Falling Under by Gwen Hayes Read Free Book Online

hers.
    “I’m not skinny either.”
    Amelia wasn’t petite, not like her American mom, who wore a size two and was as blond as a supermodel. Ame still held on to a layer of baby fat that made her look utterly huggable to me, but to her it was the mark of total failure.
    People gravitated to her because she was kind to everyone. She was also so much fun—quick to laugh and open to new ideas and experiences. There were a lot of boys who circled around her, smart enough to notice how she glowed, wanting to be close if she’d let them. She didn’t seem to understand there could be potential for more than friendship with any of them. She only noticed Mike Matheny not noticing.
    Ame’s phone beeped. “Omigosh, I almost forgot,” she said after she flipped it open. “I have a tarot reading tomorrow after school. You guys should totally come. Madame Varnie is supposed to be amazing. Maybe she could do all our cards.”
    “Madame Varnie? Are you serious? She sounds like someone you’d find in a circus tent.” Donny didn’t have much patience for Amelia’s psychic readings. “I don’t even understand why you go. Half the time you come back cheery from an unfortunate reading because they tell you your future isn’t set in stone, so if it’s bad, no worries. Why bother getting it read if it isn’t necessarily accurate anyway?”
    Ame sighed. “Because I like getting in touch with my intuition.”
    “But you’re not,” said Donny. “You’re getting in touch with someone else’s intuition with no promises of precision. Not to mention you could be saving the money you spend on fake intuition for your very real college tuition.”
    College tuition was a big worry for Donny. Her family couldn’t exactly stash the money away for it every month.
    “Hi, Donny.” A sneetch in a letter jacket stood in front of our table. Willingly.
    Ame’s eyebrows were almost touching, she was grimacing so hard. “Gabe Erickson?”
    Gabe smiled at Donny, his white teeth gleaming under the fluorescent cafeteria lighting. I wondered what he looked like in black light.
    Donny very pointedly did not say “hi” back. She did stretch out her legs, plop her Uggs onto the bench, and yawn.
    “I brought you this.” He held out a paperback. Gabe’s sandy brown hair lay in a perfect wave on his forehead like a commercial for the ideal teenaged boy.
    “You brought me a book.” Donny wrinkled her nose. “Why?”
    “It’s Catcher in the Rye ,” he explained.
    “So?”
    Gabe’s flawless tan pinkened. “Well, I heard you say that you lost yours. And we need it for English. I had an extra copy.” He pushed the book towards her again.
    Donny looked at Ame and me for guidance, and we both shrugged. She exhaled loudly and took the book from him like she thought it might have teeth. “I wasn’t planning on reading it anyway, but thanks. I guess.”
    He smiled.
    She looked at us again when he didn’t depart.
    “I don’t want to keep you from your important duties, Gabe. Don’t you head up the swirly brigade? ‘No freshman left behind’ and all that?”
    Gabe’s smile faded. “No. I’m not … never mind. See you around.”
    Every now and then, Donny lets her vulnerable side show through the mask of derisiveness she usually wears. This wasn’t one of those times. She kept up her front while she watched him walk away.
    “That was weird,” Ame said, a masterfully understated appraisal of the encounter.
    “But nice,” I added.
    Donny glared at me. “Never trust a sneetch, little girl.”
     
    Obviously, U. S. history was not my strongest class. Though I was born in the United States, after my mother’s death, Father and I returned to England until business brought him back when I was thirteen.
    I tried to keep up but often got confused. I had to learn so much that the other students took for granted; so much of it was already part of their popular culture. And Father was the opposite of helpful when it came to anything