Zarr, Sara - Sweethearts by Sweethearts Read Free Book Online

bloated and undeserving. Without thinking about how it would make Ethan feel, I backed away. He let his arm drop, looking hurt. "Apparently not." "Sorry," I said, trying to sound it. "Hormones." "Okay." We walked to homeroom without saying anything. He went off to talk to Gil before the bell rang and I sat in my seat, finishing trig homework and chewing my gum, hard. I'd skipped breakfast to make up for my binge and all I could think about was a chocolate croissant I'd had over the summer from the Avenues Bakery. My mind was totally absorbed by the idea of buttery and chocolatey when Katy hurried in, fell into the seat next to me, and whispered, "Who's the new guy?" I lifted my head and focused. He was in the front row, his back to us in an untucked plaid flannel shirt. We stared at the back of his dark head, Katy craning her neck. "I can't see his face. But I predict cuteness. You can tell even from the back." She folded her hands and bowed her head in mock prayer: "Please, God, let this one stay." "Cameron." I barely said it. It was more like a thought accompanied by lips moving and a little air coming out. "Huh?" Katy asked. When I didn't answer, she looked at me. "Are you okay? Your face just turned all pasty." "Cameron," I said again, louder. He heard me and turned his head. His big eyes locked on mine and the rest of the room disappeared. There was no Katy, no Ethan or Gil, no Steph. No walls, no windows, no door. Maybe what was happening was a dream, a lucid dream you almost make happen by wanting something so much. But then the room and the other people in it shimmered back into existence and Mr. Moran was introducing the class to the seventeenth member of Jones Hall's senior class: Cameron Quick. Katy sighed and slumped down into her seat. "Oh my hell," she muttered. "Those eyes." "I'm sure I can count on all of you to make him feel right at home," Mr. Moran said, smiling out over the class. "You know him," Katy said. "Tell me everything." We were on our way to physiology, hanging back from the rest of the group. She clutched at me, her eyes wide and neck turning pink the way it did when she was excited about something. After homeroom Cameron had walked past me and handed me a note. All it said was, "I'll explain when we're alone." I wanted to hear his voice and touch him. It had been all I could do to keep from grabbing him right then to see if he was really real. "I don't know him." My knees barely functioned, my mouth almost too dry to speak. "You said his name, Jenna!" "I think..." Ethan, in front of us, turned back and reached out his hand for me to take. I jogged a little to catch up with him and took it, a direct physical link to the present. Katy stayed right in step. I continued, "I think he went to my school when we were kids. Like, little kids." "And you recognized him? Just like that?" "Photographic memory." "Well, he's hot," she said, "and tall. Taller than me. Do you know how hard it is for me to find guys taller than me?" "Yes," I said, which seemed insufficient. What snappy-but-not-mean comment would Jenna Vaughn come up with? "Based on our two thousand past conversations about it, I have a notion." The explanation for all of this was probably simple. I'd been thinking it through since getting the birthday card: He'd moved away, was all, and fifth- graders weren't renowned for their skill at keeping in touch. Matt Bradshaw and Jordana used it to torment me, because they could. And now he was back, end of story. But he hadn't said good-bye. He would have said good-bye. And my mother had also believed he was dead, so ... "Are you saying you know that kid?" Ethan was asking. "That new kid?" "Not really." I squeezed his hand, harder than I meant to. "Ow." He pulled his hand away, shaking it. "Sorry. Do we have a play meeting or anything after school? A rehearsal?" I wanted to force us all forward before we took too long a detour with questions about Cameron. "We can't have a rehearsal until we have a cast,