A Saint for Life Read Online Free Page B

Christian Michaels’ autograph. The teenage boys who passed me talked about how they wish they had skill like him. I was running, but I couldn't escape.
    Finally exiting through the doors to the parking garage, an immediate pain shot through my chest after trying to take a deep breath. The temperature had dropped significantly, making it even harder for me to breathe.
    In the car, I blasted the heat and turned the volume up. Keith Urban came on, and a smile of relief appeared on my face. Singing loudly, I jammed out to the sweet sound of victory. I was able to get myself out of what could have been another embarrassing scenario. The next song had just started when my phone interrupted and began to ring. It was Emily.
    “Hey. Is everything okay?” I was still humming the chorus of the last song.
    “Yeah, everything's great! Home yet?”
    “No, not yet. I just left. My car took a while to defrost and the roads are awful!” I carefully pressed on the brakes, afraid that my car would catch the slick roads and slide.
    “Should have just started your car and waited in the arena with us!”
    “I didn't think it was going to take this long. I didn’t know we were supposed to get this much snow, either.”
    “Well, still, you should have. Want to know why?”
    “Why?” I knew she was up to something.
    “Christian came up to me and asked for your number.”
    “You’re real funny. I am so glad he didn’t talk to me. I was so nervous at the table. Glad I avoided that one! Although—”
    “I’m serious,” Emily interrupted my sentence.
    “What do you mean?” That smile on my face disappeared, and my nerves caught back up to me. Emily was an awful liar, and I could hear it in her voice that she was telling the truth.
    “Like I said, he came up to me right after you left, and—”
    “You’re joking. No, he didn’t.” I panicked.
    “Yes, he did, and he asked for your number! Will you just listen? Jeez!”
    “Please don’t tell me you gave it to him! Emily, ugh, I told you I wasn’t interested. You’re joking.” I was frozen at the steering wheel.
    “Zoe, do you realize how lucky you are? If I could have pretended to be you, I would have. It's Christian Michaels!”
    “Relax. He probably won’t even text me.” The snow continued to hit my windshield even heavier than before.
    “Seriously? He’s going to text you. He isn’t just going to ask a random girl for your number then not text you.”
    “I just don’t understand. Why is he even interested? What does he want from me?”
    “Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t be complaining! This is what you wanted, right?”
    “Yeah, well…I mean…I don't know. I'm almost home, though,” I lied to end the conversation. Cars behind me beeped loudly when the light turned green and my foot remained on the brake. Right now getting home safe was more of a priority than Christian texting me. “I'll let you know if he texts me, okay?”
    “He will.” Emily spoke confidently. “Tell Gabe I said hi and that I’ll come see him soon. Get some rest tonight.”
    “Okay, I will. Thank you. The snow is pretty bad, so drive safe!”
    Hanging up the phone, I threw it into my purse on the passenger's seat. Barely able to see through the windows, my slight panic had now turned into a full blown panic attack. Concentrating on the roads became tough when I couldn’t stop thinking about if he was going to text me. What would I even say?
     
    *
     
    I could hardly pull into my driveway with the snow that had accumulated on the ground. Opening the front door to the house, I hit my boots against the steps to knock all of the snow off. My body stung as I entered into my warm house. I was frozen. Quietly walking up the stairs, I stood outside of Gabe's room and listened as he spoke out loud.
    At first it sounded like he was in the middle of a conversation with Janice, our neighbor who helps us out, but I soon realized he was praying. Listening closely, I leaned against the wall