Crossings: A Sovereign Guardians Novel by Susan Collins Read Free Book Online Page B

happened in Mrs. Holmes' class."
    I knew that students weren't allowed to have their cell phones out during school hours, so I wasn't surprised when he took out a piece of paper to take down my number rather than his phone. I stopped him just as he pulled a pen out of the wire spiral of his composition journal.
    "I can't give you my number."
    He looked up startled and then slightly embarrassed.
    "Absolutely, of course, I understand. Pagan, I wasn't trying to push. Really, I'm sorry." He moved to leave and this time it was my turn to hurry and catch up to him. I put my hand on his arm and turned him around.
    "I wasn't brushing you off."
    My face was turning red again, a perpetual problem I seemed to have around him, and a problem I didn't remember having until today.
    "I don't have a number to give you because I'm probably like the only teenager in America who doesn't have a phone other than the antique wall phone at my Gran's house. The school I went to before this one, well, we weren't allowed to have cell phones there."
    The truth was we weren't allowed to have them in class, just like here, but the students living there could use them outside of class. I didn't go on to explain that my father wouldn't buy me a phone because he had no desire to make it any easier to communicate with his only child. Hadn't Granger just tried to convince me that real people kept secrets, and I'd acted as though secrets were wrong? Yet, I definitely had some of my own I didn't want to share. If only he knew all the secrets I had, he'd probably adore me as much as he did Mr. Rochester and his veritable vault of mysteries. I wondered if there would ever be a time when my ideals and my life would be in synch with each other.
    I dared to raise my eyes from the floor and look at him. I was silently relieved to see he was smiling at me again.
    "Hey, that's fine, really. It's cool that you don't have a phone, Pagan. I like it that you aren't a carbon copy of everybody else around here." His voice deepened as he added, "Even if it means I can't bombard you with annoying texts all night until you fall asleep with my words tucked in beside you."
    He leaned forward and was so close to me now I could feel the light stubble on his cheek against my own smooth skin. His breath was warm and sweet against my face as he whispered in my ear. "And by the way, red only became my favorite color today. It looks amazing on you."
    He drew back from me and left me standing with my cheeks turning his favorite shade.
    As he walked away, I wished I had at least given him my Gran's home number if nothing else. She only had the one wall phone at Fairvue, but at least it would have been something.
    I headed towards the gym imagining what it would be like to have Granger Panera texting me as I went to sleep each night.
    It was funny, but not having a phone had really never bothered me before now. Something was definitely going to have to be done to fix the problem - and the sooner the better.

Chapter Three
     
    "You should wear short skirts more often, babe. You've definitely got the legs for it."
    The look I gave Keller was nothing short of venomous. Over the last few weeks I had given up trying to get him to stop calling me anything but my name; however, I didn't have to pretend to like it. My usual annoyed look when he was around did nothing to curtail the lopsided grin on his face as I sat down at what I now thought of as our lunch table.
    I sat across from Keller and beside Faith, being self-conscious enough now from Keller's remark to make sure my skirt was still covering all the important parts the denim material was supposed to be covering. I wished I hadn't given in to Faith's insistence that I wear something other than my normal faded jeans and T-shirt. The skirt being made from denim had been the only redeeming factor when I bought it, but at this very moment even the material wasn't enough to make me believe I'd ever wear it to school again. Apparently, Keller