Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Read Free Book Online

“Where are you from , anyway?” But I know what she’s really asking. She wants to know why they picked someone like me to take his place.
    “Atlanta.”
    “Oh,” she says. As if that explains my complete and utter hick-ness. Screw her. It’s one of the largest cities in America.
    “So you and St. Clair seemed pretty friendly at breakfast.”
    “Um.” Is she threatened by me?
    “I wouldn’t get any ideas if I were you,” she continues. “Not even you’re pretty enough to steal him from his girlfriend.They’ve been together forever .”
    Was that a compliment? Or not? Her emphasizing thing is really getting on my nerves. (My nerves .)
    Amanda gives a fake, bored yawn. “Interesting hair .”
    I touch it self-consciously. “Thanks. My friend bleached it.” Bridge added the thick band to my dark brown hair just last week. Normally, I keep the stripe tucked behind my right ear, but tonight it’s back in a ponytail.
    “Do you like it?” she asks. Universal bitch-speak for I think it’s hideous.
    I drop my hand. “Yeah. That’s why I did it.”
    “You know, I wouldn’t pull it back like that.You kinda look like a skunk .”
    “At least she doesn’t reek like one.” Rashmi appears behind me. She’d been visiting Meredith; I’d heard their muffled voices through my walls. “Delightful perfume, Amanda. Use a little more next time. I don’t know if they can smell you in London.”
    Amanda snarls. “Nice glasses .”
    “Good one,” Rashmi deadpans, but I notice she adjusts them anyway. Her nails are electric blue, the same shade as her frames. She turns to me. “I live two floors up, room six-o-one, if you need anything. See you at breakfast.”
    So she doesn’t dislike me! Or maybe she just hates Amanda more. Either way, I’m thankful, and I call goodbye to her retreating figure. She waves a hand and moves into the stairwell as Nate comes out of it. He approaches us in his quiet, friendly manner.
    “Going to bed soon, ladies?”
    Amanda smiles sweetly. “Of course.”
    “Great. Did you have a nice first day, Anna?”
    It’s so peculiar how everyone here already knows my name. “Yeah. Thanks, Nate.”
    He nods as if I’ve said something worth thinking about, and then says good night and moves on to the guys hanging out at the other end of the hallway.
    “I hate it when he does that,” Amanda says.
    “Does what?”
    “Check up on us. What an asshole .” The bathroom door opens, and a tiny redhead maneuvers around Amanda, who just stands there like she’s Queen of the Threshold. The girl must be a junior. I don’t recognize her from the circle of desks in senior English. “God, did you fall in?” Amanda asks. The girl’s pale skin turns pink.
    “She was just using the restroom,” I say.
    Amanda sashays onto the tile, her fuzzy purple slippers slapping against her heels. She yanks the door shut. “Does it look like I care? Skunk Girl? ”

chapter six
    One week into school, and I’m knee-deep in Fancy International Education.
    Professeur Cole’s syllabus is free of the usual Shakespeare and Steinbeck, and instead, we’re focusing on translated works. Every morning she hosts the discussion of Like Water for Chocolate as if we were a book club and not some boring, required class.
    So English is excellent.
    On the other hand, my French teacher is clearly illiterate. How else to explain the fact that despite the name of our textbook— Level One French —Professeur Gillet insists on speaking in French only? She also calls on me a dozen times a day. I never know the answer.
    Dave calls her Madame Guillotine. This is also excellent.
    He’s taken the class before, which is helpful but obviously not really helpful, as he failed it the first go-round. Dave has shaggy hair and pouty lips, and the peculiar combination of tan skin and freckles. Several girls have a crush on him. He’s also in my history class. I’m with the juniors, because the seniors take government, and I’ve