Shug by Jenny Han Read Free Book Online Page A

tips tend to run out of ink faster. Elaine, are you listening?”
    She’s leaning against our cart, and she straightens up. “Huh? Uh, yeah, the felt tip. Get the felt tip.”
    I roll my eyes and throw the roller balls into the cart.
    As we move through the check-out line, Elaine says, “Hey, what do you think of Hugh Sasser? He’s pretty cute, right?”
    “Yeah, he’s pretty cute. Why? You like him?” This is a new development. Elaine has yet to find one boy from Clementon worthy of her affection.
    She smiles. “I don’t know. Maybe. Depends.”
    We pay for our school supplies, and I have sixty-seven cents in change.
    Tying our bags to our bike handles (Elaine has to takeone of mine), we ride slowly down Grove Street. That’s when we see them: boys. Jack and Hugh and Mark horsing around in front of the ticket booth at the Minnie Sax 99-Cent Movie Theater. It’s Clementon’s historic theater, and it only plays old movies.
    “Be cool,” Elaine whispers to me. Now the boys have seen us too, and they wave, except for Jack. We take our time riding over.
    Mark’s wearing a sky blue polo shirt, and his hair is sweaty. He looks terrific, really terrific. “Hey guys,” he says. He grins at me and kicks my bike, and I kick his shin.
    “What are y’all up to?” Hugh asks, but he only looks at Elaine.
    “Back-to-school shopping,” she says.
    “We’re about to watch a movie,” Hugh says. “Do you guys wanna come with us?”
    At this Jack rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath.
    Elaine and I look at each other, pretending to think it over. She shrugs, I shrug. “Yeah, sure, why not?” she says at last.
    After we pay for our tickets (Elaine spots me the thirty-two cents), the five of us file into the theater. Now, I know that Elaine wants to sit by Hugh, and I of course want to sit by Mark, and neither of us want to sit next to Jack. It’slike walking a tight rope—we have to fix it so that we walk behind or in front of the boy we want to sit next to. Elaine and I figure all this out in one desperately determined look.
    Elaine shouldn’t have worried, because Hugh makes a beeline for her. I don’t have the same kind of luck.
    Mark’s toward the back, and I stoop down to tie my shoelace to buy time. But while I’m busy tying, he whizzes right by me. I run to catch up, and say, “Hey, have you gone back-to-school shopping with your mom yet?”
    “Nah, she’s just gonna go pick out the stuff I need.” I remember when Mrs. Findley used to take the two of us. We’d sit in the back of the station wagon and compare erasers and pencil cases.
    We walk into the theater together, and to my good fortune, I get to sit next to Mark. Elaine is next to Hugh, then Mark, then me, and then Jack, unfortunately. You win some, you lose some.
    It’s hard to concentrate on a movie when the boy who possesses your heart is sitting mere inches away. I feel hyperaware of all my senses, like I never really knew my own body until this very moment. I wish he would hold my hand. I wish I could hold his hand. But I’m afraid. I’m afraid he can hear my heart beating extra fast when webump elbows, I’m afraid that what I feel for him shows all over my face. I’m afraid of everything.
    Sitting there in the dark, I close my eyes. I imagine that we’re on a real date, that it’s just the two of us, that—
    Jack pokes me on the shoulder, hard. “Wake up, butthead.”
    I slap his hand away and try to pay attention to the movie.
    The movie is over too soon. Walking out of the theater, I feel like a real teenage girl who goes to the movies with boys, and I’m scared but I’m excited, too. As Elaine and I are mounting our bikes, Jack says, “Why do you always wear your hair up, Annemarie?” Before I can answer, he yanks the ponytail holder out of my hair and a few strands come out with it.
    I yelp, and my bike falls to the ground with a loud clatter. My cheeks are flaming, and I feel like I have a fever. Stomping on his foot,