Dead Girl Walking Read Online Free

were full. Could be awkward. So I plopped down next to a chatty woman with silver-blue coifed hair. Leisl, as she asked me to call her, was Jessica’s great aunt. After twenty minutes listening to her stories, I escaped to the dessert buffet.
    Confession: I have a passion for chocolate. I crave, obsess, lust for chocolate—which is why my clothes are double-digit size. It’s a sinful obsession, a constant struggle. Once I start eating chocolate, abandon all hope. I can not stop.
    “Try the pecan truffles.”
    I turned to find a medium-tall guy with tight brown curls and hazel eyes. Why was he so familiar? He must go to my school, although I couldn’t think of his name.
    “Okay,” I answered, putting a pecan truffle in my mouth. Rich milk chocolate and crunchy nuts. The candy melted in my mouth.
    The guy was nodding, and chewing on his own chocolate pecan. He pointed at a dish heaped with white squares dimpled with red specks. I nodded too, swallowed the chocolate bliss, and tried one of the white squares.
    I moaned in delight. “Oh, this is soooo good.”
    “A true chocolate connoisseur.”
    “These desserts are amazing. So many in one place!”
    His gaze swept the table. “Thirty-seven plates with approximately twenty-five candies on each plate, adding in variables of size, equaling approximately—”
    “Nine hundred and twenty-five candies,” I finished.
    His hazel eyes widened, clearly impressed.
    “I’m a math geek,” I admitted.
    “You, too?”
    “Math just makes sense.”
    “When not much else does.” He nodded.
    “And being good with numbers will come in handy when I start my—” I covered my mouth, shocked that I almost confessed my secret ambition to a near stranger.
    “Start your what?” He tilted his curly-brown head.
    “Nothing.”
    “Come on … you can’t leave me hanging with an unknown equation. I won’t be able to sleep tonight trying to figure out the answer.”
    I laughed, liking him even more. He had quiet dignity and intelligence; someone who could be trusted. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, I lowered my voice. “I’m going to be an entertainment agent—dealing with diva personalities, contracts, finances.”
    “You’ll be great at it, I can tell.”
    “You think?” I asked, ridiculously pleased.
    “Definitely. But why an agent? Most people want to be the next American Idol, not a person behind the scenes.”
    “Because I’ve always loved music and … well, I don’t know why I’m telling you this … but to be honest, I have zero talent. I can’t sing, act, or dance. But I like to help people and I recognize talent when I see it.”
    “Sounds like a cool talent to me, more exciting than selling cars like my dad—which is what my family expects.”
    “But is it what you want?”
    “No, but I don’t know what I want—except more chocolate.” He licked caramel off his lip and gestured at the dessert table. “There are nearly a thousand candies to choose from. What next?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Let’s try them all.”
    I summoned restraint and shook my head. “I have to stop. Or I’ll regret it later.”
    “Why? Chocolate is the best thing about this party. Or at least it was.” He flashed this really sweet smile that lit up his otherwise average face. Um, was he flirting with me?
    I glanced away, my heart fluttering a little, and pointed to a dish of black-and-white striped chocolates. “Okay … just one more. But which one? These look like zebra candy.”
    “Zebra candy?” He chuckled. “Good name.”
    “Do you have a name … I mean, I know you have a name, everyone does, what I mean, is what is it?”
    “Eli. And you’re Amber.”
    My cheeks burned. “Do I know you?”
    “When my brother and I left this boring private school and started at Halsey, you gave us a cool welcome basket.”
    “I did?” I studied him, but drew a blank. “I’m usually good with names, but I don’t remember—”
    “I get that a lot