Insomnia by J. R. Johansson Read Free Book Online Page B

I like girls?” I tried to keep my pitch from going skyward, but I wasn’t very successful. I saw Jeff freeze and slowly turn in my direction.
    “Come on. I didn’t think you liked guys—I just didn’t really think you liked anybody like that, you know?” Finn laughed, but it sounded hollow.
    “Yeah, well, I don’t. So you got that right,” I muttered. Jeff and Mia were heading our way.
    Addie stepped toward Mia and waved. “I’m Addie. Did you play soccer at your old school too?”
    Mia nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been playing forever. You play?”
    “No. It’s never been my sport. I swim.” Addie shrugged and started for the stairs. “Nice meeting you!”
    The corner of Mia’s lips curved up. “You too.”
    “Addie, come here for a moment please,” Coach Carter called just before Addie was out of sight. She pivoted on one foot and jogged over to the coach with a grin that made me wonder why everyone didn’t stand around staring at her all the time.
    Jeff jolted me out of my gawking by punching me lightly in the shoulder. “What was that all about, Parker? You’ve never seen a girl before?” He glanced over at Mia.
    “No, I was just surprised. I nearly hit her with my car yesterday.”
    Finn barked out a coughing laugh and Jeff’s brow lowered to match his voice. “You did what?”
    “I didn’t, though.” I looked at Mia, but she seemed to be avoiding eye contact. “But I could’ve sworn she told me her name was Megan.”
    Now she did meet my eyes, and I saw a flash of a smile as she said, “Don’t worry. It’s a common mistake.”
    “You almost hit her with your car?” The muscle in Jeff’s jaw twitched and he stepped between us. His response bothered me. Did he actually think he owned every girl in school?
    “It was an accident. Besides, why do you even care?”
    Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “Because she’s my sister.”
    “Duh-Duh-Dum.” Finn put one hand up in front of him like he was holding a microphone and leaned forward with a grin. “That’s it for today, folks. Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of Days of Our Lives .”
    Confused, I gave my head a little shake. “She’s your what?”
    Finn grunted and turned away, muttering, “Always wasting my best stuff.”
    “My foster sister. She’s staying with my family.”
    That made sense. Jeff was an only child, and I knew the Sparks had done the foster thing before. But I was pretty sure the kids were usually much younger.
    “Oh,” I said, trying to glimpse Mia behind Jeff again. “Well, like I said, it was an accident, and she’s fine. So, no big deal.”
    “It really was nothing.” Mia stepped up beside Jeff, and I tried to look friendly when she glanced at me.
    “Okay, cool.” Jeff shrugged, then slapped my shoulder. “Why don’t you set up a couple of chairs for the meeting, Parker?”
    “Oh, right. The meeting.” I pointed back toward the curtains. “Why don’t we just have it down in the auditorium?”
    “I want to get started right away. The faculty has only given us half an hour before we have to get to class, but it will take a while for them to empty the auditorium out. It might buy us a little extra time.” He pointed to the stacks of chairs lined up off to one side. “We’ll just have it up here on the stage. Keep it short and sweet.”
    “Right. Got it.” I turned and grabbed some chairs, noticing that Mia was now talking to Addie and Coach Carter. Of course —this meeting was for both soccer teams. Despite having had a great night of sleep last night, my brain sure didn’t seem to be keeping up this morning.
    Finn took off his coat and threw it at to the back wall. His shirt said, Come to the dark side. We have cookies . I smiled as he grabbed a stack of chairs and started setting them out in a row behind mine. “You see who just walked in?”
    I turned to the stairs Finn indicated. Thor, a monster fullback from the soccer team, was standing on the top step, nodding while Jeff spoke. I’d