Summer's Desire by Olivia Lynde Read Free Book Online Page A

much
notice of them, as well as of other parts of my anatomy. I don't want to draw
attention to myself—having boys hitting on me and asking me things is a hassle
I would rather do without. I'm not in the market for any relationship nor do I
want a meaningless sexual hookup, so that pretty much means I have no use for guys.
    Not to mention, boys paying too much
attention to me often equals, in my unfortunate experience, having the popular
girls giving me too much attention as well, mostly in the form of nasty looks
aimed at me and attempts to trip me in the hallways. Which I would also rather
do without.
    Besides, as an orphan girl living in
foster homes, I quickly decided that the smart thing to do (besides locking my
door at night) was to make myself as unappealing as possible. I've had a couple
of shady foster fathers and brothers who looked at me in a way that made me
uneasy, so better to be safe than sorry, right?
    Which is why I wear my "uniform",
consisting of baggy, worn jeans, and sweaters and hoodies that are several
sizes too large. My long hair I put up in an unsightly bun. Plus, I have
perpetual dark shadows under my eyes because of how little I sleep, and I never
wear makeup.
    Even so, every once in a while my face
brings me some unwanted male interest—maybe because my hazel eyes are too odd or
striking contrasted against my pale skin and blond hair?—but it's nothing I
can't handle.
    Well then, if I plan to remain invisible
at Rockford High, I should probably get moving. I've been standing in front of
the school like a statue for almost five minutes and some of the students are beginning
to stare at me. So I duck my head and walk toward the entrance.
     
    * * *
     
    After picking up my schedule in the main
office, I reach my first class, Honors English, seconds before the bell rings.
I go up to the teacher, Mrs. Roberts, a kindly looking forty-something woman,
and introduce myself. She gives me a book and points out a free seat near the
window, next to a brown-haired girl with glasses. I'm thankful that Mrs.
Roberts doesn't ask me to introduce myself in front of the entire classroom;
I'm already drawing far too many curious glances as it is.
    I go to my seat and the brown-haired
girl offers me a broad, friendly smile, which I return with a much smaller one.
I look at the book and groan mentally. Not this again; it'll be my third time
studying The Importance of Being Earnest !
    That's just another unfortunate
consequence of my having gone through seventeen foster homes in five years. Ms.
Walker, in particular, tried very hard to place me with families living in the
same school district so I wouldn't have to change schools too often; but
sometimes there really was no other option or I'd exhausted all the local
foster families, and I had to move further away.
    In total I've changed eight schools, and
even though I suppose it could have been worse considering my history of seventeen foster homes, still it's made things difficult for me, especially with having
to adapt to different school curricula so often. The only reason why I'm still in
any Honors classes is because I sleep so little, so I have lots of time for
studying.
    That, and I have no social life.
    At any rate, everything that the teacher
is currently saying I've already heard twice before, so I let my mind wander. Sooner
than expected, the bell signals the end of class.
    The brown-haired girl turns instantly and
sticks out her hand to me. "Hello there! I'm Marcie Lauren, and you're new
here." She's smiling widely.
    God, I don't want a friend! But she's so
nice and earnest-looking that I can't bring myself to reject her as I know I should.
I shake her hand once, then release it quickly.
    "Hello, Marcie. I'm Summer, and
yes, I'm new. How did you guess?" I joke, smiling slightly.
    She snickers as we rise from our seats
and head for the door. "Please, like there was any chance for you to get
lost in the crowd! Pretty much ninety percent of the kids at