Days Like This Read Online Free Page B

legend. So we’re obviously meant to be friends,” she’d said, reaching
her hand out for mine.
    “Do you have a Johnny?”
I’d asked.
    June crossed
her arms. “I am the Johnny. Legends don’t need a counterpart.”
    We’d been
friends ever since.
    June threw an
eraser at me and sighed again. I
looked up at her over my sunglasses.
    “Wait, you’re
studying, too?” she asked.
    I pointed down
at my textbook. “This isn’t for fun, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    “What is that,
anyway?” June leaned across the metal table, tilted her head sideways. “‘The
French Revolution ended the age of absolute monarchy in France, but was...’ Why
am I already bored?”
    “I don’t know.
It’s going to start talking about the Reign of Terror and you’re an expert on
those,” I said.
    June stuck out
her tongue and leaned back in her chair. “Let’s get out of here.”
    I shook my
head. “I have a test tomorrow.”
    June frowned
and crossed her arms. She was like a kid ,
except she was rough around the edges, dropped f-bombs like breadcrumbs, and had
more hair colors than days of the week.
    “Screw tests!
Finals are in a month. They shouldn’t do that to us. We need to have lives, ” she said. Then she rose to her feet and yelled, “We get to
have lives!”
    A few people
around us clapped. She smiled and slightly bowed. June was like that. She was bright
and loud, so everyone paid attention to her. She was like Mom on a pretty day,
but nothing like her at the same time. This was all June and not a sickness.
    “You going to
eat those?” she asked, pointing to the cheese fries on my left.
    “They’ve been
sitting here for an hour,” I said. “They’re cold.”
    She shrugged
and I shoved them toward her. Only June would eat nasty cold cheese fries.
    “When are you
going to be done?” she asked.
    “Where’s Jason?”
    June tapped my
pencil on the tabletop. “Class. Loser.”
    I smirked.
“Class is sort of why we’re all here. Why aren’t you in class?”
    “It’s speech.
I’ll wear a low-cut top and get an A. Everyone knows that.” It was true. But
even if it wasn’t, she would still get an A. Put June in the front of a room
and I dare someone not to watch her or listen to her talk about string cheese.
It wasn’t possible. She was smart, too. I’d always thought she was one of those
secret geniuses, because it was the only way to explain how a girl who never
studied and barely went to class got As. That and the low-cut tops.
    She shoved a
fry into her mouth and scowled. “These are cold.”
    I shook my
head and refocused on my book, even though I knew I was done. There was no
focusing when June was around and needed attention.
     “I’ll go get
them warmed. Who’s working?” Then, she was gone. I turned my head toward the student
center and watched June lean over the counter. José was working today, so she’d
probably be back with a whole new container of fries.
    “Never Going
Back Again” started
playing from my phone as it vibrated across the table. I picked it up; my heart
pounded a little too much, and I pushed the button.
    “Mom?”
    There was a
soft noise, the sound of someone breathing on the other end. I pressed my
fingers between the crisscross patterns on the table. Mom rarely called me, and
if she was calling now it meant something was wrong.
    “No, Cass.”
    It was a
whisper on the line, but I felt it as if it was a scream injected straight into
my brain. I stood up from my seat, looking out over the soccer field. My heart
raced along with the ball. I forced my eyes closed, and I saw him there. Like
he was standing right in front of me with those deep grey eyes that saw through
me, and that wavy light brown hair I used to run my hands through. He was so
real, even in a whisper, that I could almost touch him through the phone.
    “Graham?” My
voice cracked as I said his name. My hands were sweating, heart racing, and I
was sure I wouldn’t be able to hold onto my