The Devil and Danna Webster Read Online Free Page A

panting.
    "Why don't I give you both a ride home, okay?"
    "Sorry." My heart was beating too fast.
    The first of the caravan of buses began to depart. Joyce and I took off hoping to catch the next bus scheduled to leave.
    "Hey, I don't bite!" He called after us in an offended voice. The next thing I knew, he was peeling out, burning rubber all the way.
    Joyce shook her head in disgust as we climbed aboard our bus. "I don't like pushy guys like that."
    "I wonder who he is," I found myself saying.
    She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about accepting a ride from him?"
    "No, of course not. I was leery too. It's just that he is way cool, and there is something about him."
    "Yeah, I think it's called trouble."
    "Maybe you're right."
    Still, I wondered about him. I mean, a gorgeous guy like that who could afford to drive such an amazing car — obviously he wouldn't have any trouble getting dates. Plus, he didn't look like the type who handled rejection very well. I was sure he'd never give me a second thought. Why should he? I shrugged, determined to put the incident out of my mind. I had enough real problems to think about.
    But the next day, there he was in the library again. And he didn't look as if he were there to study because he didn't even glance at a book. I really tried hard to ignore him because by this time I was sure he was playing some kind of game with me.
    Joyce noticed him too and cast a sternly disapproving glance in his direction several times. But that didn't seem to discourage him either. In fact, half-way through the period, he moved to our table.
    "If I introduced myself to you, would you still consider me a stranger?"
    I looked up to see his dark eyes light with amusement. I felt my cheeks become hot and wondered if my face was flushing red. I hardly knew what to say. "I have to study. I'm sorry." I looked down at my book again.
    "This is crazy! All I want to do is talk to you."
    "Not here, young man!" It was Mrs. Schirer, the crabby, old librarian. She pointed her bony finger in his face and then mine. "The two of you, out of here for today! You’re disturbing the other students. Back to your study hall or wherever you came from."
    â€œI need to borrow a book,” he said. “So does she.”
    â€œYou should have thought of that before you started socializing. Get out of here, and now it’s two days.”
    So there I was standing out in the corridor feeling embarrassed and awful. I started walking toward the cafeteria where the general study hall was held at this hour.
    "Wait up!" he called to me.
    "You got us kicked out of the library, isn't that enough?" I turned and confronted him.
    "I couldn't care less. Now maybe you'll let me introduce myself to you." He looked so pleased with himself, so confident, that I could easily have slapped him. I took off down the corridor again. But his hand was on my arm before I got more than a few steps. "I'm not letting you go this time!"
    "Somebody will see us out here and we'll get into more trouble for loitering."
    "Trying to frighten me?" He gave me a disreputable smile. “I don’t scare easy.”
    "I get the feeling you don't care much about obeying rules."
    "Me? I’m a totally law-abiding citizen. But I'm new around here, just transferred in this month for my senior year. You can teach me all about the rules."
    I pulled away from him, but he was much bigger and stronger than I was and the next thing I knew, he’d managed to maneuver me against a locker.
    "Hey!" I responded with indignation.
    "Hay is for horses, not people. I'm a person."
    He was really close to me now. I could feel his breath on my neck and it made my skin tingle. He put his hands up on either side of the locker, effectively caging me, as if to keep me there so I couldn't escape him. All of a sudden, I knew what a trapped animal felt like. I didn’t like it one bit.
    "If you want to be considered a