Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles Read Free Book Online

two cents. Not because they asked for it, but because they need it.
    “Beware of guys who look like Luis,” I say. “Guys like that will use you, then leave you when someone else comes along.”
    Omigod girl puts her hand on her hip and looks me up and down. “What makes you think I actually care?”
    “I’m just trying to help. You know, girl bonding and all that.”
    “Girl bonding?” the girl says in a mocking tone. “I don’t bond with girls who dance like they’re having a seizure. And I don’t hate guys, like you obviously do.”
    Her friend is laughing now. Omigod girl joins her. They’re laughing at me, just like the girls were at Malnatti’s the night I saw Marco kissing Mariana Castillo. I shouldn’t care, but I do.
    I walk out of the bathroom, leaving Omigod girl and her friend to gossip on their own.
    I don’t hate guys. I’m just … cautious.
    My mom stops me as I pass her. “Did you apologize to Luis yet?” she asks.
    I shake my head. “I was just about to,” I say quickly, then attempt a fake search for Luis.
    I wander up and down the beach, taking my time heading back to the party. The lick of the waves against the shore and the fresh smell of the air brings me back to the day I told Marco I loved him …
    The night I found out I was pregnant.
    I’d do anything not to see the disappointment and horror on my parents’ faces when they learn that their fifteen-year-old daughter got knocked up by the ex-boyfriend they’d never liked. At some point I need to tell them the truth: that I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive, but just thinking about it makes me want to cry.
    While the party is still going strong into the night, I sit on a rock far down the beach and look out at the seemingly endless expanse of water. I sit for a long time, listening to the faint music coming from the wedding. Every now and then I get a stomach cramp that hurts like crazy, but it slowly eases as I breathe in and out with smooth, controlled breaths.
    Enough sulking, Nikki. Get up and move on … literally and figuratively, a voice inside my head instructs.
    I stand up and head back to the party. As I’m walking and thinking about how I’m going to gather up the nerve to apologize to Luis, then go home and have the dreaded talk with my parents, I trip on something soft. I look down and realize I just tripped on clothes. Guy clothes … namely a tuxedo.
    I look around and see two silhouettes kissing in the water.
    Luis and Omigod girl. Her annoying squeal echoes through the air. I can tell she’s with Luis because … well, every time I glanced at him tonight, his image was etched in my brain. Even in shadow, I instinctively know it’s him.
    I can’t believe he can fool around with Omigod girl knowing that she’s just a one-night stand. I realize I’m angry with Marco and transferring my emotions onto Luis, but they’re too similar.
    Evil thoughts are running through my mind, like snatching his tuxedo so he’s left without clothes. I shouldn’t do it.
    But then again …
    Without really thinking it through for fear I’ll lose my nerve, I snatch up Luis’s tuxedo jacket, shirt, pants, boxers, and shoes. I take Luis’s wallet from his pocket and leave it in the sand. No use in having him think I stole his wallet, after all.
    I toss the clothes behind a rock and head back to the reception area. I wish I could see his face when he has to search, all naked, for his clothes. I left them where he can easily find them … in the light of day. He’s gonna have to work for it in the moonlight.
    Yes! For the first time in weeks, I feel empowered.
    “Yo, Nik,” Ben says. “Mom and Dad have been looking for you. We’re about to leave.”
    Mom and Dad say their good-byes to practically everyone at the wedding. I stand behind them and add my polite thanks to theirs, without a hint that I’ve just stashed Luis’s tux where he might not find it.
    “What were you doing on the beach?” Ben asks me as I