Perfectly Reflected by S. C. Ransom Read Free Book Online

supporters as he no real friends. He had found out too late that being world champion at MegaDeath 4 wasn’t the same as having some mates.
    And now he was standing outside my house with a nervoussmile on his face, which looked even more pallid than usual in the orange glow of the streetlight.
    “Umm, hi … Graham.” I remembered just in time to drop the Geeky bit. “What on earth are you doing here?”
    “Waiting for you, course.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Though I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.”
    “Oh, really?” I asked hesitantly, completely confused. Something odd was going on. Again.
    “Everything OK, Alex?” Grace’s voice came from inside the car.
    “Yes, don’t worry. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I leaned into the car window to give her a hug. “I’ll text you when I get in, let you know what happens.” She nodded almost imperceptibly.
    “OK, night, Alex,” she said loudly. “See you, Graham.” With that she drove off and both Graham and I watched as her tail lights disappeared.
    “So, umm,” I started, unsure of what to do. “Long time, no see.”
    “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
    “You OK then? New school working out?” I cast desperately around for something to say.
    “Yeah, yeah, that’s all fine,” he muttered, looking at the floor, kicking small stones off the pavement. He seemed to have been struck dumb.
    “Well, er…” Inspiration deserted me and I looked at the floor too, wondering where this bizarre conversation was going. There was a long pause as both of us considered our feet.
    Graham’s next words came out in a rush. “I was kind of surprised when you got in contact.” He hesitated but before I could say anything, he continued, “Pleased, but surprised. Afterlast time, I guess I didn’t expect that you would, well, you know…” His voiced faded out as he continued looking at the floor. “And I was even more surprised to realise that we had so much in common.”
    I was too stunned to speak. What on earth was he talking about?
    “Graham, it’s, er, great to see you, but I’m really confused. Why are you waiting for me?”
    “Oh, come on! You can’t possibly have forgotten; it was your idea!” He took one look at my face and carried on, but less certainly. “You said you wanted to come with me to the convention in Birmingham this weekend, the MegaDeath one. You said…” He tailed off, and even in the strange streetlight I could see the colour rising in his face.
    This was getting worse and worse. I had to stop it as painlessly as I could. “Graham,” I said gently. “I’ve not spoken to you for ages…” Actually, I couldn’t remember speaking to him at all since he’d asked me out, but now probably wasn’t the time to mention that. “Not since before you left the school. When did we fix all this up?”
    “You’ve been talking to me all week on Facebook. I didn’t believe you were serious at first but you convinced me.” He paused for a second but then looked me straight in the eye. “Is this some sort of joke?”
    Yet again I felt a shiver of horror up my neck. “Someone has been messing us both about. I’m sure you’re a great guy, but I didn’t agree to go to Birmingham with you.” I watched as his face crumpled, and felt awful; he stood there looking like a kicked puppy. I rushed to explain, words tumbling out as I tried, unsuccessfully, to make it better. “Someone has a vendetta againstme, you see. They’ve sabotaged my e-mail, broken my window and now this. I’m really sorry; you don’t deserve to be involved.”
    “So it wasn’t you on Facebook?”
    I shook my head slowly, and I saw his shoulders slump even further as he turned away. Who would be this vindictive? “I’m so sorry.” I risked a quick glance at him but he was struggling to stay in control. “I don’t know what to say.”
    “Don’t say anything!” he spat as he turned back towards me. “You’ve had your fun, now leave me