Unfaded by Sarah Ripley Read Free Book Online

passages that the class hasn’t even read yet. I’ve had the honour of meeting Ms. Gray. She said you’re just finishing up with the prologue and you’ve got parts bookmarked way beyond that. Plus, you recognized my quote. Most girls your age would have just smiled and tried not to look confused. They probably think the Knight’s Tale is that movie with Heath Ledger.”
                  I gave him the best, most deliberate smile I could. “Maybe this is a used book. It could be someone else’s markings.”
                  He reached over and picked up my pen. “Yes, but how many students use green ink?”
                  “OK, you’ve got me, I’m a book geek,” I said. “You’re quite the detective.”
                  “No,” he said. “I just notice things.”
                  The bell rang and Ms. Gray entered the room, her arms full of books. No one read as much as her. I knew this because she lived down the street from me and she spent her summers on her front porch with a different book each day. It was one of the things that made her my favourite teacher. She was probably the only one at the school who truly loved the subject she taught.
                  But today she decided we needed to spend the first part of the class watching the movie version of the book. The class applauded. Anything to get out of reading. Someone immediately turned down the lights and the BBC modern version came on.
                  “So how come you didn’t tell me yesterday that you’d be starting school here?” I whispered. “I got the impression that you were just passing through.”
                  “We decided to stick around,” he said.
                  “If you’re going to spend the semester at Thelma’s motel, ask her to show you their book collection,” I said. “They have just about every single book written. Some of them are first editions too. Really rare stuff. They’ve got more than the public library.”
                  “Really?” he said. “You sound like you know a lot about it.”
                  “Thelma’s like family,” I said. “I spend a lot of time at her place. Book geek, remember?”
                  “I guess we made a good choice then,” he said. “Dad and I have struck a deal with her. We’re renting on a month to month basis. Hopefully this way I’ll get to see more of you.”
                  I had to turn away and go back to rummaging through my backpack. I didn’t want anyone to see the blush that I knew for certain was betraying my cheeks. Of course the room was dark but I knew that Breanna had eyes like an eagle. Sure enough, when I finally looked up, I noticed she was watching me instead of the movie. The look on her face said she had just witnessed something juicy and couldn’t wait to go share it with the rest of the school.
                  I spent the rest of the movie with my face staring straight at the screen. I didn’t dare glance beside me.
                  I loved Connor. I really did. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was hurt him. But if Breanna got her way, that just might happen.
     
                                                            *              *              *
     
                  I pulled into the shop parking lot a little after four. Dad was out the door before I’d even managed to turn off my car.
                  “What is this about some sort of fainting spell last night?”
                  “Hi Dad,” I said. “It was nothing. I’m fine.” Well, fine enough, aside from feeling like a broken record. I gave him the short version of what happened while we headed back inside the shop, keeping out the part about the weird vision of course. No