Mutual Hatred - Love Game by Ruth Houston Read Free Book Online Page A

x SHELLS : ok see ya tomorrow!!
    TareBear has signed off at 10:07 pm.
    With no one interesting to talk to, Shelley signed off also. It had been a long day and Shelley just wanted to sleep. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?
    - - - - -
    "Rise and shine sleepyhead!"
    Someone gently shook Shelley's shoulders. She groggily opened her eyes.
    "Taryn, what the heck are you doing here? It's," Shelley paused to look at her bedside clock, "12:45 in the afternoon already?!?"
    Taryn loomed over Shelley like a giant. She was dressed in a short white cotton flounce skirt and hot pink embellished tank top. Going somewhere?
    "Yes, Sleeping Beauty. 12:45! And I was going through my closet and I decided I didn't have a party outfit, so we're going shopping!" exclaimed Taryn, flipping her brown hair behind her shoulder.
    "Uh huh..give me like twenty minutes to get ready and we'll go."
    Shelley bounded to the bathroom connected to her room and splashed cold water on her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Who is this girl? That's not the Shelley Sinclair I know.
    And indeed it wasn't. The girl staring back at her had messy, long, dirty blonde hair and bags under her eyes. Shelley knew for a fact she hadn't been losing any sleep. She'd had over 10 hours of sleep last night! But tonight would be a different story. Kyle's parties were always the best; everyone who mattered came and alcohol flowed freely. Not that Shelley drank. She made it a point to never touch alcohol, ever. She didn't understand why people would want to ruin their lives with drugs and alcohol. It just didn't make sense; you had so much to live for, so much you could still do with your life. Why risk all of that? You weren't getting anything out of it.
    "Shelley! Are you ready? You've been in there for like half an hour!" yelled Taryn impatiently.
    "I'll be out in a sec!" she called back.
    Shelley ran back into her room and chose her favorite pair of jeans and a sparkly tank top.
    "You're wearing JEANS? In July? It's so hot outside!" said Taryn.
    "Well I like my jeans. I promise I'll wear something else tonight. Happy?"
    "Good enough."
    She quickly changed, grabbed her purse and shoes, and allowed Taryn to drag her out to her car. Once seated in the passenger seat, Shelley fastened her seatbelt and leaned back into the seat. She closed her eyes and breathed in the flowery scent of Taryn's car freshener.
    "Hey, you okay?" Taryn asked, taking her eyes off the road to briefly glance at Shelley.
    "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
    "I don't know. You slept in until almost 1. And you never do that. You're unusually quiet today. I can't quite pinpoint it. You're different somehow," Taryn said carefully.
    "I'm not sure what could be different…I feel the same."
    Taryn shrugged it off. "I guess it's just me then. So where do you want to go first?"
    "How about Reference? They had this really cute gold halter top last week that I liked but I didn't have time to try it on."
    "Sure."
    They pulled up in front of the outdoor shopping center and got out.
    "Ready, set, spend!" joked Taryn.
    "Keep your plastic where I can see it, Tare," retorted Shelley.
    They sauntered into Reference, a chic boutique, as if they owned the place. And judging from the amount of clothes both girls owned, they may as well have started their own clothing store. Shelley immediately saw her gold top and snatched it off the rack, while Taryn inspected a short denim skirt with rhinestones on the back pockets. The two immediately made a beeline for the dressing rooms without a second glance at anything else in the store.
    Now that's love at first sight!
    Shelley pulled her tank top over her head and put the halter on. She stepped out of the dressing room at the same time as Taryn and they modeled for each other.
    "Great fit," commented Taryn.
    "You too. That skirt is so cute!" gushed Shelley.
    "You look so hot! I'll bet the football team won't know what hit them when they see you!"
    Shelley snorted. "They've seen me in