Reunited Read Online Free

of everyone. Like she needed more humiliation. Just the thought of it made her want to run again. The only problem was, she wasn’t sure which way to go.
    What if her parents and Maz were right? What if high school was as good as it got? Or worse: What if there was a better life out there, but Summer didn’t know what it was or where to find it?
    That’s when she saw the bright-green van pulling out of the parking lot. It was strange to see the Pea Pod out on the open road after all those years of sitting in the same spot. But there it was, cruising down East Walford Street, just like all the other cars leaving high school forever. It wasn’t until the van drove out of sight that Summer realized she was smiling. If the Pea Pod could get it in gear, maybe there was hope for her yet.

Chapter Three
     
    TIERNAN UNZIPPED HER GREEN POLYESTER GOWN AND CHUCKED it onto the heap of clothes in the corner. She couldn’t believe she’d just spent the last four hours in that hideous muumuu, let alone the ridiculous cap. And what the hell was a mortarboard, anyway? Wasn’t that some kind of torture our military used to make terrorists spill their secrets? Or maybe that was water-boarding. Whatever. Wearing it felt like torture.
    Tiernan looked in the mirror, curling her short blue bob behind her ears so that it ended in two perfectly defined points midcheek. Being back in her normal clothes made her happy. Of course, the term “normal” was relative. But Tiernan liked the way her look perfectly captured her personality and at the same time made her look taller than her 103-pound, five-foot-one self. It was one part wacky (vintage Kermit the Frog T-shirt), one part sexy (short skirt, fishnet tights), and one part dangerous (knee-high Doc Martens boots).
    Her mother had begged her not to wear the boots to graduation, and after a long knockdown drag-out battle (was there really any other kind with Judy Horowitz?) Tiernan had promised not to wear them. Oops .
    “Tiernan?” her mother called from upstairs. “Are you down there?”
    Where’d her mother think she’d be? Ever since she’d found that 1.5 liter bottle of vodka in Tiernan’s closet, sneaking out of the house had become harder than busting out of Shawshank.
    “Tiernan Horowitz O’Leary!” Her mother’s red Dior pumps were already clomping down the stairs into Tiernan’s basement room. So much for the little things, like privacy.
    “If you’re here for happy hour,” Tiernan said, “I don’t start mixing martinis till five. But help yourself to a cocktail wiener.”
    Judy didn’t even crack a smile. “That’s not why I’m here,” she said, her eyes scanning the room for more contraband. Like Tiernan managed to duck into the liquor store in between getting her diploma and the ride home.
    “Then why are you here?”
    “I’m here because you have a visitor.” Her mother’s gaze landed at Tiernan’s feet. No comment from the shoe police.
    “I thought I didn’t get to have visitors when I’m grounded.”
    “Well, I’m making an exception.”
    Her mother didn’t make exceptions. She certainly didn’t make them for any of Tiernan’s “weirdo, delinquent” friends.
    “It’s Alice Miller,” Judy said, smiling.
    Tiernan had always feared that this day of reckoning would come, but she didn’t expect it to be right after graduation. Now that high school was over, what was the point? But if Alice had finally uncovered Tiernan’s big lie freshmanyear, Tiernan was toast. She should have just ’fessed up ages ago. Not that the debacle at that stupid dance was all her fault anyway. Alice wasn’t exactly innocent. Plus, it was only a matter of time before Summer finally exposed herself for the superficial Abercrombie that she was. All Tiernan had done was speed up the process. In a way, she’d probably done Alice a favor. Right?
    “Tell her I’m busy,” Tiernan said, grabbing her iPod.
    Her mother came closer and yanked the little white earbuds