Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles Read Free Book Online Page A

bullhorn out of my hand, but he doesn't. Instead, he puts down his tray and nods for me to continue.
    "I drove home drunk from a high school party," I say, my voice sounding foreign to me as the words flow out through the bullhorn. "I hit a girl, and left her lying in the street not knowing if she was dead or alive. I was a jock, a guy who'd probably get a wrestling scholarship to college and I didn't want to screw that up. So I ditched her. In the end, I was busted and went to jail for a year."
    I unclick the sound button. The place is silent. I can imagine what I must look like ... the cool high school jock boy who screwed up and is now whining about it. Nobody is gonna feel sorry for me, not that I want or expect them to.
    When I look over at Maggie, she shakes her head and turns her back on me. She's shutting me out once again, but I don't care.
    I press the talk button again. "When I came out of jail, I got involved with my victim."
    More than a few teens in the room go wide-eyed at this new piece of information. They're whispering in shock and pointing at me.
    "We kissed, we fooled around ... she snuck me in her house and we slept together. People warned me not to get involved with her, but I did. Biggest mistake of my life."
    Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Maggie slides off the bench and heads for the swinging doors. Good of Matt follows her.
    "Maggie!" I say through the bullhorn. She flinches and stops in her tracks. "You want to add something? I skipped the part when we were in Mrs. Reynolds' gazebo."
    I follow Maggie, who thinks that talking is better than keeping your mouth shut. I hope I've changed her mind, and she realizes that living in La-La Land is better than facing reality.
    "That's the girl I'm talking about," I say, pointing.
    "Shut up, Caleb," she hisses at me.
    I hand her the bullhorn. "Truth hurts, huh?"
     

EIGHT

Maggie
    ere back in the van headed to our next destination, Freeman University. After the dining room incident, I hobbled far into the woods and cried. Matt followed me. He didn't ask whether Caleb's statements were true or not ... he just stood there while tears rolled down my face and I wiped them with the back of my hand.
    Caleb's little show this morning was beyond obnoxious.
    He lied.
    He twisted the truth.
    He mocked me, and he mocked whatever relationship we'd had.
    Taunting me to reveal what happened between us in Mrs. Reynolds' gazebo was too much for me. That night Caleb and I shared precious private moments I'll remember for the rest of my life. It was perfect; from the twinkling lights he'd carefully wrapped around the entire gazebo to the romantic way he kissed me after I slow danced in his arms. He treated me like I was the only girl in the world who mattered, and the only girl he'd ever want to be with.
    This morning, he tainted my memory of that night forever.
    Thank goodness Damon ordered Caleb to sit in the passenger seat. I don't think he's too happy with Caleb right now. I'm not, either.
    We park at Dixon Hall, one of the Freeman University dorms. It's across from a big brick library with floorto-ceiling windows.
    Damon leads us to a suite on the second floor of the dorm. It's got a kitchen with a table, and two couches in the common living room area. "Girls in that bedroom," Damon says as he points to a door. "Guys in the other." He smiles as he tosses his suitcase into the third room, closest to the couches. "I get this room for myself."
    "How long are we staying here?" Matt asks.
    "This will be our home base for a while," Damon tells him. "We'll be taking day trips from here."
    "My face hurts," Lenny complains. "And it itches." He resembles a mime, with all the white cream the nurse put on him from his sunburn and bites. He walks up to Trish and sticks his face close to hers. "Scratch me."
    Trish sneers at him, looking like she'd rather die than touch his cream-covered face. "Get out of my face, you freak."
    "Enough, you two," Damon says sternly. "Trish, I'm