The Evil Lives! Read Free Page B

Victoria grinned. Janine rolled her eyes. This is so embarrassing, Amanda thought. Why does Dustin have to act like he owns me?
    â€œWell, it doesn’t matter now, right?” Dustin murmured, his lips against her ear. “I found you.”
    Janine cleared her throat loudly. “Guess what, Dustin? There are two other people at the table.”
    Amanda shrugged Dustin’s arm off and straightened up. “How did the rest of practice go?” she asked.
    â€œGreat. The basketball part, anyway,” Dustin replied.He grabbed a fry from Victoria’s plate and chomped it down. “But you should have stayed. You missed the fireworks afterward.”
    Victoria propped her elbows on the table. “What happened?” she asked eagerly.
    Dustin gave a snort of disgust. “Luke and Brandon got into it again. What else?”
    Janine frowned. “You mean another fight?”
    Dustin nodded. “They both want to start against Lincoln Friday night. The whole thing has turned into a major battle.”
    â€œWho started it this time?” Amanda asked.
    â€œHard to tell. Brandon laughed because Luke missed a free throw. According to Brandon, he was laughing at something else.” Dustin shrugged. “Anyway, as soon as practice was over, they started pushing each other around. Then Luke threw a punch. He missed, but Brandon punched back. And Luke wound up with a bloody nose.”
    Janine gasped. “What happened then?”
    â€œLuke went nuts. He plowed into Brandon and tackled him to the floor,” Dustin continued. “It was a real mess—blood all over the place. And then Natalie got into it again.”
    â€œWhoa.” Victoria sighed. “Natalie to the rescue.”
    â€œYeah, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Coach Davis finally came out of his office and broke it up.”
    Dustin grabbed another fry and slid out of the booth. “Come on,” he said to Amanda. “I’ll give you a ride home.”
    â€œI have my own car.” Amanda started to tell him good-bye, then changed her mind. “But I’ll walk youto yours,” she added. Now is as good a time as any to break up with him, she thought. Get it over with, and you’ll feel a lot happier.
    Amanda stood up, fished the money for her Coke out of her bag, and said good-bye to her friends.
    Outside, Dustin draped an arm across her shoulders. “Want to walk around a little?”
    â€œSure.” It’ll give me time to figure out exactly what to say, Amanda thought.
    It had snowed a few days before. Today had been sunny, warm enough to turn the frozen ground to slush. But as Amanda tried to think of a good way to break up with Dustin, she shivered.
    Dustin immediately tightened his arm around her. “What’s wrong? It’s not very cold.”
    â€œI know.” Amanda sighed, feeling uncomfortable.
    They walked past Dustin’s car, to the end of the block. As they stopped at the corner, Dustin turned Amanda toward him and kissed her.
    Amanda pulled away.
    â€œWhat’s the matter with you?” he demanded, gripping her shoulders. “You’re acting weird. And you’re so quiet.”
    â€œI’m just . . . thinking,” Amanda replied.
    â€œAbout what?” Dustin gazed at her and suddenly frowned. “What were you and Judd talking about at practice, anyway?”
    â€œNothing. Just stuff.” Amanda took a deep breath. “But Dustin, I think you and I should just be friends.”
    Oh great, she told herself. Just blurt it right out, why don’t you? “I mean, I think we should go out with other people.”
    Dustin dropped his hands and stared at her.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Amanda told him. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
    Dustin kept staring at her, his eyes totally blank. No expression on his face. No reaction at all.
    Like he’s made of stone, Amanda thought with a