Vacations From Hell by Claudia Gray, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Libba Bray, Sarah Mlynowski Read Free Book Online

obviously hoping to prove her point.
    “I’m strong.” Scott kept his face completely straight. “I can take it.” The glint in his eyes told Cecily that he’d lose the game on purpose, just like she would have on her own—which would make Theo’s ego almost unbearable, but would also make him really happy.
    Gorgeous, sweet, built, and nice to little kids. Okay, I have to figure out what’s wrong with this guy before it drives me insane.
    “How did you meet Kathleen?” Cecily said as Theo dropped the ball into the table.
    “At school,” Scott said, giving the ball a whack. “I’dseen her around all year, but we never got to know each other. Then after spring break, the first time I laid eyes on her—it was like I was seeing her for the first time. You know?”
    “Mmm.” Cecily concentrated on the game for a second, because that seemed like the best way not to actually gag out loud.
    Scott continued, “It’s sort of funny, though. We have this great relationship, even though we don’t enjoy the same things. I used to think that was impossible.”
    “What kind of stuff do you like to do?” Cecily felt she could guess Kathleen’s interests: reading gossip magazines, bleaching her roots, tormenting the innocent.
    “You would never guess my number-one hobby.”
    “I’m not even going to try. Just tell me.”
    “I like to cook.” Surprised, Cecily glanced at Scott instead of the foosball table, which gave Theo a chance to score. As Theo cheered himself, Scott laughed. “You don’t think guys should cook? You don’t look old-fashioned.”
    “I’m not,” she said. “It’s just—you know—I love to cook.”
    Scott nodded. “You get it, then. I was thinking about maybe trying to become a chef someday.”
    At home on Cecily’s desk, where most of her friends would’ve kept college catalogs of prospective universities, she had brochures from every top cooking school inthe nation and a couple in Paris. “Oh,” she said weakly. “Me too. That’s—”
    “A huge coincidence, huh?” Scott gave her a conspiratorial grin. “I’m crazy about Kathleen, but I don’t think she can even make toast.”
    Cecily’s absolute, ultimate dream for her future was one she’d never seriously expected to come to pass, because dreams were dreams and reality was reality and she felt people were better off understanding the difference. But it was still fun to dream, so she’d imagined falling in love with a gorgeous, sweet, built guy who loved cooking absolutely as much as she did. Then they would open their own restaurant together, and it would be a huge success, and Cecily and the future Mr. Cecily would be incredibly happy cooking side by side.
    And Scott was the very first guy she’d ever met who’d made her realize that dream might not actually be impossible.
    “It’s great that you know what you want,” Scott said. “Too many people don’t.”
    “Exactly! They keep saying that at our age, you don’t have to make up your mind. But shouldn’t you want to make up your mind?”
    “So you have some direction. It’s all so much clearer that way.”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Hey,” Theo said loudly. “You’re not even paying attention!”
    Cecily blushed. Scott laughed and rumpled Theo’s hair. “Sorry, buddy. We were just trying to get you off your guard, so maybe we’d stand a chance.” Then he glanced back at Cecily, and something about the affection in his blue eyes made her bones seem to liquefy. She leaned against the table, telling herself that kissing another girl’s boyfriend in the middle of a crowded room wasn’t a good idea. Even though her body seemed to be swaying toward him, beyond her control—
    “What’s going on in here?” Kathleen wandered in, holding her hands out in front of her, fingers splayed. Her nails gleamed wetly of red polish.
    Theo said, “Scott’s helping Cecily, but I can still beat them both!”
    Kathleen sighed. “I guess there’s no helping Cecily, is