Through to You Read Online Free Page A

I feel kind of exposed and uncomfortable, and I shift on the seat, intentionally moving my leg away just in case his hand goes for the gearshift again.
    â€œYou’ve known me for all of ten minutes.”
    â€œSo then tell me something about yourself.”
    I reel off the list of things I always keep on hand for these situations—like when they ask you to name three things about yourself at the beginning of camp or on the first day of school or something. (Which is so stupid. Who remembers anything from the first day of school?) “My middle name’s Louise, I’m an only child, I want to be a choreographer, and my best subject is math.”
    â€œYour best subject is world history, because I’m in it. And those things you just told me are lame.”
    â€œThey are not lame!”
    â€œYes, they are. They don’t tell me anything about you.” Penn shakes his head and then looks at me before returning his gaze to the road. “Tell me something good.”
    I don’t know what he means. Those things I told him are good. Especially about me wanting to be a choreographer. People are always super-impressed with that one. And my middle name being Louise? That’s a hideous middle name.
    I look down and try to think of something scandalous I can tell him. The floor of Penn’s truck is littered with straw wrappers, but other than that it’s sparkling clean.
    â€œI’m going to Ballard,” I say. “You know, the music school? I’ve already been accepted to the school, I just have to audition for the choreography program.”
    He shrugs, like he’s never heard of it, even though it’s, like, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Then he sort of shakes his head, like he should have known better than to ask me to tell him something scandalous.
    Which pisses me off.
    I can be scandalous.
    Can’t I?
    â€œMy dad cheated on my mom when I was four months old, and he took off and I haven’t heard from him since.”
    Penn cocks his head, like he’s maybe a little bit interested.
    â€œAnd one time I overheard my mom saying I would probably have issues with men because of it.”
    â€œAnd do you?”
    â€œHave issues with men?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWell, I’m not sure. I don’t know any men.”
    He smiles.
    He opens his mouth to ask me something else, but suddenly I don’t want him to. I realize it’s because I’m intimidated by him. Penn is beautiful and interesting and charming, and the only thing I have to offer is an absent father and a dance audition.
    I check the clock. “We should probably go back to school,” I say. “The period’s almost over.”
    Penn looks at me in shock. “You want to go back to school ?”
    â€œWell, yeah.” It’s one thing to get away with skipping world history. Probably no one would catch me, since I was technically supposed to be in the nurse’s office anyway. It’s another thing altogether to end up missing a whole day. No way I would be able to get away with that.
    He shakes his head. “You obviously haven’t had much practice at this.”
    He’s right, but I don’t want him to know that, so I just roll my eyes.
    After a moment he turns the car around. “Okay, fine,” he says. “I’ll take you back to school.”
    As soon as he turns around, I want to take it back. I realize that once we’re back at school, we’ll be away from each other. And it’s weird, but I don’t want to leave him. I don’t know anything about him, and yet I don’t want to be away from him. It’s a very unsettling feeling.
    When we get back to school, he pulls into a parking spot near the front. He stops the car but leaves it idling.
    â€œAren’t you coming in?” I ask, surprised.
    â€œNah,” he says. “The point of walking out of school when you’re not