Secret Identity by Catherine Hapka

Author:Catherine Hapka
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781401383763
Publisher: Disney Book Group

12

DEXTER’S STOMACH CHURNED WITH anxiety as he glanced up at the calendar hanging over the desk in his tiny dorm room. It was already December, which meant only a couple of weeks remained before winter break. He’d had enough reason to dread it already, knowing he would have to return home and face his family. But he also had a couple of other reasons to look forward to the end of the semester with anxiety.

Quit obsessing about it, he scolded himself, glancing down at the open books on his desk and then at the blinking computer screen in front of him. At least until you finish your paper, anyway. It’s bad enough you’re probably going to flunk three out of your five classes as it is; you don’t have to sabotage what should be your best grade this semester. . . .

He sighed, his mind wandering despite his best intentions. Glancing at the stack of thick, intimidating-looking science and Econ books stacked on the floor beside the desk, he shuddered. It would take the next best thing to a miracle for him to pass those three difficult classes, let alone do well in them. No matter how hard he studied, he just couldn’t seem to get the hang of chemistry or biology. And economics simply bored him so much that he couldn’t seem to retain the information in the books or the professor’s lectures.

Dexter’s door was ajar to take advantage of his neighbor’s stereo, which was blasting rap music. It seemed Dexter was the only one on the hall who didn’t have a top-of-the-line sound system, along with a TV and DVD player and various other fancy appliances. A few of the guys had commented on Dexter’s spare, gadget-free room, but he had managed to deflect their curiosity with a convoluted story about his imaginary mother’s new beliefs in Buddhism and minimalism. To his surprise, they seemed to have bought it.

And why shouldn’t they? he thought with a by-now-familiar flash of guilt. They have no reason to think I’d lie to them.

As he forced his eyes back to his computer screen, he heard the door squeak open a little farther. He glanced up, expecting to see one of the guys from the hall stopping by to invite him out for a drink or to watch the game. Instead, Daisy’s smiling blond head poked in.

“Knock knock!” she sang out. “Surprise! I was just passing your building, so I figured I’d pop in.”

“Hey!” Quickly pushing aside his worries, he sprang to his feet and hurried over to her. Somehow, just seeing her face usually made all his problems seem a little less daunting. He would work it all out—after all, he had no choice. He leaned down to give her a kiss, then kicked aside some dirty clothes, notebooks, and crumpled food wrappers that were littering the carpet. “Come on in. Sorry the place is a mess.”

She waved aside the familiar apology, following him back over to his desk. “So I’m supposed to meet Cara in a while—we’re going to Forty-Two for dinner.

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