So Shall I Reap by Kathy-Lynn Cross Read Free Book Online

with whatever makes you feel good at the time—a smoke in the other, tongue out. And yes, I still have my tonsils. No one could tie me down to a specific clique, but I’ve always believed there is someone for everyone to hang out with. From the tweens who search for the right image to the ones who don’t give a crap. And I almost forgot about the Inbetweeners , who jumped from one extreme fad to the next.
    Trust me, it’s hard to build a rapport when the lambs can’t decide which shepherd to follow.
    ***
    The friends I have are neither sheep nor do we consider ourselves leaders. From the time we uttered the ABCs… to our first PG movie without our parents, we’ve been there for each other. I cherish them for accepting my true nature, fluttering from clique to clique. Strategically, I made my presence known, sipping the sweet nectar of information, before school, at lunch, and after school functions. It’s how I stay in touch with the five W’s. Four of them are questions anyone needs to ask: Who, What, When… the Why is self-explanatory… because we Want to.
    One of my best buds is Jake Harlin Steal, but he goes by the name Ghost because he likes being heard but not seen. His family held him back a grade when he was little. Jake would have been a senior this year, but because of his lack of maturity, he fits in well with the junior crowd. Ghost is almost a year and a half older than me and uses the age difference for leverage when I’m not listening, or he wants me to do his English homework. Jake is the lifeline when playing the game How to Make a Million Mistakes. Sometimes I wish he could be my big brother. Now that I think about it, I guess he is… in a way.
    Then there’s Demetria Kara Stuart, but we all call her Dee. She is perky, bright, and extremely high-strung. The latter is the main cause of her drastic mood swings. Dee looks tiny for her age, but heaven forbid if you piss her off. Trust me when I say, you definitely want her in your corner before a fight. Her one flaw… she’s the human version of the Peanuts cartoon character, Lucy. She analyzes everything, gives five cents worth of advice, then wants a tip. Dee has no problem handing out advice to anyone she feels is a charity case, and she just applies it to their credit. She’s our very own conscience cricket, for the most part, keeping our little clan from getting into serious trouble. When she’s not playing therapist, she rambles. We presume she loves the sing-song lilt of her own voice.
    The last introduction is for Blakely Violet Sanderson. Miss Blakely takes the cake, frosting, and all. She is gorgeous but hides behind her tomboy name. Dresses in grunge and wears dark colors to conceal her outer beauty, among other things. We are polar opposites. I’m a girl walking on the edge of life, tempted to jump, but she will do a graceful swan dive from the highest cliff without even thinking. Blakely is probably the only person close enough to me for the title best friend , but we don’t name brand each other. It’s only a label anyway.
    ***
    Because of me, Blake and Ghost put up with Tod’s demeanor; whereas, Dee flat out despised the guy. She believed he suffered from a rare condition called contagious jock itch . It was a quirk of his. If you asked him a question he didn’t know, he would scratch the back of his head. Dee implied he might be infectious because he was always scratching the wrong head. She prayed that I was immune to stupid because he couldn’t relate to others if it wasn’t about sports and struggled to understand their point of view on things. My friends understand how I operate which means the world to me. Supporters are very hard to come by. You hang onto them with loving claws, digging in and never letting go.
    Night before last we were getting back late from a gathering by the lakes. My parents expected me to stay home on school nights. If I weren’t working at the Sip ’N Chug, the temptation angel would sit on