Keep From Falling (Markson Grove Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

Of course he’s the new guy. You don’t know him Bree, so he must be the new guy. I’m such an idiot sometimes.
    “He laughs. “Is it that obvious?”
    I guess he didn’t realize how stupid the question was, after all. Thank God.
    “Not at all,” I stammer. Seriously? I shut my mouth, turn on my heels, and walk over to my locker.
    “I’m Evan,” he says.
    I shove my backpack into my locker, slam the locker shut, and turn to face him. His hand is extended out to me. “I’m Bree,” I tell him as I take his hand into mine. He makes a polite attempt at shaking my hand but his touch makes me freeze in place and my arm refuses to budge during the process, making for a very awkward, one-sided greeting. I take a deep breath and look up into his eyes.
    We stare at each other for what seems like hours but is probably actually only a couple of seconds before he awkwardly lets go of my hand and returns his arm to his side.
    This is so embarrassing.
    “It’s nice to meet you, Bree. I’ve seen you around at school,” he says, not letting on about the embarrassing handshake, or lack thereof.
    “Really?” I ask. How’s that possible? I’m sure if I had seen him before today, I would have remembered.
    “Yeah sure, you go to Markson East, don’t you?”
    “Yeah.”
    “We don’t have any classes together or anything, but I’ve seen you around.”
    I nod. What else can I do? I’ve never noticed this guy until this very moment.
    “But you’ve never noticed me, have you?” he asks slowly, letting the realization sink in. His cheeks turn a pale shade of pink. He’s embarrassed.
    “We’d better get to the front of the store. We’re late,” I say, completely changing the subject. It’s not the best tactic, but it’s all I have at the moment.
    I walk ahead of him toward the front of the store. This whole night is going to be a complete disaster. I can’t even talk to this guy, how am I supposed to train him?
    “Oh good,” Spencer says. “You’ve met each other. Evan, Bree is going to be training you tonight.”
    Evan nods. I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing I am, that I’m obviously not capable of civilized conversation, so how can I possibly teach him how to do his job properly.
    Spencer turns to me and smiles from ear to ear. “What’s the matter with you, B? Your face is all red,” he points out, attempting to hold back a laugh. He sees how flustered I am, but I doubt he has any idea why.
    I feel my cheeks burning. Thanks a lot Spencer. “I…well… it’s…” I stammer. I can’t seem to get anything out of my mouth that is even slightly understandable.
    Spencer chuckles and looks to Evan. “I don’t know how you did it, but you made her speechless.”
    I manage a small laugh that I swear sounds more like a squeak.
    He looks me over questioningly. “What’s up?” he asks, his face growing a little more serious now. He knows the way I’m acting is completely out of character for me. I don’t notice boys. I’m not attracted to them; they certainly don’t make me flustered and act like an idiot in their presence, but Evan is obviously the exception to that and it feels very wrong.
    Spencer is the one person who, not only knows about my secret relationship with Skylar, but also completely understands it because he’s been there too.
    Back in the ninth grade, Spencer had a secret boyfriend for nearly six months before the whole school found out about them. It was a rough time for Spencer, but it was far worse for the guy he had been seeing. People already knew Spencer was gay, but no one ever suspected that Mark Ambrose, Markson East’s womanizing man-whore, could possibly be into guys. When people found out they were together, the backlash began and took an extremely dark turn when Mark decided to end it all by taking his life.
    Spencer was beyond devastated, blaming himself for Mark’s death for years. He became closer to Skylar and me after that, focusing all of his love and