The Game of Boys and Monsters Read Online Free

a heap beside him as he sat cross-legged on the floor.
    â€œDo you think she’s okay?” I said. “I mean, do you think she’s sick or something? She’s been tired so much lately.”
    â€œI guess that’s partly our fault,” Jack said.
    â€œLot of late nights,” said Hap.
    â€œAre you . . . What do you guys do, late at night?”
    â€œWhat don’t we do?” Hap said, but it was bravado, a joke.
    â€œYou want to join us?” Jack said.
    My heart thudded because I didn’t know what he was asking. He held my eyes for the longest time, and I found it hard to look away. “I don’t think so.” I tried to keep my voice light. “I never was very good at staying up late.”
    â€œShame,” Hap said. “We love company.”
    Jack uncrossed his legs and recrossed them in the opposite direction with the grace of an old-timey dancer. He could be from White Christmas or something, one of those old movies where grown men dance all the time and it seems totally normal.
    â€œDo you have a boyfriend?” Jack asked.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou heard me.”
    I looked to Hap, but he was thumbing through one of my mom’s coffee-table books, completely disinterested.
    â€œI don’t,” I said. “I mean, if I did, you would have met him. Through Evy. Right?”
    â€œRight. Maybe,” Jack said, but it felt dismissive, like I wasn’t important enough for anyone, even Evy, to track my relationship status. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
    â€œAre you and Evy . . . ?” I didn’t know how not to ask it, even though I wasn’t sure what answer I wanted to hear. If he said no, the suggestion of our mutual availability would loom awkwardly between us, but if he said yes, I would look like a fool for not knowing sooner. “Are you . . . seeing Evy?”
    Jack seemed more Evy’s type than Hap, even though she and Hap had been more physical at school.
    Jack shrugged. “Depends on what you mean by ‘see.’ I ‘see’ you.”
    â€œYou know what I mean.”
    â€œEvy’s not the kind of girl to let a guy in, you know?”
    â€œShe’s a tough nut to crack,” Hap said, like this was something they’d discussed before.
    â€œBut . . . you’re hanging out with her all the time. I mean, if she were going to be with anyone, don’t you think it would be one of you two?”
    I felt disloyal, having this conversation with them, but I wanted to know what they thought, what agenda they had around Evy.
    â€œEvy’s not as fun as she used to be,” Hap said, looking at Jack.
    â€œShe’s tired all the time,” Jack said, as if we hadn’t covered this mere minutes earlier. “I wonder if she’s anemic?” He smirked.
    And I knew. I was right.
    All the things that I feared—I was right.
    â€œShe’s definitely changed,” Hap said, looking me in the eye. “Something’s . . . shifted.”
    My heart seemed to press into my belly like it wanted to hide.
    â€œI’m not sure you guys should be here,” I said, trying to keep things light. I wanted to yank them to standing and shove them out the door, but I couldn’t let them see my fear. “Just because . . . my mom and dad, they don’t let me have guests when they’re not home . . . especially guys.”
    â€œSmart parents,” Jack said.
    â€œYou never know with guys,” Hap said.
    I felt sick and wanted to throw up. I could reach the bathroom, I thought—excuse myself to go, then lock myself in. They would figure it out, try to get in maybe, tell me I was being silly, try to coax me out, but they’d give up eventually.
    I mean, people knew them. They lived here, were known. They wouldn’t break down the door.
    â€œI’m . . . I should get back to reading,” I said.