Outsider (Outsider Series) by Micalea Smeltzer Read Free Book Online

I promised I wouldn’t even though everything inside me screams to tell you. Lucinda w ants to be the one to tell you,” he said, still sprawled on the ground.
    “Tell me what?” I asked in exasperation.
    “You’ll just have to wait and find out,” he said rather sadly.
    I sighed. “I don’t see what this has to do with not kissing me but I’m going to find out. Mark my words, Mister. I will find out,” I said and walked out the back door.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    four .
    Weeks passed and Gram never spoke of whatever it was that Caeden couldn’t tell me. I quickly got over our almost kiss and things between us returned to normal. Well, as normal as normal can be when you have a major crush on the person that has become your best friend. I felt like a silly little school girl having a crush on the most unattainable guy and not only was he unattainable he was my friend too. I had thought that day at Gram’s store that he wanted to kiss me but the more time passed I was sure that I was wrong. It was already October and he acted as if that day had never happened, so I did too. But that didn’t change the way I felt. I saw the way other girls in the school looked at him and it made my blood boil. Thankfully, he seemed completely unaware of their attentions.
    I noticed tension arise between Gram and Caeden but I didn’t ask either about it. I knew that whatever it was Gram would tell me in her own time. That didn’t mean that I wasn’t curious though, in fact, the curiosity was killing me. When she wasn’t home I had resorted to snooping. But nothing seemed abnormal.
    Halloween was fast approaching , only a week away . My parents called me every day to discuss the woes of high school life. They both seemed particularly interested in Caeden. When I mentioned Travis , my dad exploded and like Caeden said to stay far away from him. His defense was that he knew Travis’ dad, Peter Grimm, and that the apple doesn’t far from the tree.
    “It looks great,” said Gram, making me jump.
    I had been so engrossed in my thoughts I hadn’t heard her approach. “What?” I asked.
    “The decorations,” she said. “I haven’t had the energy to decorate in years.”
    “Oh,” I said. I had wrapped the front porch in orange and purple lights. A mummy dangled from the tree. I had even found a couple of gravestones and invested in some zombies coming out of the ground. “I’ve never had the chance to decorate for a holiday before. Dad didn’t want to buy any decorations that we’d later have to store whenever we moved again.”
    She smiled. “Well, I love it.”
    “I didn’t go too overboard?” I asked sheepishly.
    “I don’t think so,” she said and hugged me. “Sophie, I’m so glad you came to live here. You’ve done me so much good.”
    “Gram,” I said hugging her back. “Don’t make me cry.”
    She brushed my hair with her fingers and pulled away. With tears in her eyes she said, “Sophie, there are some things I have to tell you.”
    I took a deep breath. Maybe I was finally going to find out what the big secret was. I had speculated for months.
    “You must be cold,” she said. “Come inside and I’ll make you some hot chocolate and I saved you the last peanut butter fudge cupcake,” she said shaking a bag. “Then we’ll talk.”
    I took the bag from her. “Gram, are you bribing me with cupcakes?”
    She smiled. “I’m just hoping it will soften the blow.”
    I followed her inside and sat at the kitchen table while she started the hot chocolate. I pulled the cupcake out of the bag and devoured the peanut butter goodness. I hadn’t eaten in hours, I had been too consumed by my Halloween decorating.
    “This is heaven,” I said to Gram.
    “They’re pretty good but red velvet is my favorite.”
    “I like that too but the pumpkin cupcake you sell during the fall is pretty good. Although , neither of those comes close to peanut butter fudge.”
    She laughed. “You always would eat