Archaic Read Online Free Page A

needed that. But my friends had other ideas.
    "I don't want to go," I said, shaking my head. "I wasn't planning on doing much this weekend."
    "That's boring," Stacy exclaimed, looking to Kennedy for help in persuading me to go. "How are you supposed to meet new people if you spend the entire weekend at home in your room?"
    "She's right. You need to go out and live a little. You never know, you might even meet a guy."
    Seeing the two determined faces of my friends, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.
    "Okay," I relented. Maybe they had a point. It would probably be nice to go out and spend time with my friends. I just hoped that I wouldn't see Jared, but it wasn't like we moved in the same circles as he did. So what was I worried about?
    "I'll pick you guys up a couple of hours before the party and we can all get dressed together at my house," Stacy said with an excited smile. Kennedy was already nodding her head in agreement.
    "Okay." I sighed. "I've got to go. I'll see you guys at lunch."
    I hurried toward my locker, hoping to get the books I needed before I saw Jared again. I collected all my books for the entire day and stuffed them into my bag, which only resulted in making it really heavy; but on the other hand, less time spent at my locker meant that there was less of a chance of running into Jared. I was worried another encounter with him would end up making me look like a bigger idiot than I already felt like.
    I closed my locker and spun the combination, adjusting the strap of my bag to ease the weight of the books inside. Glancing around the hallway quickly, I noticed Jared and his some of his friends standing a little farther down the hall. My stomach did a somersault--just the sight of him did weird things inside me. The foreign feeling of jealousy stabbed through me as I saw Jared lean toward Felicity and whisper something to her. He was so close that if I hadn't been watching intently, it would have looked like he was about to kiss her on the cheek.
    What made the whole exchange worse was that Felicity had caught me watching the exchange and quickly leaned closer to him with a satisfied smile spread across her face, her eyes flashing with triumph. The message she was sending was clear: he was hers. Despite my mind telling me I didn't care, I actually did and it hurt a little. I hated how strongly I felt for him after just a short space of time.
    I spun around and walked toward my next class and walked straight into someone. Hands reached out and steadied me as I looked up at the guy I'd walked straight into.
    He was good looking, with short brown hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a black T-shirt and blue faded jeans.
    "Sorry," I mumbled, feeling annoyed at the fact that I'd been so distracted.
    "It's okay," he assured me as he released his hold on my arms. He smiled and I felt the heat of embarrassment fill my cheeks.
    "Do you often walk around not looking where you're going?" he asked in a teasing tone.
    "No." I shrugged. Just when I was busy ogling a certain somebody.
    "I'm Andrew," he said as he leaned closer and looked intently at me. With his friendly smile and expressive eyes, I felt more at ease with him. Normally, I was really shy around boys, but this boy had such a laid-back way about him that I couldn't help but feel relaxed around him.
    "I'm Ava," I replied. With my previous anxious feelings totally forgotten, I smiled back at Andrew.
    A guy appeared beside him.
    "This is David; David, this is Ava," he introduced.
    David. The name sounded familiar.
    "Hi," I said while I tried to remember where I was supposed to know him from.
    "Hi," he greeted.
    "I'll see you around, Ava," Andrew said with a wide smile before he walked away with his friend. I looked back and caught one last look at them before they disappeared down the hallway.
    There was something I liked about him and I found myself smiling as I continued to my class. It was only when I got to my next class that I remembered why David sounded