Shadow Keeper Read Free Page B

dark blonde eyebrows were undefined. Her clear skin glowed, and her lips glistened in a natural rosy shade. She seemed really shy. This might be the only time I’d be this close to her, so I made my move. “You must be new here.”
    She shot me a quick look before glancing away, but her gaze returned, and she stared into my eyes.
    I flashed my best smile. The corners of her mouth twitched, but she glanced down and her hair fell across her face. I couldn’t tell if she finished her smile, so I searched for something to say to make her look at me again, but my mind went blank.
    Sherry came to the rescue. She thrust out her hand and introduced herself.
    The new girl shook Sherry’s hand. “My name is Lisa Stratton.”
    Lisa . I burned the name into my skull.
    “These are my friends.” Sherry motioned with a flick of her hand as she introduced each of us.
    When Sherry got to my name, Lisa looked directly at me and smiled. “You have really nice eyes.”
    I stumbled for something clever to say, but her compliment threw me completely off guard, and I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. “My little brother thinks my eyes are weird.”
    She shook her head as if disagreeing. Her gaze drifted, and she stared at the school entrance. Her body shifted like she intended to bolt for the front doors.
    “Do you know where your first class is?” Sherry asked.
    Lisa wrinkled her forehead, then thrust her hand into the backpack and pulled out a white sheet of paper.
    Sherry craned her neck to look at the schedule. “Oh good, we have first period together. I’ll walk there with you and show you where it’s at. And you’re in my history class and gym.” Her finger slid to a spot halfway down the page. “You have Advanced Spanish right after lunch. Brendon’s in that class.” Sherry glanced at me, a sly smile on her lips. “I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to walk you to the last class so you don’t get lost.”
    “Absolutely.” I fought the huge grin tugging at my lips. “It’ll be my pleasure.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Calculus class ended and I dashed down the hallway to the lockers to stash the books and snag my lunch. I was about to head outside when I spotted Carson dragging his feet down the hallway.
    “Move it, Carson. It’s lunchtime.”
    “What’s the hurry, X–man?” He dialed the combination on the padlock and opened his locker. “Are you that starved?”
    “We’re meeting Paul and Sherry at the Burger Barn.” I grabbed the books from his hand and threw them inside the locker. “I don’t want to be late.”
    “I’m in no hurry to listen to them fight.”
    “Neither am I, but Sherry is bringing Lisa.”
    “Who’s Lisa?” His face scrunched up.
    “Don’t you remember meeting the new girl this morning?” I slammed the locker shut and spun the dial on the combination.
    “Oh, yeah.” His eyes lit up. “The orange Hummer.”
    “Yeah.” I shoved my forearm against his shoulder and nudged him to the exit.
    “Say, do you think you can talk her into giving us a ride in the Hummer?”
    “I don’t know.” I led the way out the door and cut across the grass. “Taking a ride in her car is the last thing on my mind right now.”
    “You like her.” Carson started with his donkey laugh. “That’s why you’re in such a hurry.”
    “Yes, I do. So don’t mess this up for me. All right?”
    “Don’t worry, man. I got your back.”
    The Burger Barn sat kitty-cornered to the school grounds. As we crossed Yolo Street, I spotted Paul sitting outside at one of the wooden picnic tables. Sherry and Lisa sat across from him. I quickly formulated a plan. “Okay, Carson, you have to sit by Paul so it won’t look too obvious when I sit next to Lisa.”
    “I don’t want to sit by Paul. He’s a butthead.”
    “No, he’s not.”
    “Man, he’s cheating on Sherry.”
    My anxiety level cranked up a notch. “That’s between Paul and Sherry. I think she already