Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Becca Ann Read Free Book Online Page B

yellow freakin’ bridge away from me!” Something totally off-the-wall in her cute lingo.
    Hey. Wanted 2 kno if ur ok. Call if u can tlk.
    I hit send before I have the chance to retype the message eighty times.
    I don’t know why I expect my phone to vibrate ten seconds after I send the sucker, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t vibrate for the next ten hours actually. Enough time for me to worry my pants off like a girl.
    The five-in-the-morning text goes off just before my alarm clock.
    Srry. Didn’t get this till just now, & ur prbly asleep. I won’t b at school 2day, but I wanna tlk 2 u b4 u go. Call when u can.
    ‘Cause I’m too sleepy to think straight, I hit the call button like the phone will blow up if I don’t.
    A giggle greets me before she says, “Wow, I didn’t expect you to be awake already.”
    I clear my throat. Okay voice-box, don’t make me sound like I’m half asleep. “Uh yeah, early riser.” I pause and take a swig of water from the bottle on my nightstand. “So, what’s up?”
    She laughs again. “You’re such a liar. I woke you up , didn’t I?”
    Thanks voice-box. I’m never askin’ you to do anything again. “No, I’m just not all the way awake yet.”
    “Sorry.”
    “It’s okay. I had to get up anyway.”
    “Well, I just wanted to offer up some advice for today, if you’re coherent enough to hear it.”
    I slide to a sitting position, leaning against the headboard and clicking on the light. Yeah, I think this’ll keep me awake enough to listen.
    “Shoot.”
    “Okay, so I was thinking about how much time we’ve been planning on spending together, and it may give Quynn the wrong idea.”
    Whoa, wait. “You mean at the library and stuff?”
    “That and the rides to and from school.”
    “Hayles, I’ve only picked you up twice.” I rub my eyes, removing all the crust from the corners. “And besides, I was told to spend more time with you.”
    There’s a long pause when I hear some muffled noise in the background, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. When Hayley talks again, she’s whispering so soft, I gotta press the phone so far against my ear, I may as well shove the damn thing inside my head.
    “Um, why?”
    I stifle a yawn before plowin’ into it. “‘Cause I’m fallin’ behind in class, and Ms. Stevens wants me to work on my signs with you.”
    “Sa-weeet!”
    My stomach twists. She’s excited to spend more time with me? Why does that make me happy to hear?
    “This is perfect,” she says quieter, but with no less enthusiasm. “Since I won’t be in school today, you can say you had plans to study with me, but I’m sick. And you can ask Quynn to go over some signs after school.”
    Disappointment soaks my still sleepy body. Right. She’s helping me get closer to Quynn.
    Quynn.
    Quynn.
    I wait for a stomach knot, or that normal nervous feeling I get whenever I think about the hot-ass girl I’ve been droolin’ over for almost a year, and it eventually smacks me in the chest. Though it takes a lot longer than it used to.
    “Uh, I’m not so sure about that.”
    “Oh my gosh, Brody. You’ll be fine.”
    Major stomach twists now. The way my name sounds in her voice does somethin’ weird to my insides. I think I’m goin’ to need more Tums.
    “So, why won’t you be in school? Are you really sick?” ‘Cause she doesn’t sound sick.
    “Yeah. Got a major headache, so I’m slumming it at home today.”
    I nod, then remember I’m on the phone. “Uh, yeah. Hope you feel better.”
    “Thanks.” She pauses. “Well, I’m going to go back to bed. Text me though if you need anything. I’ll probably be super bored and will need entertainment.”
    “You got it.”
    There’s another slight pause before she gives me a small, “Uh, okay, bye.”
    “See ya.”
    Click .
    Is it lame for me to miss her already?
     
    “I thought you had ASL down , man,” Tanner says after I tell him where I’m headed after the last bell.
    “It’s nothin’.