Perfect Read Online Free Page B

more than satisfied with the way
    she looks, every move
    designed to draw the eye. My eyes,
    for sure. And I can’t believe other guys
    wouldn’t feel the same
    way. There is something extremely
    alluring about a girl who’s completely at ease
    in her own skin.
    And this one loves how she’s put together.
    Her sister, however, for all her beauty-
    focused goals, seems
    to hold something in reserve. She is closer
    to my age. But she is so not my type.
    Not sure why I think
    Jenna is, but I can’t wait to research.
    Her mom tells her it’s time to leave. I watch
    her exit, enthralled
    by the performance. She is one of a kind.

She Is On My Mind
    On the short drive to the All the Right
    Moves dance studio.
    Usually, when I meet a girl, I make her
    wait a day or two before I ask her out.
    For some reason,
    I’m driven to skip the whole coy charade
    and call Jenna right away. She answers
    on the third ring. “Hey.
    It’s Andre. Are you free Saturday night?”
    Wow. You’re direct. I like that, and I’d
like to say yes, but I
kind of had tentative plans for Saturday.
    That stings. And I’m late for my lesson.
    “Okay. I’ll try again.”
    I go inside. The place is empty, except
    for Liana, who is on her own phone.
Warm up, she mouths,
nodding toward the open studio door.
    I start my stretching, thinking about
    the magnetic smile that
    drew me immediately to the girl I can’t
    seem to get off my mind. Liana comes in,
    and we begin a familiar
    routine. I’ve done these steps dozens
    of times, but I can’t keep them in the right
    order. I can hear my dad
    saying how if he wants something, he won’t
    let anyone tell him he can’t have it. Andre!
scolds Liana. Where’s your
head today? Did you forget how to count?
    Focus, Andre, focus. One, two, three, four…
    Somehow I make it
    through the rest of my lesson. Pay Liana
    the money I finagled from Mom. At last,
    I can call Jenna again. “You
    know those tentative plans? Cancel them.”

Cara
    At Last
It’s a perfect winter day.
No wind. No Arctic freeze.
Cloudless azure sky. A day
    to fly.
Snow drapes the mountain
like ermine, fabulous feather-
light powder coaxing me
    to flee
the confines of my room, brave
the mostly plowed road
up to the closest ski resort.
    To run
from the cloying silence
connecting Mom and Dad,
into encompassing stillness
    far away
from city dirt and noise.
Far above suburban gridlock.
Far beyond the grasp of home.

First Decent Day In Weeks
    Mt. Rose will be swarming by noon.
    Good thing I got here early.
    Nothing much better than first
    tracks beneath cloud-clear skies.
    Heaven must be something
    like boarding on night-crisped virgin
    powder. Lingering atop a cornice,
    few other people in sight, I take
    a deep pull of winter-spiked air, finesse
    over the lip. Two sweeping turns
    to safety. Here, where there are no
    hypercritical eyes, I slip
    past denial, into the moment.
    It’s all up to me. Slide down
    the steeps, into belief. I am
    no more, no less than this ride.

Midmorning
    The crowd is starting to build.
    Most people prefer the high-
    speed chairs, and those lines
    are long. Not sure why so few
    enjoy the old-fashioned slow
    lifts to the top, but I love these
    unrushed minutes. Suddenly
    the chair bumps to a stop.
    Problems below in the loading
    zone, no doubt. I look over
    at the racecourse run. The pines
    at its edges have grown. How long
    has it been since Conner and I
    raced there? Four years? Five? I was
    never fast enough to earn the medal
    I coveted. Conner often placed in
    the top three but never cared about
    winning. I’ve often wondered how
    twins could be so different. Why did
    the one with the talent lack the drive?

The Lift Starts Up Again
    I survey the terrain beneath me,
    find a relatively unpopulated route
    down through the trees. Risky
    to ride there alone, but I doubt
    I’ll have a whole lot of trouble.
    Despite my parents’ lukewarm
    support, I’ve been skiing or boarding
    for years. I might not be as