Fairest Read Online Free Page B

decided I could stay in New York for the weekend, fly down to New Orleans on Sunday, see the show Monday, and then fly to Savannah on Tuesday. It could work if I was sneaky enough.
    There was no way my daddy would agree to let me go to New Orleans by myself, but I had a feeling Lizette would. She attempted to mother me by offering me advice on boys and buying me all sorts of expensive clothes and shoes. At ten years younger than my daddy, she was more like a thirty-seven-year-old sister than a mother. As such, she tended to let me do things that a parent wouldn’t. I dialed Savannah.
    The phone rang several times, but no one answered. Even better. When the answering machine picked up, I said, “Hi, Lizette. I got Daddy’s text. I’m going to swing by New Orleans and see Shinedown at the House of Blues on Monday night. I’ll fly to Savannah on Tuesday. I’ve got my phone, so call or text me if you need to. Bye.”
    Confident she wouldn’t call back and tell me no, I bought the plane and concert tickets, and I booked a room at the Riverwalk Hilton. After that, I shut down my laptop and changed into my comfy, Irstwitch sweats. To get in the mood, I cued up some Shinedown and Paramore on my MP3 player and hooked it to my daddy’s awesome stereo.
    While I made chicken and rice, I sang away all the anger and confusion of the day. By the time dinner was ready, I felt a hundred times better.

Chapter Four
    My daddy called me around eight to apologize for missing our week. He didn’t mention New Orleans, so I guessed that he hadn’t spoken to Lizette, she hadn’t gotten my message yet, or she just didn’t tell him about my plans.
    â€œSo, how’s school?” he asked.
    â€œI’ve got A’s. I’m tutoring for community service. It’s good.” While we chatted, I finished washing the dishes and putting away leftovers.
    â€œWhat about friends or, ah, boyfriends?”
    â€œI’ve got some girls I talk to,” I fudged. I spoke to classmates and dorm mates in passing. “No boyfriend.”
    â€œHmmm…that doesn’t sound like friends, though.”
    I sighed as I took my glass of tea and sat on the sofa. “It’s good, Daddy.” After having been made fun of for being poor, I couldn’t tell him that the kids now made fun of me for the reason we were now wealthy. My phone beeped to tell me I had another call. When I checked, it was Whit. “Daddy, that’s one of my friends calling, now.”
    â€œOh, well, by all means, sweetie. Talk to ‘em. Love you.”
    â€œI love you too, Daddy.” I never hung up first. I always waited on him. Once I heard the beep that ended the call, I switched over to Whit. “Hey.”
    â€œHey. Did you lock the door? We aren’t in BFE, Connecticut, anymore.”
    â€œYeah, I locked it.” I got up and double-checked before walking over to the TV and grabbing the remote from on top of it.
    â€œDid you eat?”
    â€œIt’s after eight. So, yeah.”
    â€œOh. Must be a southern thing to eat early,” he muttered. “Well, what did you have?”
    â€œWhit, do you really care what I ate?” I aimed the remote at the TV and punched the power button.
    â€œYes.”
    I flicked through the few channels I tended to watch. Nothing looked too interesting, but there was a movie on SyFy. I flipped to it.
    â€œFine. Chicken and rice.”
    â€œWhere did you order that?”
    I snorted out a laugh. “I didn’t order it. I
made
it.”
    â€œYou cook?” He sounded amazed.
    â€œYeah. Not everyone grows up having a personal chef, you know.” The movie on SyFy looked terrible, so I sat down in the floor and opened the drawers of the entertainment center to look through the DVDs. “See, my daddy was always working, so I learned. My stepmom doesn’t cook, so I do it for him.”
    â€œSee,” Whit said, “you