Entangled Summer by Michele Barrow-Belisle Read Free Book Online

chance. I’d have to take it.
    My phone rang and Kenzie grabbed it before I could. “Nora’s phone, who’s calling please? —Of course she’s here, Troy .” Her eyes flashed to me as my breath caught.
    “We were just saying what a small world it is. Imagine her taking your class a year ago. What are the odds?” She winked at me then handed me the phone.
    “I hate you like poison.” I whispered, taking it. Seriously with friends like that... “Hello? Hi Troy.” I scowled at Kenzie as she bounced down from the desk over to the bed.
    “No idea. She’s mental.  Might want to get Miss Strange to have a chat with her. Anyway, what’s up?”
    “Tonight? Sure. Okay, I’ll be there. Thanks, bye.”
    “Where will we be tonight?”
    Apparently my assessment of Kenzie’s mental state hadn’t fazed her. She was all but bouncing off the mattress waiting for me to give her every last detail. I opted for the abridged version. “Next Puppetry and Drama orientation have been bumped up by an hour.”
    “Oh gawd. That’s in thirty minutes,” she groaned.
    “And, Troy and I... are going out tonight. For dinner.”
    Her expression lifted. “Like a date?”
    “More like a business meeting. He has some papers for me to sign that got missed.”
    Kenzie stared at me for a beat then rolled her eyes. “I don’t know which of you is more pathetic. You could sign papers anywhere anytime. Dinner is hardly a requirement.”
    “Maybe there’s a lot of papers.”             
    “Uh-huh. That, or maybe it’s a date.” She pushed off the bed and sashayed down the hall toward her room. “Just make sure you wear something that didn’t belong to your grandmother for a change,” she shouted over her shoulder.
    I hoisted myself onto the desk, staring blankly at the phone still in my hand, wondering if any of this was real.
    Moments later Kenzie came back with an armload of clothes and dropped them on my bed.
    “All I know is we have another four days til the little buggers invade our utopia with their runny noses and jam hands, and you need to make the most of the alone time you’ve got. Have you seen the way every other girl in the place ogles him. Stake your claim babe, before it’s too late.”
    I held my phone up in front of her face.
    “What are you doing?” she frowned.
    “Taking a picture. I want to remember this as the moment you completely lost your mind.”
    “Ha. You’re funny.” She snatched it away to inspect my photography skills then wrinkled her nose. “At least wait till I’ve fixed my face.” Her finger hit delete and she handed it back to me. “Anyway, this isn’t that moment. I’m not crazy. I’ve never been so right. Otherwise you wouldn’t be making such a fuss. You like him. I mean you like him like him, and it’s totally freaking you out. It’s okay to say it.”
    “I’m not saying anything. Except that we’re going to be late for training.”
    “It’s summer camp Nora, chill out.”
    “It’s a high paying job Kenzie, I can’t afford to chill out.” I peeled myself off the desk and headed down to the kitchen, with Kenzie right on my heels.
    “Hey, at least give it a shot. Maybe, just maybe he’ll be the guy who finally gives you a good night’s sleep. I’m tired of all that moaning you do in your room at night.” She proceeded to demonstrate her porn version of my nightly dreams.
    I tossed a crumpled napkin at her, on my way to the door. “I do not moan in my sleep. Besides it’s never that kind of dream.”
    “I know.” She muttered. “That’s the problem. Even your hot guy dreams are vanilla boring. How sad is that.”
    I shut the door before the napkin she tossed back could land. She had a point. I was boring, but I really didn’t see that as being a bad thing. If I was going to have to spend all summer shadowing this guy, then there were somethings that needed clearing up.
    In a moment of unprecedented bravery, I went back inside, grabbed two mugs,