The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis Read Free Book Online Page A

using school supplies for the church.”
    â€œI doubt that fast-tracks you to hell,” I say before I can reconsider my language.
    She laughs a little, her rhinestone-encrusted glasses moving up on her face about an inch as her nose crinkles.
    â€œHey, Karen,” I say, since we’re being conspiratorial. “What’s with the cop car?”
    â€œDrug assembly,” she says. “You know . . .” She holds her fingers up to her mouth, and totally surprises me by using the right indication for pot instead of a cigarette. “We’ll be on a one-hour-delay schedule; everyone will go to the auditorium first thing. The principal will make an announcement soon, but you’ve got a hot tip so you can get a good seat.”
    I tell Sara what’s up as we head to our lockers, the promised announcement drawing groans from the kids in the hall.
    â€œWhy can’t you have connections that can get us a hot tip for good seats to a Reds game?” Sara asks.
    â€œI’ll see if they have a Lutheran night or something coming up,” I tell her, and she elbows me.
    â€œWhat’s in the bag?”
    I lean in a little closer to her than necessary when I answer. Carrying around church bulletins at school is not going to break me out of the preacher’s-kid label anytime soon. Sara’s trying not to laugh at me when Branley’s very bronzed, perfectly smooth shoulder knocks into mine hard enough to send the bag flying out of my hands, a hundred copies of the Lord’s Prayer and next week’s hymn numbers spreading out in a fan down the hall.
    â€œSorry,” Branley says. She’s on her knees restacking bulletins before she even looks up to see who sheobliterated with her bony knob. Her eyes meet mine as I start scraping piles of paper into the bag, not caring that a bunch are getting bent.
    â€œOh,” she says, her hands freezing. “Sorry,” she mutters again, before her similarly tanned friend Lila pulls her to her feet and they head off toward the auditorium. Sara helps me with what’s left and we’re the last kids in the hall. Someone is tapping the microphone in the auditorium, the knock-knock sound filling our ears as we turn the corner to the double doors. Branley and Lila are standing in the doorway, heads craning as they look around the darkened room for the rest of the in-crowd.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I didn’t hear Alex come up behind me, so I jump when she asks, drawing the attention of the teachers lining the back wall.
    â€œC’mon, girls, let’s go,” Miss Hendricks says, shepherding me, Sara, Alex, Branley, and Lila up to the front row—the only place there are five seats left.
    â€œGood seats, sweet ,” Sara hisses in my ear.
    â€œShut up,” I say, settling in with Sara on one side of me and Alex on the other. At least I didn’t end up next to Branley, both of us trying not to share an armrest or keep our legs from touching the entire time.
    The principal takes the podium and tells us about how a member of the local police is here to give an important presentation, and reminds us that we’rerepresenting our school. He trots out a few more stock phrases that none of us even hears anymore. We politely clap as the officer comes out, a few girls paying more attention once we get a good look at him.
    He’s got the clean-cut thing going on, a good jawline, and the kind of body that makes me wonder if they actually rented him from somewhere. But he’s wearing a gun and walks like he’s taking each step really seriously, so I’m pretty sure he’s a legit cop. He takes the microphone off the podium and walks to the middle of the stage so we can see his whole body. No dumbass, this one.
    â€œHey, I’m Marilee Nolan’s brother,” he says, instead of introducing himself as Officer Nolan, which is smart since we were all going to surreptitiously text one another