Year of Mistaken Discoveries Read Online Free

layer of frost had covered everything since the party started, making the windows of the cars parked all over the lawn opaque. The grass under our feet was crunchy, like walking on corn chips. My breath plumed out like a dragon’s.
    “So, what’s up?” I asked.
    Nora looked down the street. “You decide on a senior project yet?”
    Of all the things I thought Nora might have hunted me down about, homework wasn’t even on the list. Northside High made every senior do a project and present it as a requirement for graduation. We were supposed to partner up with someone so that we could learn teamwork. Did she actually think we’d do a project together after all this time?
    “Uh. Yeah. Colton and I are doing a project on education reform.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I paused.Would we still be doing the project? We’d come up with the idea over the summer. We’d already been working on it since the first week in September. Colton planned to major in public policy when he got to Harvard. I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, but I was sure our project was going to be the perfect thing that would put my Duke application over the top. I’d already turned in my early application and mentioned it. What was I going to do if we broke up? My stomach tightened. Getting into Duke was everything.
    “Wow. Sounds riveting,” Nora said.
    I felt a flash of annoyance. “It’s an important issue.”
    Nora nodded. “I bet.” Her voice came out flat. “I just thought you’d do something you felt passionate about. Like writing a book or doing a book drive for kids or something.”
    I snorted. “Can you imagine Colton wanting to write a book?”
    “No. I can imagine you doing it.” She met my eyes. “You used to be a great writer. Remember those stories you used to write down all the time?”
    “I had an overactive imagination.” I felt suddenly embarrassed, like she’d dragged out photos from junior high where I’d shot up really tall and looked as awkward as I felt. It wasn’t that I thought there was anything wrong with writing, but it felt sort of artsy-fartsy. I couldn’t imagine the Duke admissions team being impressed with my bad poetry. “The stories were stupid.”
    Nora was quiet for a beat. “I thought they were great.”
    Now I felt like I had somehow insulted her, which made no sense, because they were my stories. “Anyway, if you’re still looking for a partner, I could check around and see if I know anyone looking.” For the life of me I couldn’t imagine any of my friends wanting to partner with Nora.
    “I’m partnered with Brody,” Nora said.
    Her answer struck me like an electric shock. “Oh. I didn’t know you guys were friends.” There was no reason for me to feel surprised. It wasn’t like she owed me a list of who she hung out with. It wasn’t that unusual, they were both part of the Island of Misfit Toys, the people who didn’t really fit into any other social crowd. “He seems like a nice guy.”
    “Nice?” Nora shot me a look. “He’s not a golden retriever.” She pulled her sweatshirt sleeves down so they were covering her hands. “Brody’s cool.”
    “What are you guys doing for a project? Something with photography?” I glanced back at Ryan’s house to see if Shannon and Lydia were coming.
    “I quit the photography store.”
    I spun around, surprised. “When?” Nora had worked at the camera store at the mall since our sophomore year. Her dad had been really into photography, and when he still lived with them, he’d had a darkroom in their basement for developing film. He’d left a year ago, trading Nora and her mom in for his secretary, who was still in her twenties. It was gross. Nora hadgrown up knowing about telephoto lenses and what someone meant by the term “f-stop.” I knew she was mad at her dad for leaving, but I hadn’t thought she’d give up taking pictures. I couldn’t imagine her without a camera.
    “A month ago. I didn’t