Book of Love Read Online Free Page B

conversed with. A long time ago, we had been best friends.
We grew up having the same teachers through elementary school, but
come junior high, we had grown apart. She was a cheerleader, and
dubbed to be one of the best looking girls in school. She wore Dior
makeup, and tanned regularly, leaving me looking like a pale speck
of dust in comparison.
    We hung out on weekends in private. She
never wanted to be seen with me at school anymore, but I didn’t
care. She made my weekend chores more invigorating as she followed
me around spouting gossip. I always figured I was the only one that
really listened to her. I knew it was the only reason we were still
friends, other than the fact I did her homework. At least she paid
me.
    I handed her the pile of book reports she
was supposed to read and write about over the summer for 20th
Century Lit.
    “ Great! Here ,” she shoved a wad of money toward me—college fund. “Jane, I
don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have a friend like you,” she
squealed.
    “ Fail? ” I muttered.
    She didn’t seem to hear me. “So, this
Saturday… do you want to hang out?” She blinked, her blue eyes
glittering.
    I tried to remember what
it was I’d had to do on Saturday. In fact, I began to hope that I
had something, just to avoid hanging out with her. Who was I kidding? I was
a loser. “Yeah, sure.”
    “ Great!” she hissed,
jumping slightly. “I need your opinion on the new kid. I want to
try and reel that one in.” She winked, bringing one finger to her
chin in thought.
    My thoughts then went back to the boy I saw
in the hall. “The new kid?” My brows were creased together,
suddenly interested.
    “ Though,
he could use a makeover,” she added, ignoring my question. I looked at her
strangely, wondering how it was she had already caught up on all
the gossip by lunch.
    “ The new
kid?” I repeated, this time
louder.
    She rolled her eyes and
began to swoon. “Yeah, the tall dark and mysterious one.” She bent down for
dramatic effect, as though suddenly weak in the knees. “Have you
seen him? Such a text book hotty. ”
    So, he really was new. “Yeah, I think I’ve
seen him.”
    Her smile got bigger—if
that was even possible. “Yes! Wasn’t he totally the tall dark and handsome type, or what?”
    I shook my head. She was being pathetic.
“Yeah, sure, I guess. I only saw a glimpse of him, so—”
    “ Well, anyway .” She cut me off. “Pay
attention this week, so we can gossip about it Saturday!” she
squealed some more, shaking her hands with apparent excitement.
“He’s mine by
next week.” Her face changed to one of extreme determination. With
that, she skipped off into the courtyard where a group of girls
surrounded her, all vying to be her newest best friend.
    I blinked away the disbelief, fanning my
hand in an attempt to clear the air of her perfume. Not much
changed in our town, and most of my class had known each other
since first grade. It was also that fact that made the news of a
new kid spread like wildfire. He was fresh meat thrown into a
circle of boy-starved girls. I gave him until the end of the week;
by then, Liz would surely have her claws into him. He’d be a whole
new person. The mysterious boy that tickled my senses in the hall
would no longer exist, replaced by some unfortunate jock. That was
Liz’s talent.
    I shook away the images of him. I’d given
myself a moment to dream, but let’s face it—that moment was over. I
made my way to the library and slinked inside. The dusty smell of
old books wafted into my nostrils, washing away all the stress and
worry.

    Emily:

    I gave the unnamed senior
a kiss on the cheek. It was no big deal. I liked men to stare. I
turned then, walking away with the bottle in my hand, feeling as
two pills jingled inside. He had given them to me for free. I loved free . Not a
penny lost this time around. I was certain that here, there were
many more dealers I could convince just as easily as
him.
    My hand shook