Shucked Read Free Page B

Yes, maybe I sounded a tad like Becky. But
hey, how often did I get to discuss my martial arts experience with a fellow fitness
enthusiast? Mrs. Jordan didn’t have an ounce of fat on her. Obviously she would
understand the amazing things the human body can accomplish when pushed.
    “Perfect,” she said. “Then it’s
decided.” A smile spread across Mrs. Jordan’s face. It echoed on mine. Not only
was I being invited to join their martial arts team, but I bet she was about to
make me captain.
    “I’m honored,” I said.
    “Wonderful!” Mrs. Jordan clapped me
on the back. “You’ll be a great addition to our cheerleading squad.”
    How many circles of hell did Dante
discover?
     

Chapter Four
     
    In a stupor, I walked through the
halls to math class. Cheerleader? Me? I wanted to die, but the school was only
one story. Not enough to jump off and splatter my brains on the asphalt. I
didn’t see any sharp objects either. Why did I leave my ninja stars at home?
    And now I had to face math too? I
prayed for a tornado or anything to whisk me away from this school. Instead, a
boy stood in the doorway, blocking my entry to the classroom.
    His back to me, all I could see was
his stringy blond hair. I had the strangest urge to run my fingers through it -
fingers covered with shampoo, that is. I shuddered at the grossness of it.
What? Did he just get off the tractor before heading into school?
    “Excuse me.” I nudged him with my
knee as I ducked under the outstretched arm of the boy next to him. The other boy
moved, maybe about a centimeter, as he turned his head to look down at me. Then
I was struck.
    Oh, Aphrodite, his eyes alone forced
my stomach to plummet down to my toes. Gorgeous, dark brown Asian eyes. Who was
this boy and what planet did he come from? He looked unlike every other midwestern
homegrown pod person in this high school. My jaw dropped. My brain scrambled.
    “ Annyong
hashimnikka .” I wanted to hit myself on the head with a blunt object.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, speaking Korean instead of English.
    “Huh?” he asked, a smile spread across
his face. Dimples, there were dimples. “Did you just tell me good afternoon in
Korean?”
    I nodded.
    “That’s cool.” He reached down and
put his arm around my shoulder. “How’d you know I’m Korean?”
    “I lived there for a year,” I
stammered, struck by his eyes.
    “My parents taught me a little here
and there when I was growing up. Too bad there isn’t an opportunity for me to
learn more with the Korean adoption groups in Chicago. There isn’t enough free
time on the farm for that.”
    My knees quivered as he led me over
to an empty desk. What was wrong with me? Did my exile to cheerleading turn me
into a weak-kneed teenage girl? I dropped my math book on the desk and gazed up
at him.
    “Long day?” he asked. “You look a
little glassy eyed.”
    Buddha give me strength. It was
obvious. He knew.
    “Leave her alone, Alex.” Becky elbowed
her way between us. His arm slipped off my shoulders, leaving my skin hot and
tingly. I wasn’t feeling well all of a sudden.
    Maybe my vomiting fears were about to
come true.
    Alex turned around and skulked to the
back row. He struck up a conversation with a geek next to him. A girl geek. Jealousy
gnawed at my gut. I might need to kill Becky for sending him away.
    “Sorry about Alex,” Becky said,
rolling her eyes. “He’s such a player.”
    “You think he’s a player?” I asked.
“Really?”
    “He’s dated almost every girl in
school.” Becky drew quotes in the air when she said dated.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I
asked, eyeing him again. He leaned over closer to the geeky girl and twirled a
bit of her hair around his index finger. She giggled. I reached to my belt for
a sword before I realized I wasn’t in taekwondo and that I wasn’t allowed to
hurt unarmed geeks.
    “He’s a serial dater. He’s different.
He’s hot. He knows it. Everyone has fallen for him at one time or