Going Geek by Charlotte Huang Read Free Book Online

whatever. But by the way, those shorts you were wearing yesterday? I could totally tell they were pleather.” Whitney’s smiling, but her voice is shards of smashed glass.
    Lila’s cackles ricochet around the dining hall.

U ncertainty about where I stand with my friends plagues me through the night, making sleep impossible. I texted Leo frantically when I left the Canteen, but he was busy dealing with one of his first-years’ meltdowns. There are always a handful who are inconsolable and want to go home in the first few days. I want to take them by the hand and then very gently but very firmly shake them; first year is all pass/fail. It only gets worse.
    Absolutely no one tried to talk to me after the Calendar meeting or even texted me later, but still, I’m determined to face the day with my head up. So what if they found out? So what if they now suspect we’re a little hard up for cash? I’m still the same girl. My mother is still Lisa Chen, and
Over It
still exists, largely because of her.
    I actually feel lighter now that I have nothing to hide. Even my physics book can’t weigh me down. I practically skip out of Abbot.
    “Skylar. Hold up.” I turn to see Leo sitting on the porch banister.
    “Hey, handsome!” I walk over to give him a kiss, but I get his cheek. There’s not even anyone around. “Take me to breakfast on our first day as seniors? I have stuff to tell you.”
    He looks down at the ground. Now that I take a better look, Leo kind of looks like hell, which is not easy for him to achieve. Almost like he didn’t sleep either, and definitely like he didn’t shave. I reach my hand out to him. He takes it and slides off the banister but drops it as soon as he’s standing. I glance at him with a questioning look. “Let’s walk,” he says.
    It doesn’t take a genius to see that something’s up. “Is everything okay with the team?” I ask.
    “Yeah, fine,” he says.
    “How about your first-year? Is he okay?”
    He gives a brief nod, then stops in the middle of the wooded path. “Skylar.”
    “What’s the matter? They stop serving hot food in fifteen minutes.” I try to keep walking, but it’s obvious that Leo isn’t thinking about waffles right now.
    “Why didn’t you tell me what you were really doing this summer?”
    And there it is. I hear the hurt and bewilderment in Leo’s voice and hate myself for putting it there. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and then turn toward him. “I’m sorry. That’s what I was about to tell you. I should have mentioned it sooner, but things at home were just so tense. All I wanted was to come back here and put it behind me.”
    “But all those times I talked to you and you said you’d spent all day reading in an office or that you went to lunch with your mom while she met with actors who wanted parts. That was all made up?”
    I look at the ground. “It’s all stuff I’ve done before, but I didn’t do much of it this summer.”
    Leo rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t get it. Why did you lie? Is it that shameful to have to earn a paycheck?”
    I have to tread carefully here. Leo’s family isn’t poor, but his tuition is covered by a soccer scholarship. “I mean, my family hasn’t been doing as well, and it’s hard to watch, but I was glad to help out. The only thing I cared about was making sure I got back for our senior year.” The last part is intended to remind Leo of how happy we are to be together for these next ten months. Harvard’s not going to be knocking down my door anytime soon, so my goal is to enjoy our time before we have to do some stressful long-distance thing.
    But he doesn’t reach for my hand or brush my hair off my face or make any of the affectionate gestures that might imply that he understands and forgives me. He stares at me, his expression harder than I’ve ever seen it, at least off the soccer field. “How could you keep something like this a secret from me, of all people? Did you think I’d care