The Girl in My Dreams Read Online Free

the edge of the table, the cashier brought us our trays and took the numbers away with him. I opened my dipping sauce, which had the same muted pink color that it did when I was a kid, and began to dig in as Belle took out her phone and let out a small sigh.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked, with food still in my mouth.
    “Trent is blowing up my phone as usual. He can be so annoying,” she said.
    “I know it’s not my place, especially since we aren’t, you know, as close as we used to be, but you should just move on. You said that you’re going to different colleges anyway. Why make your last year of high school torture?” I asked.
    “Well, it’s not like any other guys are busting down the door to date me, at least not since I started dating Trent,” she replied.
    “You don’t need to be with somebody to be happy, Belle. You can just be with yourself. You can be with your family, or better yet, with friends. Strengthen bonds with current friends, as well as make new bonds with new friends,” I said.
    “What about strengthening bonds with old friends?” she asked as I looked up and locked eyes with her.
    “That too,” I said with a small smile.
    I didn’t know if it was the aroma of the Blizzards they were making, or if they pumped this place with some kind of anti-nervousness gas, but being around Belle was easier than I expected it to be. I used to see her outside her house or around school or whatever and get insane butterflies, but there was something about talking to her and being around her again that made me feel like I was home. It was like we were kids again, and she still had that missing front tooth that she used to squirt water out of. It was nice.
    “I’m really glad I saw you last night. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while, but I was a little nervous,” she said.
    Did I hear her correctly? Did she just say that she was nervous to talk to me ? I must be dreaming.
    “What? Why?” I asked, with equal parts shock and intrigue.
    “I just didn’t think you liked me anymore. We’ve changed a lot since we were kids, and I thought you thought I was stuck-up or pretentious or something,” she said.
    “No. Never. I’d never think that of you. I’m the one who was too nervous to say hi or wave or just . . . anything,” I said.
    “So we could’ve been friends this entire time if one of us would’ve had the guts to just say hello?” she asked.
    “I guess so,” I said, laughing a little.
    “We’re still two giant dorks, that’s for sure,” she replied.
    Her phone buzzed again, three times in a row, actually. She picked it up to look at it, but I nervously took it from her, hoping she wouldn’t yell at me, and turned it off before setting it on the table.
    “Thank you,” she said as she delicately played with her French fries.
    Looking at the wall up by the cash register, I saw a poster for the fair we had every fall at the fairgrounds. Everybody went; it was the biggest event of the year around here. As I stared at the poster, I thought of doing something that would go either really well or really terribly. I was going to ask Belle if she wanted to go with me, but I knew I had to play it off as no big deal. If she liked being friends, and that’s all I was, I needed to invite her in a way that was like two old buddies going to the fair together. If she did like me, even a little bit, and Martin was right, then I needed to ask in a way that wouldn’t make her think that I only wanted to go as friends. Why did asking a girl out have to be so difficult? Why did they make your teenage years the worst?
    “I have a question for you,” I said, taking a sip of my Dr. Pepper.
    “Yeah?” she asked, looking up from her food.
    “Are you going to the fair this year? It’s in two weeks, I think,” I said, clearing my throat.
    “Yeah, I have to perform for cheer this year,” she said.
    “Oh, okay. Cool. That sounds like a fun time,” I said. My heart was beating out of my