The Fallen by Celia Thomson Read Free Book Online

I will be the cool best friend.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    I will be the cool best friend.
    Chloe repeated her little mantra through English the next day as she watched Amy and Paul try very hard not to watch each other. Who cared? Why were they trying to keep it a secret? It wasn’t as if anyone in the school actually gave a rat’s ass about this particular trio of friends or what went on between them. Mr. Mingrone turned to sketch a giant scarlet
A
on the blackboard. When Amy used the opportunity to toss Paul a note, Chloe put her head down. The plastic desktop reeked of old glue, the sharp tang of pencil lead, and other, less identifiable but equally unpleasant odors, but anything was preferable than watching Paul and Amy.
    I will be cool
    Paul was nominally on the school newspaper, which allowed him (and Amy and Chloe) access to the club’s better computers and equipment, as well as the old ratty couch and semiprivate room. Almost no one used it until after school, which allowed the three of them to hang there during the day if Paul was around. Chloe decided to use sixth period to catch up on some much-missed sleep.
    Chloe knocked tentatively on the ancient, solid-oak door, praying that she wouldn’t catch her two best friends making out.
    â€œCome,” Paul called, using his Captain Picard voice. Amy was definitely not around.
    In fact, when Chloe went in, Paul actually appearedto be working on the paper, sitting on the edge of his desk and looking over an article.
    â€œCrunchy cheese-baked scrod every Wednesday for the next
month”
He sighed, throwing down the lunch schedule. It was Paul, Amy, and Chloe’s private opinion that the only reason anyone read
The Lantern
was for the cafeteria menu and Sabrina Anne’s often-banned column.
    â€œWhy don’t you get your mom to pack a lunch? PB and kimchi. Breakfast of champions.” Chloe threw her book bag, and then herself, onto the couch.
    â€œYeah, right.” Paul kicked his legs under the desk.
    It was strange having him look down on her like that. Or maybe it was just an overall change in his demeanor since the whole hooking-up-with-Amy thing. He seemed calm and confident, like he was relaxing on a throne instead of perched on a desk. Actually, he looked pretty good today. He was wearing a simple black T-shirt and baggy jeans that complemented his square, compact body better than any of the bowling shirts or DJ wear he often sported.
    Uh, what?
Chloe suddenly realized she was
admiring
Paul’s looks. Good ol’ Paul, with the harelip scar that tugged his mouth when he smiled.
Kind of endearing, really…
    Chloe shook herself.
    â€œSo what’s been going on?” she asked quickly.
    â€œBetween you almost dying and Amy? Not a whole lot.” He looked at her with faint amusement in his dark brown eyes. Chloe felt her palms sweat. It was a smallroom, secluded from the rest of the high school; their aloneness was a very palpable third presence in the room with them.
    It’s just because Amy likes him,
she told herself.
A competition thing.
In the still air of the room she could just smell the deodorant and soap he used and underneath, a saltiness that she realized was probably his skin. The way he was sitting there, it would be so easy just to walk over and push herself against him; they would be the same height. She could wrap her arms around his neck like she had with Xavier and pull him in—
    â€œRobbie robble, blah blah blah—hey, King, you listening?”
    â€œYes!” She leapt up, trying to shake off the desire. “No. I mean, I gotta go. I, uh, forgot to hand in my essay to Mingrone—shit, I hope he hasn’t left yet.”
    She grabbed her bag and made for the door.
    â€œI think he said we have until tomorrow,” Paul called after her. The door slammed between them.
    I will be cool.
    Yeah, right.
    At work Chloe forced herself to seriously look over every