Waking Read Online Free Page B

as that. “My dad’s a little…overprotective.”
    Luna nodded. “Must be nice.”
    â€œWhere’s your dad?”
    Luna shrugged, tried to look indifferent. “We don’t know. Anyway, you can hide that cut, you know.”
    Beauty put the book down. “Really? How?”
    â€œI have just the thing.” Luna pulled a wooden jewelry box off a table draped in silvery scarves and rummaged through a staggering jumble of necklaces and brooches and earrings. “It’s in here somewhere…a-ha! Knew I still had it.” She pulled out a wide silver ring and tossed it into Beauty’s lap. “Just wear it on your thumb. It’ll hide the cut.”
    Beauty felt slightly nervous, the way she always did when things seemed to be going too well. She slipped the ring on and the cut disappeared.
    â€œPerfect,” Beauty said. When she looked up, she was grinning. “Thanks. But you already gave me a brooch for no reason.”
    â€œSo, borrow the ring until the cut heals. No big deal.”
    Beauty wanted to hug her but she worried it might be weird. Instead she tried to remember why she was here in the first place. “So, what was your idea?”
    â€œWell,” Luna said, gesturing wildly with her hands, the way she always did when she was excited, “the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, or the prb , had a journal for a while. It was called ‘The Germ,’ I think. Something like that. Anyway, it didn’t last long, but I thought it might be fun if we put a journal together. You know, with poems and art and a couple of essay-type things so Kingsley doesn’t think we’re just slacking off.” She stood up and began to pace through the room. “You could do the art since you draw. I can only draw stick people,” she continued, ignoring Beauty’s little sound of protest. “And we could make copies for the whole class. What do you think?”
    Beauty nodded slowly. “Could be fun. I don’t know about my drawing, though. You’ve never even seen my stuff. You might think I suck.”
    Luna waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure you’re fabulous. Better than me anyway. There wouldn’t be that much to do; most of the paintings would be photocopies of prb stuff, anyhow. Is it a deal?”
    Her enthusiasm was infectious. Beauty nodded, barely worrying if Mr. Kingsley would think it was a good idea or if they should ask him about it first.
    â€œI’m in,” she said firmly. There was a release, like a melting river in spring, bursting suddenly free of its banks. She flopped back in the beanbag. “How do you like Briar so far?”
    Luna snorted and began to juggle three small rubber balls. “Are you kidding? It’s high school. What’s to like?”
    Beauty snorted too. “I thought you were more optimistic.”
    Luna laughed. “My mother’s the happy-go-lucky hippie; I just play one on TV.” She shrugged, nearly dropped a ball. “That’s not really true. It’s just a pain sometimes going from school to school and from town to town. And the rules are always different.”
    Beauty stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. “I don’t know, I think we’re pretty typical. High school wouldn’t be a rite of passage if it didn’t suck.”
    â€œTrue.” Luna let the balls fall and roll under her bed. “But why are those girls so uptight? It’s like they think I’m going to steal all of their boyfriends or something.”
    Beauty raised an eyebrow. "You have been out with a lot of guys since you got here. Any juicy details?"
    Luna tossed a sock at her. “No. It’s not like that. I just don’t really believe in monogamy.”
    â€œYou don’t?”
    Luna shrugged. “Not really. I hate the whole jealousy thing. It makes people do stupid things. But regardless, I was only trying to make