The Rule of Won Read Online Free Page A

real. Questions?”
    I had a dozen, starting with, “How old are you, really—forty?”
    But nobody else said anything so I kept my mouth shut. I did notice Vicky was looking at him with this funky sort of hungry expression.
    â€œWednesday we’ll meet again and start imanifesting. Until then, thanks for coming!”
    That was it. We stood up like it was the end of a class and moved for the door. No one hung back to talk to Ethan. Like I said, he had this “teacher” vibe, and no one hung back to talk to teachers unless they were failing.
    Knowing how the whole not-being-talked-to thing felt, I gave him a nod. My nods are quick, jerky things. You have to be watching to catch them. He caught it and nodded back, this little smile frozen on his face as he smoothly moved his chin up and down. It was, like, a little too-perfect nod.
    I didn’t know whether I wanted to be his friend or drive a stake through his heart.
    Thankfully, no one bothered glaring at me as we left. I guess they were all thinking about Ethan. Vicky kept looking over her shoulder at him, like he was a UFO, so I turned back once or twice myself. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or excited with how the meeting had gone. Just like I didn’t know if going to this stupid meeting about this stupid book had helped me with Vicky or not.
    As we walked, I tried to say hello to Erica again, but she was still too busy writing in her spiral-bound. I wondered if she took showers with that thing. This was an interestingthought, so I started imagining her taking showers, she and her journal all covered in suds.
    Vicky, breaking my concentration, gave me a bubbly smile and said, “So? What’d you think of the meeting?”
    I opted to grunt.
    She shook her head, reached into her backpack, and pulled out a brightly gift-wrapped present.
    â€œHere,” she said.
    â€œWow,” I said. “Thanks!”
    I love presents. They’re, like, not only free, they also mean someone likes you enough to give you something. I was pretty happy for a second there, until I realized what it was. The giveaway was a little bronze pin on top of the ribbon, diamond shaped with a “1” in the center—the symbol of
The Rule of Won.
    â€œOh.”
    The symbol was also on the cover of the paperback inside the wrapping. Joy.
    â€œYou couldn’t spring for the DVD?” I asked, half joking.
    She leaned over and put the pin on the collar of my over-shirt. It’s an old green service station shirt, complete with some oil stains. Joey gave it to me. I usually wear it over a T-shirt. With the pin on it, it suddenly felt totally goofy.
    â€œVicky, I’m not sure about any of this.”
    Actually, I was pretty sure I didn’t want anything to do with this Crave crap, but I didn’t want to tell her that. “How about you give me a campaign button instead?”
    Her lips curled. “Uh . . . not so sure that would help my campaign, you know? My opponent’s already making a big deal about how you and I used to date.”
    â€œUsed to? Wait a minute . . . did we stop?”
    She pushed the book flat against my chest, like she’d get it inside me one way or another. “Read it,” she said. “It’s not long, and there are lots of pictures. Let it change you.”
    â€œVicky . . .”
    She poked a long nail into the “1” pin on my shirt. “And take your Crave seriously.”
    â€œVicky—”
    â€œJust for two weeks, okay? If it doesn’t work, if it doesn’t help you, then quit. Okay? But please? Two weeks? Next meeting is Wednesday.”
    â€œFine,” I said. Ignoring her whole “used to” comment, I asked, “Want to walk to Java Jive and grab some—”
    She shook her head. “Sorry, Caleb. I’ve got lots of homework and a campaign speech to polish.”
    Before she turned, she flashed a big grin. “Maybe you