbed his wrist. “You’ll both get kicked out of school.”
    Unsure if Paul intended to throw a punch, I stepped between them. I dug my elbows into each chest and shoved them apart. “Let’s forget about it. Who cares about any stupid nicknames?”
    “She calls you Hairless ,” Paul shouted around me to Carson.
    “So?” Carson puffed out his chest, and his arms came up like he was going for a tackle. “That’s because I had to shave all my body hair to show my muscles for the junior body building championship at the county fair.”
    “That was two months ago, but you still shave your body.” Paul’s tone changed to disgust. “That’s just weird.”
    “Oh, yeah?” Carson said. “Well, I can always let my hair grow back, but you’re going to have to—” The ringing school bell drowned out the rest of his words.
    “Let’s get to class.” I grabbed at Carson’s shoulder and pushed him toward the entrance, but he shrugged off my grip and turned back.
    “Wow.” His tongue almost fell out of his mouth. “Get a load of that machine.”
    We all glanced at the vehicle pulling up to the curb about thirty feet from where we stood.
    “That’s a Hummer H3,” Carson said.
    “It looks brand new.” Paul put his hand to his forehead to shade his eyes. “And check out that burnt orange color. That is so tight.”
    “That’s called Solar Flare,” Carson corrected. “The car is last year’s Luxury model, but it looks cherry.”
    I nodded in agreement. If the school gave grades for the knowledge of automobiles, Carson would get an A.
    “Do any of you know who the driver is?” Sherry asked.
    The glare of the sun on the tinted windows made it impossible to see inside. I glanced at the others, but they all shook their head.
    “I don’t know who it belongs to,” Carson said, “but that is one sweet ride.”
    The passenger door swung open. From my angle, all I made out was the sandal clad foot of a female stepping onto the curb. A well toned, bare calf appeared at the bottom edge of the door. As she stepped away from the car, my eyes scanned up the denim skirt that began at her knees and skimmed up her slim thighs and nicely shaped bottom. “Sweet is right,” I agreed.
    “Damn,” Carson said. “I’d love to take that for a test drive.”
    “Same here, but you’ll have to get in line behind me.”
    “Brendon!” Sherry gave me a shocked look, but she quickly broke into giggles. “You’d better behave yourself.”
    “What?” I raised my eyebrows and tried to press an innocent expression on my face. “I was talking about the car.”
    “Sure you were.”
    I glanced back at the girl. Her one hand gripped the open door. Her other held a backpack. She wore a blue tee shirt over a pink one. I never understood why girls wore two shirts. If they’re cold, why don’t they put on a jacket?
    “I’ll be fine, Mom,” the girl said to the driver. “I’ll wait right here for you to pick me up.”
    She stepped back and shut the door. When she turned around, her head was down. Her long, blonde hair hung loose and I couldn’t see her face. Just as she reached the ramp that led to the entrance of the school, she glanced at the four of us standing there. Her gaze darted to the sidewalk. She threaded her fingers through her hair, drawing it back across her face.
    One glance was all I needed to catch the sparkle in her blue eyes. She didn’t wear any makeup—not that I noticed. Her eyelashes weren’t smeared with black goop, and her