Summer Alone (Summer #1) Read Online Free Page A

my favorite clothing store and the pretzel shop that sells fresh baked pretzel deliciousness.
    I walk slowly down the sidewalks, carefully checking each store window for signs that indicate they might be hiring students for the summer. But the only places I notice with Now Hiring signs are a few fast food joints (and not the good ones like the pretzel shop) and the Gucci store. I know right away that I won’t qualify to work there since I know absolutely nothing about high end fashion, so I don’t bother asking for an application. I also skip past the fast food places and hope that with the last few shops left in the strand, there will be somewhere that’s decent and is also hiring. If I don’t find a job at LOM, I’m not sure where else I’d look that would be a fun place to work. Definitely not a grocery store. Scanning groceries all day long would be the most boring way to spend a summer. Is it too crazy to want a job that’s fun?
    My nose crinkles as I walk by a hotdog kiosk in the middle of the sidewalk. An index card is taped to the front of the kiosk and HIRING PART TIME is written in marker on it. Um…I think I’ll pass.
    My hair is silky smooth and absolutely beautiful when I stare at my reflection in the floor to ceiling store windows as I walk. I know it’s tacky and self-absorbed to be this vain, but I can’t help it—I glance at my hair in every single shiny glass window I find. It’s so beautiful and I am so glad I made this decision. My self-esteem has already risen about five million points since I stepped out of the salon.
    “On your left!” The unexpected voice makes me jump. I stop still on the sidewalk as a kid on a bicycle speeds past me and swerves around the older couple walking ahead of me. A few seconds later, his two friends who are probably around twelve-years-old zoom past me on the left, following him. Freaking jerks. Sidewalks are meant for walking, not almost crashing into strangers.
    I roll my eyes as they bike away, pedaling up and down on their way to the biggest store at the end of the street. It’s not really a store at all, and I’ve never been inside of it.
    C&C BMX Park – Indoor Bicycle Motocross. All I know about the place is that guys in our school used to have birthday parties there back when we were elementary and junior high. I think it’s like on the X-Games, where people ride small bicycles up ramps and half-pipes and do tricks, only this entire place is indoors since the Texas heat gets pretty awful in the summer time.
    When I approach the end of the shopping stores, I stop and stare up at the C&C BMX sign. It’s lime green with splashes of orange and it lights up at night. You can see it from the road. I guess I never gave it much thought because it felt like such a scary sport that I was never interested in.
    A woman who is probably in her twenties walks up from the opposite side of the street. She wears cropped black leggings and a grey tank top that has big cut outs in it that reveals her hot pink sports bra. She has knee pads and elbow pads and a helmet dangling off the handlebars of her hot pink bicycle. She looks like a total badass. The automatic glass doors slide open and she walks inside, pushing her bike. Now that’s a girl with an awesome life. I bet no one has ever called her lame. Her best friend probably wishes she was her instead of the other way around.
    I stand just outside the doors and look inside the massive building. There’s all kinds of wooden ramps and graffiti on the walls. Music blasts through speakers and BMX riders pop up on one part of the track and the swoop down a ramp until they’re out of sight. I watch the girl sign in at the front desk, hop on her bike and pedal off into the distance.
    For the smallest of seconds, I almost consider the idea of maybe getting myself a BMX bike. But…no. I sigh and my shoulders fall. There is no way I could be a BMX girl. I barely know how to ride a regular mountain bike, much less one of