Switched Read Free Page A

would go, oh boy, you got me there. “You make a point of trying to stand out, to be different than everyone else.”

    “Nope, I don’t,” I shook my head. “I just am different. I don’t try. It’s just the way it is. And it doesn’t really bother me.”

    “It doesn’t?” She raised any eyebrow. “Is that why you’ve gotten suspended from every school you’ve gone to for having altercations with fellow students?”

    “ They don’t like me. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna put up with their attitude,” I shrugged.

    As soon as I said it, I knew I sounded like a paranoid psycho who thought everyone was out to get me, but I didn’t bother to correct it. Nobody was out to get me. Well, maybe that bitch Tegan would revel in something bad happening to me, but there wasn’t a conspiracy ruining my life. I just didn’t put 12

    up with people, and that’s why I’d gotten kicked out of every private school on the East coast.

    “We have a really diversified student body here, and I think it would be really good for you to try and make the best of it.” She was practically reciting the same speech she’d given me the first time we met, but I just nodded like it was new information. “And even if you can’t get along with your classmates, you can at least focus on your studies. If you played your cards right, you could be graduating in six months, and I know how much you want out of here.” She was playing to my weakness, and that was pretty smart of her, so I nodded more seriously.

    “Okay. I will. I’ll at least try to stay awake in class,” I amended with a smile.

    Finally, she let me go. I scooped up my bag, slipped on my shoes, and dashed out into the hall.

    When the final bell finally rang at three o’clock, I was always the first one out I pushed through the doors going outside, I heard someone calling my name, but I didn’t look back. Against my better judgment, I decided to slow down, though, and Patrick quickly jogged up to me.

    “Hey, Wendy!” Patrick gave me his goofy grin as he matched my pace.
    He was about a foot taller than me with thick, auburn hair that he was always pushing out of his face. While he wasn’t unattractive exactly, there was something too clumsy about him to be sexy. For some reason, he seemed to fancy us as friends, and he was harmless enough, so I decided to try it out.

    “Hey.” I readjusted the straps on my bag and looked up at him as he brushed his heavy bangs from his eyes.

    “I heard you got sent to the principal’s office,” Patrick sounded apologetic.

    “Word travels fast,” I grumbled.

    We had reached the parking lot at the end of the lawn, so I stopped. I hadn’t looked around, but I knew that Matt was waiting somewhere nearby to 13

    pick me up. It would’ve been an honest enough excuse that I had to meet him, but I decided to try and finish the conversation with Patrick.

    “Tegan has a huge mouth,” Patrick agreed with a knowing smile.

    “That she does.” A rebellious curl had escaped from the messy bun I had my hair in, and I tucked it behind my ears. “It was no big deal really. I just fell asleep in Meade’s class.”

    “That guy is a douche,” Patrick said.

    “Yeah, he kind of is.” I glanced around, just meaning to see if I could see Matt, but I got distracted before I could give it a serious look.

    Even though it was pushing seventy degrees, Finn Holmes had on a fitted leather jacket, that looked better on him than I was willing to admit. He was sitting on the hood of his silver Cadillac, shimmering too brightly in a parking lot full of beat up second-hand cars. When he pushed his dark hair back, he looked like he was trying to channel James Dean. That would’ve been all well and good if he wasn’t looking at me again. There was something unnerving about the way his dark eyes settled on me, and I decided that Patrick and I had chatted enough.

    “But I gotta get going,” I cut Patrick off in mid-sentence. He’d been