What If... All the Rumors Were True Read Online Free Page B

my name is Doug Hausner.” He pointed to each part of his name on the board as he said it, as if they couldn’t read. “I’m your prep coach. So, um, let’s see. Why don’t we start with some questions. Yes, the girl with the braids.” He called on Annie.
    â€œWhat did you get on your SATs?” Annie asked boldly.
    Mr. Hausner stuffed his hands in his pockets, seemingly unsure of how to respond. “Well, that’s not really the point here—”
    â€œI think it is,” Annie said. “After all, our parents are paying a lot of money for this course. We should know what kind of teacher we’re getting.”
    â€œYou’re getting the best teacher around—G-A-R-U-N-T-E-E-D!” Mr. Hausner smiled as if he expected them all to laugh at his sort-of joke, but no one did.
    â€œTough crowd. Moving on. So, do you all have the practice test books?”
    As Mr. Hausner passed books and handouts to the class, Haley realized that he hadn’t even come close to answering Annie’s question. Not only did they not know his scores, they also didn’t know what college he attended, or whether he’d even gone to college.
Could this place be some kind of scam?
she wondered.
Eh, who cares, as long as Reese is here.
She could feel him staring at the back of her head.
    â€œSo, let’s learn how to take a test, people. What do you say?” asked Mr. Hausner. “Step one: sit at a desk. Step two: pick up a number-two pencil. Step three: take a deep breath….”
    Haley found herself daydreaming of Reese. His hair had gotten longer over the summer—his mother would probably say that he needed a haircut, but Haley admired the way the black tendrils curled above the collar of his bright blue T-shirt. She didn’t need to be staring at that gorgeous face to see it—the sparkling eyes, the aquiline nose, the full set of lips that curled into a mischievous and irresistible smile…Reese Highland was, quite simply, to die for.
    Concentrate, Haley,
she scolded herself, snapping out of it. This was her future at stake here. And besides, Reese wasn’t going to win her all over again that easily.
    â€œSo open your books and let’s try the first math practice test,” Mr. Hausner said. “I’ll time you. You have fifteen minutes. Ready? Go.”
    The room fell quiet, except for the sound of scratching pencils. Haley worked the math problems as quickly as she could, filling in the appropriate A-B-C-D-E bubbles on the standardized test sheet. An hour later, Mr. Hausner went over the answers with the class. Haley was surprised to see she’d gotten all but one of the problems right. She’d done even better than Annie and Dave. She’d never really thought of herself as a math whiz but…who knew?
    Reese tapped Haley’s shoulder and, when she turned around, grinned that melting smile at her. “How’d you do?”
    â€œEleven out of twelve,” Haley said. “How about you?”
    He just grinned wider, but Haley looked down at his desk and saw that he’d gotten twelve out of twelve. “Eleven’s a good score,” he taunted. “Have you ever thought about joining the calculus team? We could use another brain like you for the Math Olympics.”
    â€œThe math team?” Frankly, the thought had never entered Haley’s mind. Maybe this was the way to solve for the square root of Reese.
    â€œI’ll think about it,” she said, collecting her things. “Oh, and don’t let Sasha outrun you on the way home,” she added, jesting with him.
    â€œHa!” Reese laughed at the idea.
    â€œI don’t know, Highland. If you ask me, the summer made you soft.” And with that, she strutted outside to meet her father in the parking lot.

    Ah, another diary-worthy moment with the infamous Reese Highland. He and Haley are like Hepburn and Tracy, Bogey and Bacall, Brad and