Runaway by Francine Pascal

Author:Francine Pascal [Pascal, Francine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

Eight

For the fourth time Sheila offered Jessica a beer, and for the fourth time, Jessica declined.

Nicky had picked her up at six o'clock and told her they were going to a party. He didn't tell her the party was going to be in Tierra Verde, about an hour's drive from Sweet Valley. Usually Jessica loved parties, but this one was different. She hardly knew anyone, and the people she did know, she didn't know well. And unlike most of the parties she went to, there was a lot of beer being passed around.

Don't worry, Jessica told herself, you can handle it. It was the first time she had been around Nicky's friends, and she was anxious to show him that she could fit in—or rather, that they could find a kind of common ground between their two very different life-styles. That didn't mean that she was going to sit around drinking beer with Nicky's friends, but she was going to try to fit in as much as possible, if only to please Nicky.

The party was being held at the home of a boy named Mike. Jessica hadn't heard his last name. Mike's parents were in Florida for a week, and Mike was taking care of the house. Evidently the party had been going on since they had left. The house was a mess: empty beer cans and pizza boxes littered the basement; the furniture had been moved to one side to make room for dancing; and the driveway in front of the house was a mass of cars and motorcycles. Jessica thought the condition of Mike's house made her bedroom look immaculate in comparison.

She was sitting on a sofa, speaking with two girls she didn't know. Sheila, the one who sat across from her and was doing most of the talking, was a dyed redhead who wore so much mascara and eye liner that she looked like a raccoon. Jessica liked the other girl, who was sitting on the couch beside her. Her name was June. She was petite, with dark, curly hair and very pretty blue eyes. Jessica thought that the reason she liked June was that she had hardly said a word and wasn't a drinker either. She seemed perfectly content to sit there, drinking a Coke and listening to Sheila talk on and on about her boyfriend, Tad.

Nicky hadn't spent much time with Jessica. Soon after they'd arrived, he had been hustled into a game of pool at the table across the room. But every few minutes, Jessica looked up to find Nicky staring at her. He was smiling sympathetically, a smile that seemed to thank Jessica for putting up with his friends.

Seeing Nicky in this atmosphere only made Jessica feel closer to him. He didn't seem to fit in with these people, either. He didn't talk much and refused the marijuana joint that was being passed around. He had drunk a few beers but didn't seem to be affected by them.

"Don't you think so, Jess?"

Jessica looked at Sheila, who had obviously just asked her a question.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.