Cali Boys Read Online Free Page B

between them, Jacobi could hear the girl breathe. She snorted when she inhaled, like she was fighting to fill her lungs, and she huffed her exhale like her breath was celebrating escaping her throat. Out of nowhere, the girl took a powdered doughnut out of a box and stuffed it between her lips. In two bites, it was gone. Jacobi didn’t have time for this; she had more important things to do, like go meet Shooby and Katydid, but she wasn’t a punk. If the girl wanted to get handled, by hook or crook, rock or stick, Jacobi would handle her.
    â€œOh my, Orphan Annie has a new friend,” the girl repeated, referring to Alissa as the redheaded character from the movie. “Now we have a giraffe and a leopard.”
    Jacobi cringed. She knew the girl was calling her a leopard because of her acne-marked face. It wasn’t her fault her skin was spotted. “Excuse me?” she asked, her attitude flaring. She might be embarrassed by her uneven breasts and dotted skin, but she wasn’t a doormat. No one—not even this girl, Yummy—was going to torment or step on her. “Say it again if you don’t like breathing. I’m a what, sleaze?”
    The girl swallowed her words, rearing back her head in apparent surprise. “I know you didn’t—”
    Jacobi took her video camera off her neck, then handed it and her purse to Alissa. “I did. And what ?” She walked close enough to Yummy to smell her breath. “Don’t talk about it, be about it. You had so much to say a second ago when you thought I’d cave.”
    Suddenly, Malone walked up. Jacobi stepped away from her new enemy, and everyone else froze. He was the epitome of gorgeous. Yummy’s nasty glare turned into a smile, and Jacobi’s attitude melted. Yummy stepped forward a bit, poking out her well-developed chest. It was more than obvious that Malone had her attention, too. And from what Jacobi could tell, he didn’t feel the same way.
    â€œHi ... uh? Jacobi? Am I saying your name right?” he asked, looking at Jacobi through sparkling baby-browns. His eyes were the prettiest she’d ever seen on a boy, and his lashes were long enough to put mascara-wearers to shame. “Nice camera.” His compliment showed he was impressed, and his traveling gaze said he was sizing her up.
    Jacobi just stared at him, taking him in one blink at a time. He was almost as tall as Diggs. Over six-one, he had short, rich caramel-brown hair. It was cut close, but not too short to hide his God-given curls. In fact, up close, Malone was so perfectly breathtaking that she couldn’t say anything. Nothing. Not even one word would come out of her mouth. She just knew he looked better than any of the girls surrounding him, and that upped her crush that bordered on stalking. Their bathroom window faced his, and there were times she couldn’t help but watch him. He’d primp like a girl, but, from a distance, she noted, there was nothing feminine about him. He had a routine she liked to follow. First, she’d watch him do shirtless push-ups in his bedroom, then her eyes followed him to the dresser mirror, where she’d admire him fixing his hair. After that, she’d daydream about them being a couple as she watched him change clothes, while feelings moved through her body that she didn’t understand. Then he’d leave his room, and, like a feign, she’d run to the living room window to drool at him as he backed out of the driveway in one of his parents’ cars. No, she wouldn’t be watching him anymore because she was crushing on him. She’d keep an eye on him to see if he was filmable. Boys just weren’t supposed to be delicious. Cute—like Shooby—was good. Over-the-top fine like Malone was a killer to a girl’s ego. He just looked like he’d want nothing to do with someone who looked like her.
    Alissa elbowed her in the ribs and cleared her