Match Me Read Online Free

as my fingers clenched.
    “They’re in Hawaii, you know,” she said, adjusting the sunglasses perched on her blond head. “Having the best time.”
    What was I supposed to say to that?
    “And they had a good laugh over your appearance at the wedding.” She smiled thinly. “We all did, actually.”
    I turned away from her so she couldn’t see my cheeks burn. I didn’t know what I’d expected after that stunt. I mean, I knew what I’d wanted to happen. I’d wanted Chase to run away with me. To live out the song, to get the guy, to be that happily ever after. I never gave much thought to alternative outcomes.
    “I’m surprised you weren’t better dressed for the occasion.” She selected a box of Kashi GoLean and tossed it into her cart.
    I’d spent fifty bucks on the dress at Forever 21. What was wrong with it?
    “I mean, what if Chase had changed his mind?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. “If you’d been wearing a wedding gown…why, you could’ve just stepped right in and taken Angela’s place!” She erupted into peals of laughter.
    I pushed past her, toward the produce section. I was sure my cheeks were as red as the bin of apples in front of me.
    “You could have had her cake, her reception, her gifts.” She snickered. “Even her honeymoon…”
    My stomach rolled. How could I not have seen this coming? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
    “Is everything OK?”
    It was Paul, a blue shopping basket hanging on his forearm. It was filled with single-serving packages of Stouffer’s frozen lasagna.
    Jenna quickly smoothed her hair and fixed an innocent smile on her face. “Oh, hi Paul.” She looked him over, her eyes zeroing in on the basket. “You like lasagna? You should totally come over to my place sometime—I make a kick-ass lasagna.”
    “Yeah. Maybe.” He glanced in my direction. “You alright?”
    Jenna answered for me. “Everything’s perfect. We were just reminiscing about the weekend. Weren’t we, Bonnie?”
    I tried to nod my head. My stomach felt funny, but my head did, too, like there was suddenly more air floating around inside of my brain. It was a likely possibility—I was pretty sure a lack of brain cells was to blame for all of my recent acts of stupidity.
    “Lay off, Jenna,” Paul said.
    She frowned. “I’m not doing anything. Lighten up.”
    Paul ignored her and stepped closer to me. “You don’t look so good.”
    “Awesome. Thanks a lot.” I leaned against the cart.
    “No, no. That’s not what I meant,” he stammered, a rush of red spreading from his neck upward. “You look…sick.”
    I didn’t want to admit that I felt sick, too, all queasy and light-headed from my confrontation with Jenna. I knew this was just a precursor of things to come—I’d never live down what had happened at Chase and Angela’s wedding. Never. Maybe my time in Mansfield was coming to an end. Maybe I did need to think more seriously about becoming a hermit.
    “Bonnie?” Paul spoke to me through a tunnel, his voice hollow but alarmed.
    I tried to answer but I couldn’t. Because the grocery store started to spin and everything went black.
     

SEVEN
     
     
    “What happened?”
    Paul’s face was inches from mine. “Relax. You fainted.”
    My hands were wet and sticky. So was my back. So was everything. I tried to focus my eyes but everything was blurry and lit-up, like I’d just spent fifteen minutes staring into a sky filled with fireworks. I attempted to sit up but he held me down.
    “Hang on. Jenna went to grab you something to change into.”
    “What?” I pushed his hands away and raised myself to a half-sitting position.
    I was sprawled on the floor of the produce aisle, covered in something red and sticky.
    “You fainted,” he repeated. “And, uh, you sorta took out the tomato display on your way down.”
    My shoulders sagged and I sighed. Of course I did. A couple of curious onlookers had stopped and were staring at me, their expressions a mixture of horror and