Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky Read Online Free

school?”
    Kate could not have looked any more stunned if he’d just proposed that they move to Columbia
    State together and become coffee bean farmers. “You want to . . .study? With me?”
    “Yeah. Math, specifically.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not doing that great in it. I could
    real y use your help.” He added a drop of pleading to his expression and watched as Kate’s eyes widened
    and softened simultaneously. Those pretty, enormous brown eyes.
    Carswell was surprised to feel a jolt behind his sternum, and suddenly, he was almost looking
    forward to his studying time with Kate Fallow, which was a rather unexpected twist.
    Because, of course, she would say yes.
    Although it was Blakely who spoke next. “ Carswell . We should get started on this assignment, don’t you think?” There was an edge to her tone that Kate must have noticed. Something that hinted at
    jealousy.
    With a glance back at Blakely, Kate looked more flustered than ever. But then she nodded and gave
    an awkward shrug. “Sure. Alright.”
    Carswell beamed. “Great. And also – I hate to ask this – but would you mind if I took a look at
    today’s assignment? I tried to do it last night, but was completely lost. All those equations. . .”
    “Mr. Thorne,” said Professor Gosnel, suddenly hovering between him and Kate, “this is literature
    class. Perhaps you could use your time to discuss literature .”
    He tilted his head back to meet her gaze. “Oh, we are discussing literature, Professor.” Clearing his
    throat, he tapped the screen pul ing up Kimbrough’s 39th published work, Marooned in the Asteroid
    Labyrinth . The explanation bubbled up as smoothly as they always did, a skil he’d been cultivating since childhood. “As you can see, dramatist Joel Kimbrough often played on themes of loneliness and
    abandonment, in which the protagonist is forced to overcome not only external obstacles like space
    monsters and malfunctioning spaceship engines, but also the internal devastation that comes with
    complete solitude. His works often employ the vast emptiness of space as a metaphor for social
    isolation. In the end, his protagonists overcome their feelings of insecurity only after they accept the help of an unlikely assistant, such as an android or an alien or . . .” His mouth quirked to one side. “. . .a pretty girl who happens to be a skil ed marksman when she’s handed a high-powered ray gun.”
    A wave of tittering rolled through the class, confirming Carswell’s suspicions that he now had an
    audience.
    “You, you see,” he said, gesturing again at the screen, “I was just telling Miss Fal ow that the themes
    in Kimbrough’s work are symbolic of my own personal struggles with math homework. I so often feel
    lost, insecure, confused, completely abandoned . . .but by joining forces with a pretty girl who
    understands the problems I currently have to work through, I may yet overcome the obstacles laid out
    before me, and achieve my ultimate goal: high marks in math class.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug
    and added, for good measure, “And also literature class, naturally.”
    Professor Gosnel stared down at him with her lips pressed and he could tell that she was still
    annoyed, although simultaneously trying to hide a twinge of amusement. “I somehow doubt you’ve ever
    felt insecure about anything in your whole life, Mr. Thorne.”
    He grinned. “I’m a teenager, Professor. I feel insecure all the time.”
    The class chuckled around him, but Professor Gosnel sighed. “Just try to stay on task, Mr. Thorne,”
    she said, before turning her back to her own screen and listing some of the literary terms students
    should be using to discuss their assignments – words like themes , metaphors , and symbolism . Carswell smirked.
    Then a voice broke out of the mild chatter, loud enough to reach Carswel , but quite enough to
    make it seem like it wasn’t intentional. “If it’s a pretty girl that he