My Heart be Damned by Chanelle Gray Read Free Book Online

her.
    The door to the classroom opened and Sam strolled in, swarmed by Sarah and her little crew. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach. I couldn’t explain why seeing him with them made me feel so...betrayed. Was it my fault because I shot him down?
    Mercy nudged me and gestured towards them in disbelief. As a group, they strolled past my table and to the back of the classroom where I heard Sarah ask someone to move up a desk, so Sam could have it. Her squeaky, butter-wouldn’t-melt in-her-mouth voice was too irritating to hear so early in the morning.
    “I can’t believe he’s succumbed so easily,” Mercy hissed.
    “Oh well,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment.
    Mercy stared at me for a few seconds, her eyebrow raised. “You did something.”
    “I did not!”
    “You did! I know you did. Why else would he be hanging with them instead of trying to get you to go out with him?” She suddenly gasped. “You shot him down! I bet you used the friends line, didn’t you?”
    Damn, this girl knew me too well. “No...”
    Mercy shook her head, leaning back in her seat. “I give up on you, Amerie Sara Carter.”
    “Was using my whole name really necessary?”
    “Yes! What was wrong with Sam? Come on, I’m intrigued to know what the problem was this time.”
    “There was nothing wrong with him...”
    “Stop lying.”
    I looked over to the teacher, silently begging him to start the class already, but he was rummaging around in his briefcase, his face indicating that he’d forgotten something important. Of all days...
    “There’s nothing wrong with Sam,” I said again. “He’s...nice.”
    Mercy groaned. “You mean he was too nice, don’t you?”
    “I’m not used to people being so nice to me. It was kinda creepy.”
    “I’m gonna offer you some advice,” Mercy said, leaning in closer to me. “When a boy is a gentleman to you and is actually nice, Amerie , you don’t shoot him down. You don’t call them creepy and chase them away! God, I don’t know what to do with you.”
    “Stop trying?” I offered hopefully.
    “Not a chance.”
    I groaned in frustration. “Okay, whatever. Our main focus right now should be Chuck. Not my new job. Not my inability to get a date. Thank you and good day.”
    Mercy shook her head at me, bemused. “I hate it when you say that. Thank you and good day. I mean, what does it even mean? Are you being sarcastic? Are you really saying it like you mean it?”
    “I think you should be the journalist around here,” I answered. “You ask too many questions.”
    Our teacher, Mr. Woodsen , finally seemed to find what he had been looking for. He silenced the class and began the lesson on the banana trade in St. Lucia. As he droned on, I turned my head slightly to peek at Sam. He had all three witches circled around him, trapping him in their evil cage,   but he didn’t look as though it was too much of a chore.
    Had I been wrong about him? Nice people didn’t hang out with people like Sarah White. My people reading skills were obviously way off. I didn’t realize Mercy had feelings for Chuck. I also didn’t realize that the blonde girl at The Hut yesterday was bad news, and preyed on guys for a bit of fun on her boyfriend’s part. Last but not least, there was the guy with the pool cue. The guy whose blue eyes I couldn’t stop thinking about on my journey home last night.
    Maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe I didn’t know my friends as well as I’d always thought. Maybe the guy from last night was a perfectly normal sexy guy, and I was being paranoid.
    I was a psychologist’s dream that was for sure.

    After school, I changed for my first day of work at the Hut. I slipped into a pair of skinny jeans, a vest top, and a blazer but kept my school shoes.
    Maxwell Academy was situated in the middle of nothing but fields. There was one road. It ran right along one side, and only one bus that took you into the nearest town situated in the suburbs around the main city.