The Smartest Girl in the Room by Deborah Nam-Krane Read Free Book Online Page B

an excellent source of heat."
    "You know what else warms you up?"
    "What?"
    "Laughter!" She stuffed her hands under his
armpits and tickled him. He shouted in surprise, then she ran down
the street, laughing.
    "I am going to kick your butt all over Boston
when I catch you!" he shouted.
    She turned around. "If you catch me!" She
waited for a moment for him to get closer, then turned and ran
faster. She heard him cursing to himself. She ran until she got to
the walkway at Christopher Columbus Park, making sure she didn’t
outpace him so much that he couldn’t see her. She sat on a bench,
crossed her legs and folded her hands over her knees.
    He panted and dropped next to her. "Thank you
for joining me!" she said.
    "Did I mention my knees?"
    Was that something about walking or running
again? She bit her lip. "You could have told me to stop," she said
sheepishly.
    "I would rather be crippled than admit
weakness."
    "Is that the exhaustion or the caffeine
talking?"
    "Just my male pride."
    "Even better. Are you at least warm now?"
    "Oh, I’m warm."
    "Good. But unfortunately, I don’t think we
can stay on this bench."
    "Why, who’s going to get us now?"
    "The cold, you big, crippled jerk."
    "Okay, we can go somewhere else, but that has
to be our last stop until we get to the car. And preferably it will
be something near the car."
    "The car at the Pru?"
    "Is there another car I don’t know
about?"
    "You’re so cute when you’re testy and
injured." A thought came to her, and she smiled gleefully. "I’ve
got the perfect spot."
    "How much walking is involved?"
    "Less than we’ll need to get to your
car."
    "Lead the way."
    At the corner of Atlantic and Kneeland, he
asked, "So, where exactly are we going?"
    "My special place."
    "Are there dolls and tea sets there?"
    "Love tea, hate dolls." She grabbed his hand.
"You’ll see."
    They walked down Kneeland Street until it
turned into Stuart, and then into Boylston. "Are we going to the
library?" They turned onto Arlington and walked toward Commonwealth
Ave. "We’re going to the River?"
    "Basically." They got onto the footbridge
that wound over Storrow Drive. At the end of the bridge they walked
about twenty feet and stopped at the first bench. "Ta da!"
    It was a little reservoir of water bounded by
two benches and shielded by a weeping willow. To the left was a
small footbridge that led to the rest of the river park. Emily sat
down on the bench and patted the seat next to her. "You have to sit
to appreciate it."
    Mitch sat, and once he looked up from that
vantage point, he smiled.
    "Your special place. And how long has this
been special to you?"
    "Just a couple of years now. I stumbled onto
it during the last year of high school. I used to come here to
think." She yawned and stretched out her arms. "Sorry. I guess I
needed more caffeine to stay awake all night."
    "You want to take a nap?"
    "I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’m not
sure this place is special enough to protect us from the people who
go bump in the night."
    He looked at his watch. "It’s not even
nighttime anymore. It’s four-thirty. I could set my watch to wake
us up."
    "Hmm... maybe that’s not a bad idea," she
said, letting her eyes close.
    He set the alarm on his watch and turned to
her. She was fighting sleep, and losing. "Why don’t you put your
head on my shoulder?"
    "You know," she said sleepily, "I used to
love that song."
    "What song?"
    "Ask your parents," she murmured, then let
her head drop onto his chest.
     

CHAPTER 4
     
    Mitch opened his eyes a few hours later.
Emily was sleeping on his chest and he was holding her. She looked
so peaceful.
    He turned off the alarm on his watch. It was
seven-thirty. They’d been asleep for three hours. Best night of his
life, lousiest sleep of his life. Fair trade off.
    "Okay, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up."
    "Wake up?" she murmured sleepily.
    "Yeah. You’re sleeping."
    "Then how come we’re talking?"
    "Because you’re waking up."
    "Then I’m not