They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire

Author:Roxanne St. Claire [Claire, Roxanne St.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-307-97700-7
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: 2014-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIX

After leaving the nurse’s office, I cruise by my locker and find Josh leaning against it, nodding and murmuring “ ’Sup?” to passersby but holding my gaze as I approach.

“Hey, Fifth.”

I want to smack him for calling me that, but he reaches out his hand to me and I take it, letting him pull me in closer. “Where have you been?”

“Nurse’s office.”

He frowns. “Why’d you go there?”

I search his face for a second, considering telling him more. Everything, in fact. But Nurse Fedder’s words are still fresh. “Grief counseling.”

“Are you okay?”

“No.” The admission is out before I can stop myself. “I’m not okay. How can anyone be okay?”

He lifts my hand to his heart. “You can be okay because you’re with me.”

I appreciate the sentiment, corny and cocky as it may be, but it doesn’t comfort me. It makes me want to laugh. “You sure don’t lack for ego, do you?”

“Because I’m sexy and I know it?” he sings, giving his shoulders a playful shimmy.

I’m still smiling at him, maybe—just maybe—starting to feel that sensation I’ve been waiting for. He’s funny, he’s cute, and, holy hell, he likes me. And, added bonus, he hasn’t been escorted out of school by the police today. Why am I fighting it so much? Why am I thinking about the wrong boy?

“Seriously, babe,” he says, fleetingly making me prefer Fifth in the nickname department. “I didn’t realize you were such good friends with Chloe.”

“I wasn’t.” To be honest, I didn’t even like her. But that doesn’t make this any easier. “It’s still sad.”

“School’s a wreck,” he agrees. “Nobody’s doing anything. Me and Ty are cutting out. Did you get my text?”

I nod.

“Well? Wanna come?”

The idea of cutting class is so foreign to me I almost laugh again. “I don’t …” Wait a second. Why not? Who’s going to know, today? I’ve always wanted to just walk out of school and not care, to go have fun and laugh and hang out with kids who don’t worry about declensions or trig identities or passing the AP exams. And God knows I could use a change of scenery.

“Okay. Where to?”

“Let’s just drive.” He gestures toward my locker. “Ditch your books and we’ll go. Ty’s in the parking lot already.”

A few minutes later, I’m sitting in Josh’s Audi, inhaling the smell of leather and listening to really annoying rap music. Tyler Griffith, another football player, is slouched in the back, earbuds in, his attention firmly on his phone.

Josh keeps one hand on the gearshift, tapping the other on the steering wheel as we pull out of the parking lot, the image of a young man in control, cool and calm. That helps me—a lot. With each passing minute, I consider the possibility of sharing the whole curse business with him.

Ty isn’t paying attention, but will Josh think I’m a nutcase and tell everyone, and the other girls will want to kill me? What if there’s something to the secrecy? What if telling someone about the curse brings it to fruition?

Stop it, Kenzie.

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