Secret Life (RVHS Secrets) by Bria Quinlan Read Free Book Online Page A

out on me.” That was definitely not
the smooth tone he used to pick-up girls. “Who else am I going to find to tutor
me at this point?”
    Yeah, because demanding is so much more convincing than
asking.
    “I’m sure someone else can help you. I mean, I’ve never even
tutored anyone before.”
    Good point. Score one for me.
    “You’re smart and you’re available.” His voice was clipped
as if he said the words fast enough and strong enough, I’d have no choice.
“That’s all the requirements I need in a tutor right now. Plus, what happened
to your desperate need to get your Calc grade up?”
    He was…words failed. The ego on that boy was immeasurable.
    “Listen, just because you’ve handsied your way through most of the senior class already, doesn’t mean I have to tutor
you. I couldn’t care less if we make states, so there’s no worries for me if
you pass or not.”
    “I told you, this isn’t—you know what? I’ll see you in
twenty minutes.”
    Before I could ask what the hell that meant, he’d hung up.
    The voicemail reminder on my phone beeped again.
    I dialed through to my message box.
    “Hey, it’s me. It’s supposed to be, like, 80 today. Luke and
I are going to Ben’s to hang out at his pool. He said we should definitely
invite you. I think he likes you.” I could hear the hopeful smile in her voice.
“Grab your suit. We’ll pick you up at ten-thirty.”
    I glanced at the clock. Unfortunately, all interested
parties would be arriving at about the same time. Not the drama I needed in my
life right now.
    I hit #1 and got Amy’s voicemail. How could someone call you
and thirty-seven seconds later not be available? Of course, Amy had said the
same thing before when I’d call her and then call the current boyfriend. Which meant she was probably on the phone with Luke.
    “It’s me. Leave a message.” Wow, even her voicemail sounded
perkier. Luke really had upped the happiness level in her.
    BEEP.
    “Hey, it’s me. I’m going to have to meet you at Ben’s.”
Yeah, as if that wasn’t going to be awkward. “Are you sure he said he wanted me
to come? Text me.”
    Now I only had to deal with Mr. Doesn’t
Take No For An Answer. Ever.
    Twenty minutes. That gave me just enough time to shower and
get dressed. Maybe I could head him off at the front door before he got inside
and my innocent sisters were exposed to him. Little girls did not need to be subjected to that level
of hotness and sarcasm. Or just hotness.
    BEEP.
    Actually, this one was more of a twirledtweetertwirled —my
text message alert.
    Of course Ben wants
you there. Don’t forget your suit.
    I hurried to my bathroom for as long a shower as I could get
away with. Since they’d pinpointed my triggers, Mom had switched rooms with me
so I had the master suite—amazing how much you looked at yourself to leave the
house. That meant I didn’t have to see anyone until I was fully prepared.
    Or my version of fully prepared.
    In the shower I thought about how to handle Chris. Which had me thinking about Chris. Which
had me thinking about the fact that Chris was a hot guy who seemed to go for
perfect blondes and athletic girls named Amy he couldn’t have.
    Which had me thinking about how not blonde and un perfect I was.
    Not that it mattered in the dating sense. But the idea of
knowing I constantly came up lacking stung. And made me a
little nauseous. Chris was too much like Jared. He was charming—and hot
and popular and a girl-user.
    I could feel my skin getting hot just thinking about
it…getting that tight, anxious feeling.
    This was definitely a bad idea. I’m not sure I could take
the stress. Stress led to too many opportunities for anxiety, and anxiety meant
more locked-in-public-bathroom moments.
    I looked down at my feet, way—way—down the end of my way— way —too long legs, and tried to pull myself
together.
    Almost lying to the best friend. Trying to tutor someone when I’d never tutored anyone before. Trusting