Naked by Stacey Trombley Read Free Book Online

enough for me to escape into the crowd.
    I’m comforted by the mass of bodies around me now. At least here I can blend in. But the glass doors stare down at me. I stop, my heart pounding. So much for stealing some confidence from Jackson.
    I look at the crowd around me and step off to the side, behind a bush and an empty bike rack, and close my eyes.
    My first day of school in three years and I’ve already blown my cover as a normal student.
    Not that it would have taken everyone long to notice something was different. I’m a sixteen-year-old freshman. I didn’t even complete my eighth-grade year. I skipped town a month before the end of the year.
    My father wanted them to put me in the grade appropriate for my age, but apparently there are some things even he can’t force people to do. The other freshman are thirteen and fourteen years old. I’m a total freak.
    I take a deep breath and try to relax.
    I don’t expect to be Miss Popular here. I wasn’t popular before I left, and it’s not like I want that now, but I still have a little pride.
    I can do this.
    After a deep breath, I walk inside. Into the busy crowd of students. It reminds me of my first moments in New York City. Lost, alone, surrounded by hundreds of people who don’t notice you, let alone ask if you’re okay.
    Like you’re suffocating and there are hundreds of people who could stop and help you—but no one does. The same way no one stopped to help me.
    Except Luis. He stopped. He helped me. Took me from Grand Central and showed me the city.
    I press on. The girl at Grand Central is no longer me. I’m stronger. This time, I don’t need help. This time, I’ll do it all on my own.
    I go into the front office and walk up to the counter. I stand there, content in watching the office drones fussing over a copy machine and filing paperwork, until finally a woman wearing an ugly turtleneck looks up and notices me.
    “Oh! Why didn’t you say something, sweetheart?”
    “I, um… I’m new.” It’s close enough to the truth.
    “My name’s Mrs. Norberry. What’s your name, sweetheart?” she says, rummaging around in a pile of paperwork.
    “Anna,” I say. “Anna Rodriguez.”
    “Right,” she says. Grabbing a folder that was set off to the side.
    She opens the folder and stares at it for a moment, too quiet. How much does she know? How much does anyone here know? I can’t believe my parents would tell them much. Not the whole truth. But the way she’s looking at whatever’s in that folder, as though trying to make sense of what it tells her about me…
    Finally she pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me.
    “This is your schedule,” she says. “Let them know you’re new. And the proper paperwork will be filled out later. Looks like you’re meeting with Jennifer Thomas for tutoring? You have the same homeroom, the library. There’s still a few minutes left before she goes to her next class. Would you like me to take you to the library to meet her?”
    I force my lips into something resembling a smile. “That would be nice, thank you.” I feel strange, like someone else is in my body. I don’t belong here, and I can’t help but feel like this lady knows it. What did it say in my file that made her get so quiet?
    I pull the hem of my shirt down, like I’m trying to hide the ripped fishnets that expose who I really am. Even though I’m not wearing them, I can feel them.
    The library is just down the hall, so it’s a very short trip. The smell of dust and stagnant air fills me as we enter the room. Brown stained carpet lines the short entrance to the library.
    I follow the office lady straight to a table at the back, where an awkward-looking girl sits. Her dark hair is pulled into a ponytail and is still long enough to reach the thick black belt on her jeans. She’s very skinny, and even though she’s sitting, she seems like she’d be a few inches taller than me.
    “Jen, this is Anna. She’s the new girl you’ll be