Prom Date Read Online Free Page B

center table in my library. He hadn’t picked a table in the back. No not him. It has to be right there in the middle of the room. Was the guy a born masochist? My stomach fluttered a little. I didn’t need drama in my library. As the TA for the library during sixth period, my job was to eliminate drama. Helping Mrs. Johnson. Mostly returning books to the stacks and helping freshmen find their way around. It was my favorite part of school and Scott James was going to ruin it by sitting in the middle of my library.
    He’d hung his red and white Letterman jacket over the back of his chair. He looked up when I came in and our eyes met for a brief second, nothing. No reaction, like I said, I’m very good at being invisible. Turning back to his book, he flipped a page and returned to his own world.
    I ducked behind the counter as I ripped a package open and pulled out a handy wipe for my hands before I started processing books, sorting them into categories. I let my hair fall in front of my face so I could peak through it at Scott. It was one of my many tricks at staying hidden.
    I’ll admit it, I was worried about him. How did someone fall from the top to the bottom without cracking up? You know that whole, “those the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad” thing.
    No one would ever call him drop dead gorgeous, but he was good looking, in that rugged, manly sort of way, His thick black hair kissed the tops of his ears. He kept swiping at it like it tickled. He had an old scar below his right eye and a faint bruise on the left side of his face. It seemed that heart throb Danny had gotten in at least one punch before his world became seriously disturbed.
    I found myself staring at Scott and forgetting about what I was supposed to be doing. I mean the guy was huge with shoulders wider than the Grand Canyon and hard tanned arms the size of small trees. They weren’t those sculpted weightlifter muscles. These could only be built with years of hard work outdoors.
    He had soft chocolate eyes that hid a deep intelligence. It always surprised me to see someone so big with an intelligent look. It wasn’t normal.
    His brow creased in confusion and he went back a few pages to reread something, found what he wanted and nodded to himself. I wondered what he was reading. It didn’t appear to be a text book. I had an almost overwhelming urge to go over and ask.
    Whoa Katie, what is going on? You do not get involved. Ever. And talking to Scott James was way too much involvement. Suppressing a shudder and fighting to get my rebellious stomach back under control I returned to what I was supposed to be doing.
    Mrs. Johnson had gone to a meeting and left me a note asking me to process some new books. I glanced to the two boxes on the floor and sighed in resignation. Why did they ship the books in such big containers? I could never get them up on the desk until I’d half emptied them. I didn’t even try to pick one up, instead I started pushing and dragging the first box to the front desk.
    “Do you need a hand with that Katie?”
    A deep voice from behind me made me jump. After I came down from the ceiling and got back into my own skin, I turned and saw Scott standing there with a questioning tilt of his brow. Okay, two things popped into my mind simultaneously. One, did he know I’d been staring at him, and two, he knew my name! I hadn’t thought he knew I existed, let alone my name.
    “What?” I answered, demonstrating my outstanding ability with the English language. I wanted to melt into nothingness.
    He looked at me with a deep frown and shook his head. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, I… I just wanted to help. If you need it that is? But hey, I understand.” He turned and started back to his chair before I could get my brain back into working order.
    “No! …. I mean yes, I could use a hand. Thank you.” The words came out without me processing all of the ramifications. I knew I couldn’t let him walk away