Temptation: A Novel by Travis Thrasher Read Free Book Online Page A

restroom and then get some air outside.
    These hallways have a weird white glow about them, like they could double as the halls for a mental institution. I’ve always assumed it was the strangers inside these halls that caused my mind to grow slowly numb, but now I realize the funky lighting contributed.
    As I’m walking out of the restroom, my hands still wet because there were no paper towels to dry them on, I’m heading toward the main doors where the empty cafeteria sits and waits for all the heapings of bad food to be dished out next year.
    I’m almost to the door when I see him.
    A tall guy in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Walking down the other hallway, away from the front doors and from where our classroom is.
    He turns and glances my way, then keeps walking.
    I blink because I swear …
    No you didn’t just see that.
    But half of his face kinda appeared—dark and grisly and gone, like the blond-haired guy at the end of The Dark Knight.
    Imagination and boredom, Chris.
    The hallway lights on that side of the school are turned off, but he’s still walking over there.
    I feel cold. Like an air conditioner suddenly got plugged in and a gust of cold air is blasting over me. I shiver and can’t help it.
    A part of me wonders if it has anything to do with the guy I just saw, but …
    Knock it off, Chris.
    I refuse to spook myself out anymore.
    This life isn’t some script from a horror movie. I’m tired of being in that story.
    Brick is standing outside with a cigarette and nods to me as I come out.
    “Where’s my smoke?” I ask.
    “You finally want one?”
    I shake my head. “Just kidding. Hey—did you see a tall kid walking by?”
    Brick shakes his head.
    It’s easy to forget about that kid I saw. I’m sure he was just another Harrington student who needed to come in for some awful reason.
    We finish early, since Mr. Taggart is anxious to get home and do nothing, and I wait for Lily to walk out the door. As the others head out of the room, she moves slowly. So do I. Then she moves even slower.
    It’s obvious that I’m waiting for her.
    “Yes?” she eventually says.
    “Everything okay?” I force myself to ask.
    “Now why would you think something’s wrong?”
    It’s the same tone she used with Mr. Taggart.
    That’s not a good thing.
    “I just—I don’t know. You’re kinda quiet.”
    “Not sitting next to you guys is different from being quiet.”
    “Okay. Yeah, I guess so.”
    “After you,” she says. “I insist.”
    I walk out the door and head down the hallway. She follows from a distance.
    I pause and turn around. “Anything I can, uh, do?”
    What a stupid question, Chris.
    She shakes her head and gives me one of the smiles that an adult gives a child.
    You’re not going to find another Jocelyn, so just move on out.
    I keep walking and don’t say another word to her. And I think that I’m probably right. Jocelyn was this beautiful girl who I discovered wasn’t just some silent, stuck-up beauty, but much more. There was so much more going on with her.
    With her and surrounding her.
    But some girls who happen to be hot act like they know it and that’s it. End of the discussion.
    As I get on my bike, I see Lily getting in the car with Harris. I wonder how she got here this morning, then realize it’s stupid thinking about someone who’s not thinking about you.

17. A Slap and a Punch
     
    When I get home, I find Mom already wasted.
    It’s not even lunchtime.
    I open the door and see her in the kitchen and know something’s up, since she always works lunch and dinner during the week.
    “Chris, you’re home,” she says.
    And right there I know.
    On the way up, my mom sounds like this. Happy and light if not a bit slippery and slurring. On the way down, before she blacks out, she’s either half unconscious or she’s half possessed.
    She’s good to go.
    The question is where she needs to go to . I think AA would be fitting.
    “I’m so glad, because you and I are going to