Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick Read Free Book Online Page A

of new-age hippies milled about sipping Kombucha tea, fondling rocks, and discussing
energy
.
     
    “Who
are
these people?” Jeff asked. He was sitting on the granite island in the middle of our kitchen.
     
    “I have no clue,” I said, running toward him, scaling the side of the island so we could sit side by side.
     
    “You think they know we live here?” Jeff asked. He was twirling a long, rose-quartz baton between his thumb and middle finger.
     
    “No way,” I said, getting settled, eyeing the crowd.
     
    Mom moved easily from circle to circle, beaming, refillingcups, stopping occasionally to check out a rock and discuss its unique shape and healing capabilities.
     
    “I like
that
lady,” I said, tilting my head toward a woman wearing a neon yellow jumper, inspecting a piece of amethyst. “I like her braids,” I said, tugging on my own hair.
     
    Jeff nodded. “Or what about this guy?” he said, pointing at this young dude with sandy hair hovering around my mother. “He’s been trying to talk to Mom for the last half hour.” Jeff looked at me. “You think he likes her?”
     
    “Like,
likes
her?” I asked, horrified. “Ew. No.”
     
    “I think he
likes
her,” Jeff said, amused. We both looked back at my mom. The guy was trying to edge his way into my mother’s conversation with another woman.
     
    “I’m right. You
know
I’m right,” Jeff said, nudging my shoulder.
     
    “Maybe.” I nodded, turning to face him. “But doesn’t that make you mad?”
     
    He put a hand on my head. “It makes me
proud
,” he said, happily mussing my hair, then pulling me forward and into a tight embrace.
     

Chapter 11
     
    Nils was suddenly suspicious. He’d stopped dicking around with Nora Bittenbender long enough to notice my hysterical good cheer.
     
    “You seem different,” he said, folding down a page in his book and turning toward me.
     
    I shrugged.
     
    We were in The Shack, after school. It was almost six and dusky out.
     
    “I just—I get the distinct impression that you’re hiding something from me.”
     
    I turned onto my side, amused, and faced him on the futon. “Oh yeah? Like what? What am I hiding?”
     
    “I dunno. You’re happy all the time. Like, all of a sudden, things are great.”
     
    I forced a frown and brushed a stray hair off Nils’s forehead. He looked at me for a beat. “Lemme guess: You’re in love!”
     
    I snorted.
     
    “Or maybe you’ve just won the lottery!”
     
    “Could be.”
     
    “Or maybe you got that adorable little fruit bat you’ve always wanted. The one we saw splashed across the glossy pages of
National Geographic
not too long ago… .”
     
    “That very same one?” I played along excitedly.
     
    “That very same bat.”
     
    I put my hands to my heart. Nils took a breath and dropped his head back down on the bed. “So what’s the real deal?”
     
    I flipped onto my back and fixed my eyes on the ceiling. I couldn’t tell him about Paul. I just couldn’t. “No deal. I’m putting on the Christmas lights. It’s getting dark.” I rolled to my side and stuck the plug in the socket.
     
    “Holly.”
     
    “Nils.”
     
    “Come on, no kidding. What’s up?”
     
    “Nothing. I just feel good. There has to be a reason for that?” I tried my best to look believable. “Maybe the cloud has finally lifted.”
     
    “I thought we told each other everything.”
     
    “We don’t tell each other everything.”
     
    “Yes, we do.”
     
    “No, we
don’t
, loser. I don’t know anything about you and your thing with that girl.”
     
    “That’s because you don’t
want
to know anything. I’d tell you if you asked. And why can’t you say her name, Holly? You know her name.”
     
    “Yes, I know her name.”
     
    “Say it.”
     
    “Nora … Slut-bender.”
     
    Nils sat up, pissed. “She’s not a slut. What, just because she’s not some perfect little virgin, she’s a slut?”
     
    “Fiiiine, she’s not a slut. I