The Unloved by Jennifer Snyder Read Free Book Online Page A

tugging the new one on. It had a collar and looked a little preppy, but I could deal with that. I left the last two buttons undone so you could see the white tank I wore beneath and glanced at the pile of denim on my bed. There were two pairs of jeans and one pair of shorts. I tugged on a pair of the jeans and glanced at myself in the mirror, then decided I looked like I was trying too hard so I pulled on the worn out pair I’d had on before and pulled the sticker and tag off the shirt.
    After applying a thick layer of deodorant, I headed toward the kitchen for something to eat while I waited on Blake and Quiet Tom to get here. I grabbed some Ramen noodles, the only thing we had at the moment that was super fast to make. I put a pot of water on the stove to boil, plopped the noodles in, and went to the living room to see what else mom had gotten me. My jaw dropped at the site of the shinny white box resting on the dingy couch.
    She’d bought me a Wii!
    I stuffed down my excitement and shuffled my feet forward, thinking there was no way there was a Wii inside that box. It must have been just a box with something else inside, right? There was no way we could afford that. No way!
    I sat down on the couch and pulled the heavy box into my lap. Carefully I undid the stickers they’d placed on all the sides and opened the box up. Sure as shit there was a white Wii gleaming back at me from inside the box. I pulled it out and walked across the room to set it beside our ancient twenty-inch TV. I’d never been one for reading directions, so I tossed them on the floor and pulled out our TV some so I could hook the two up.
    Three minutes later there was a loud sizzling noise coming from the kitchen. I’d forgotten about my noodles! That was what I got for cooking on high. I darted to the kitchen, turned the stove off, and set the noodles on a back burner, then headed back to the TV. Suddenly I wasn’t hungry anymore—excitement could do that to a person.
    Twenty minutes passed and I still was on my knees attempting to hook the thing up when a knock sounded at my front door.
    “Come in!” I yelled, my head still behind the TV.
    “Hey, man, you ready?” I heard Blake ask.
    “Yeah, just a second. I’ve almost got this thing hooked up,” I said.
    “Here, let me help. I’ve been through like three of these,” he said, bending down. I slid out of his way and wondered how he could afford three of these.
    Blake worked some magic and in just a few minutes everything was all hooked up. I was amazed. Maybe I should have read the directions.
    “I can let you borrow some games whenever, man. I’ve got a ton,” he said.
    “Cool.”
    “You can borrow mine too if you want,” Quiet Tom said from the doorway.
    Seriously, was I the only person in the world who didn’t have a Wii until now?
    I nodded. “Thanks. We ready?”
    “Yup,” Blake said. “Emily’s just meeting us there. She’s riding with the girls.”
    “All right, let’s head out,” I said as I began flipping lights off. I pulled the front door closed behind me and locked it, then climbed in the backseat of Blake’s car.
    Unable to help myself, I glanced at Jules’ house before we drove away. I hoped she’d be at the party tonight.
     
     

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
     
    JULIE
     
    “Ditch the sweater!” Emily shouted at me from the front seat. “I thought you said you were just bringing it for if you got cold later.”
    “I’m a little chilly, is that all right with you?” I asked in a snobbish tone. I didn’t feel comfortable in this tight tank top Tiffany had made me wear. At least I’d still gotten to wear my jeans. They were the ones with the holes in the knees and the frayed pockets. It was funny how some people spent fifty bucks on a pair of jeans like these when all they had to do was wear the crap out of them—they got holey all on their own after a few washes, people.
    “No way, you did not just snap at me over a flipping sweater!” Emily shrieked.
    I