Summer of the Geek by Piper Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

hear?”
    “You pick. Anything,” I said. I sat down on the white wing chair and folded my hands on my lap.
    Amelia considered my request, and for a moment, I thought she was going to refuse. But then she shrugged one shoulder, lifted her fingers to the keyboard, and began to play. This piece was quite different from the last. Her fingers danced over the keyboard, teasing the song out, while I leaned back in my chair and let the music wash over me.

Chapter Six
    “I ’m impressed. I had no idea you were so devious, Miranda,” Dex said that evening.
    We were sitting in the theater while we waited for our movie to start, sharing a large popcorn with extra butter. One of the many things I liked about Dex was that his appetite was as large as mine. I could never be one of those girls who claim to get full grazing on lettuce leaves and carrot sticks.
    “What do you mean?” I asked, reaching for a handful of popcorn.
    “You totally played Amelia,” Dex said.
    “No, I didn’t,” I said.
    “Sure you did,” Dex said. “She wasn’t talking to you before, right? But then you complimented her, schmoozed her up, and ta-da —now you’re best buddies.”
    “Ta-da? There was no ta- da,” I said. “First of all, we’re not best buddies. We’ve only just gotten to the point where she’ll stay in the same room with me. And second, I wasn’t trying to manipulate her into liking me.”
    “Deny it all you want,” Dex said. “But it’s hard to argue with results. Didn’t you say she agreed to go to that pottery painting place with you tomorrow?” He smiled at me in a way that made my stomach flutter. “That’s definite progress.”
    Amelia had agreed to go to the pottery studio with me, which I considered a minor victory. I hadn’t expected her to go along with the idea when I proposed it, but she surprised me.
    “Sure,” Amelia had said, shrugging. “It’s better than stupid Monopoly.”
    I now reached for another handful of popcorn, tossing the buttery kernels into my mouth one at a time. “I was going to suggest we go to the pool, but Amelia can’t swim.”
    “Really?” Dex frowned. “That’s not very safe, especially when you live in a town surrounded by water.”
    “That’s what I thought,” I said. “You’re a lifeguard. Do you ever give swimming lessons?”
    “I could. Does she want to learn how to swim?” Dex asked.
    I shrugged. “Probably not, but I’ll ask her. Although considering how contrary Amelia is, I’d probably have better luck if I use reverse psychology. I’ll tell her that under no circumstances is she ever allowed near a pool. She’ll be swimming laps within a week just to prove me wrong.”
    “See? You are devious,” Dex said.
    “Dex?”
    Dex and I both looked up at the sound of his name. The girl standing there in the aisle, beaming down at my boyfriend, was gorgeous. She was tall and slender, with thick golden blond hair that fell in waves down around her shoulders. She had large brown eyes, a perfectly straight nose, and full lips that were curled up in a devastating smile. She was probably the prettiest girl I’d ever seen outside of movies and magazines. She was even prettier than Hannah.
    I hated her on sight.
    “Wendy!” Dex said.
    He stood and, to my horror, hugged her. Wendy? Had Dex ever mentioned a Wendy? And then, with dawning dread, I realized who she was.
    Wendy Erikson . Dex’s ex-girlfriend.
    Hannah once told me Dex and Hannah had broken up when Wendy transferred from Orange Cove High to a prep school somewhere up north, so she’d be closer to New York City, where she was pursuing a modeling career. Hannah had been incredibly envious of Wendy’s success there. I think it was part of what had gotten Hannah so gung ho about launching her own modeling career.
    But knowing that Wendy was somewhere out there—perfect and pretty, but also far, far away—was another thing entirely to being confronted with her gorgeousness in the middle of the Orange