Tenth Grade Bleeds Read Online Free Page A

chair and regarded the class with a somber expression. “Welcome to health. In this class, we will discuss physiological changes in a body as it ages, the reproductive process, the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and we will spend an entire month discussing how smoking cigarettes damages the human body.”
    Vlad sank further down in his seat with each item the teacher had listed until he got to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco—he already knew those were things to be avoided if he planned on living past twenty. And not just because of the way they harmed his body—if he touched any of them, Nelly would kill him for sure.
    Mr. Cartel cleared his throat and shifted in his seat a little before standing up. He picked up a long, wooden pointer and, much to Vlad’s horror, smacked the pointer against the nether regions of the man on the poster. “ The human reproductive system is a complicated and fascinating subject. We will study each part thoroughly, from glands to g-g-g-gonads . . .”
    Vlad felt his face grow so hot that he was fairly certain he was glowing. He sank even further down in his seat and waited for the nightmare to be over.
    After napping through geometry and accidentally freezing Mrs. Patterson’s beaker to the lab table in chemistry, Vlad stumbled into a lunchtime oasis. Meredith had saved a seat for him and Henry sat across from her, making moon eyes at Melissa Hart as she made her way through the lunch line. Vlad slid in beside Meredith and managed a smile. “Is it graduation time yet?”
    Meredith laughed, sweet and giggly, making Vlad’s insides all gooey. “Is it that bad so far?”
    Henry snorted. “Not all of us lucked out with challenging courses like art and Sucking Up to the Teacher 101, Meredith.”
    Meredith wrinkled her nose in that cute way she did whenever she was irritated, and brushed a stray hair from her eyes. “It’s called teacher’s assistant, and maybe if you worked harder at your grades, you’d get to do it for a semester, too. Besides, art isn’t exactly easy.”
    Henry shrugged and Vlad changed the subject—he wasn’t in the mood for another tiff between those two. “Cartel’s going to make this the longest year yet.”
    A grin spread across Henry’s face. “Only if he keeps talking about gonads. Man, that guy can stutter. In second period we kept asking him questions, knowing the answer involved gonads, just to hear him rattle through the word a couple dozen times. It was funny.”
    Vlad chuckled, but Meredith didn’t. In fact, she looked a little repulsed. Apparently, a girl’s idea of funny was very different from a guy’s.
    Melissa sat down on the other side of Meredith, much to Henry’s dismay. The two girls were deep in conversation when Henry leaned across the table and raised his eyebrows with a smirk. “So . . . did you get a look at the woman on that poster?”
    Vlad laughed aloud, shaking his head. “Dude, did you see the date on that poster? She’s way too old for you.”

4
    A LONG GOOD BYE
    T HAT AFTERNOON, AS VLAD MADE HIS WAY from the school to his house sans Henry, he had the unsettling, unshakable feeling that he was being followed. He turned around several times, but found no one. Finally, as he was crossing the street, he whipped around fast enough to spot a head ducking behind a tree. With a sigh, he approached the tree and ducked around it to find Eddie and his new camera. “What are you doing, Eddie?”
    Eddie forced a smile. “Just walking. What about you?”
    Vlad knew he was lying—they both knew it. He shook his head, weary of Eddie’s antics already. “Nothing. That’s all I’m doing, Eddie. And that’s all you’ll ever catch me doing by following me. So why don’t you get another hobby?”
    He turned and crossed the street. As his