Promise Me Something Read Online Free

lowered her voice. “Don’t look now, but your boyfriend’s right behind you.” She jerked her head to the left, and I turned around to see Levi, the cute boy in flip-flops, walking toward me with a brown bag lunch. The world shifted. “Hey, Reyna,” he said, bobbing his head at me. “What’s up?”
    “Not much.” I scooted slightly on the bench in case he wanted to sit down at our table. But he didn’t. He seemed to feel like standing up and swinging a key chain around his thumb.
    “So,” he said. “A little bird told me you guys have Mr. Murphy for History.”
    “We do,” said Olive, her eyes narrowing. “Why?”
    “I’m thinking of switching into his class,” said Levi. “My schedule got all messed up when I quit band. What do you think? Is he good?”
    “He’s nice,” I said.
    Olive made a face. “You think everyone’s nice, Reyna.” She turned to Levi. “Mr. Murphy is a chauvinistic wannabe football coach who doesn’t know the difference between who and whom.”
    “Cool,” said Levi, meeting my eye. “I’ll probably switch in, then. Thanks.” Without even looking at Olive, he turned on his heel and headed for the door.
    “What does he mean, cool ?” Olive gaped. “I was trying to dissuade him. I don’t want him distracting you from our project.”
    I shrugged, watching the back of his head as he moved through the crowd.
    “No way is he joining our group,” she said. “No way. No how.”

    She didn’t have anything to worry about. When Levi showed up in History the next day, the first thing Mr. Murphy did was pair him with John Quincy, the only other guy in class without a partner. I couldn’t see Olive’s face behind me when it happened, but I felt her feet tapping gently against the back legs of my chair.
    “Don’t think you can slack off just because you’re new,” Mr. Murphy told Levi, shoving a stack of handouts at him. “You’ll have a makeup test this Friday on the material you missed.”
    Levi’s mouth dropped open. “ All of the material?”
    Mr. Murphy gave him an evil smile. “Yes, all of it. Unless you’d prefer to wear this for the rest of the period.” He stepped over to his desk, slid open a drawer, and pulled out a giant purple Dr. Seuss hat with the word Sissy embroidered on the rim.
    Everyone laughed.
    Mr. Murphy looked extremely satisfied with himself. “A gift from one of my old students,” he told us. “Step out of line and you wear the hat. Capiche? ”
    Levi nodded and took the seat diagonally in front of me to my left. It was one of the only open seats in the room, and for that I felt fortunate—I’d be the one staring at him from behind; not the other way around. Mr. Murphy had barely begun to write on the blackboard when I felt a jab in the middle of my back. I whipped around and saw Olive wearing a poker face, staring straight ahead at the blackboard. I almost turned back around, but then I noticed her hand hovering awkwardly near the back of my chair. She was holding out a note, so I grabbed it and unfolded it.
    Pay attention! it said in tiny, neat handwriting. If your grades start slipping because you’re besotted, you’re not going to make a very good partner.
    I didn’t write back. Who used the word besotted anyway?

    Lucy came back that night. She parked on the street in front of our house and rang the doorbell as though she didn’t own her own copy of the key. When I answered the door, I was expecting a deliveryman with our Chinese food. Lucy’s face startled me.
    “May I come in?” she asked, so tall and willowy that she had to bend her neck to look average height. I could see right away that something was wrong with her face. Her cheeks were puffy and red from crying.
    “Are you OK?” I asked, stepping aside to let her pass. Her “weekend trip” to Michigan had turned into a two-week fiasco, and now that she was back, I wasn’t sure what to think. Dad had called her twice yesterday and gotten no response. I was