Dismantling Evan Read Online Free

anyone else yet?”
    “I met two people, Brody and Gavin?” I say questioning her knowing them, which is weird because of course she would know them; they are her neighbors too.
    She smirks a little. “Was Gavin wandering the streets again?” she asks.
    She must know the two brothers well enough to talk about Gavin’s wanderings so flippantly.
    I nod and say, “He was reciting lines from Hamlet.”
    “Yep, he has been obsessed with it this summer. It has been a tossup between Shakespeare and those Tolkien books...um, what are they called?” she questions herself as she snaps her fingers together.
    “Lord of the Rings?”
    Her smile broadens and her green eyes widen before curling around the corners as she says, “Yeah, Lord of the Rings. I haven’t read them, but I hear the movies are awesome. Have you read them? They are on the senior summer reading list.”
    Senior. Just like me.
    I nod, “Yeah, I have.”
    But she is so not like me, I can already tell.
    I watched the movies too. Hands down the books were tons better; they always are.
    She changes the subject suddenly, “Did you meet Brody?”
    I just nod.
    She rocks on her heels and nods too, “Cool.”
    For a moment, I wonder how she knows Brody; as a friend or old boyfriend. I mean, she is beautiful and he is gorgeous.
    I can’t believe I’m wondering this!
    I respond to her ‘cool’ with a, “Yeah, cool.”
    You sound like an idiot Evan Phillips!
    Silence settles between us. The kind that happens when two people have just met and don’t really know how to continue making conversation.
    “Well, I gotta help with the unpacking. Nice to meet you,” I add, quickly.
    “Yeah, I’ll see you around Evan.” She turns and I watch her trot back across the street to her house. For a second, I think about what it would be like to become friends with her then the thought disappears.

 
     
     
     
     
    WHEN I WALK THROUGH THE door, I put the bag and backpack at the bottom of the staircase and look around. It is much bigger than our house in San Francisco. I like the high ceilings, and there are tons of windows too. Mom and Dad’s voices get louder and closer as they both walk toward me down the hall.
    “Here let me give you the tour Evan,” Mom says, taking hold of my hand and pulling me along.
    As we walk she pulls me close to her and asks, “Who was that girl out there talking to you? She looked...um.”
    I cut any opinionated remarks she might add short, “She is nice Mom. She isn’t um.”
    Mom pulls me along, nudging me. “I’m sure she is. This is the formal living, the dining room. I don’t know why they put them in houses any more. We won’t use the dining room except on Christmas and Thanksgiving.”
    She pulls me through the kitchen and into the ‘informal living room’, with Dad trailing behind us up the stairs.
    Mom and dad’s room is on one end of the stair-well and mine is on the other with a third bedroom between them. There is also this space next to my room and across from the third bedroom.
    “This is cool.” Dad points at the open space.
    Mom stands in the center of the small niche and starts doing that thing she does with her hands when she is in her interior decorating mode. “This is a loft. It can be a small office for us to use. Evan, you can use it for studying. We can put a desk, computer, and chair by the window and the television and a small sofa can go over there. A couple of brightly colored chairs would really set the overall tone in this room.”
    Mrs. “Better Homes and Garden” has arrived! Move out the way!
    Dad and I look at each other knowing once Mom gets in this mode, there isn’t any stopping her. Dad tucks his hands in his pockets and clears his throat before smiling widely at her. “Lucy, let’s get our bedrooms set up first, all right?”
    I hear the apprehension in his voice even as he tries to sway Mom’s creative juices.
    Mom turns on Dad and puts her hands on her hips. “What? We have so