Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
“Huh?” He looked up from his book again. “Oh no. It’s totally fine. Sit down,” he said, pulling out the chair for me.
Relief washed over me. “Okay, thanks.”
Alex’s eyes darted back to what he was reading, but then he pulled out a marker, jammed it between the pages, and shut the book.
“Don’t stop on my account,” I said, unzipping my schoolbag and pulling out a notebook.
“No, I was being rude before,” Alex said and offered me a smile. “You just caught me at my favorite part.”
“Oh, so you’ve read it before?” I asked, tilting my head to read the title. “What’s it called?”
“
The
Fellowship of the
Ring.”
I stared at Alex blankly.
“Tolkien?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re joking, right? You’ve never heard of
The
Lord of the
Rings?”
“Oh, like the movie?”
Alex groaned and banged his head on the table in frustration. “Why don’t girls ever read good fantasy?”
“What are you talking about? I thoroughly enjoy fantasy. What about
A
Midsummer
Night’s Dream?”
“Is that some girly crap like
Twilight? That doesn’t count as fantasy.”
“Shakespeare doesn’t write about sparkly vampires,” I scoffed.
“Oh, I know now! Isn’t he that super-old dude who wrote plays? I’ve read his stuff in English class.”
I knew he was only joking, but I scoffed and said, “You don’t know who Shakespeare is but laugh at me for not knowing Tonkin or whatever his name was?”
“Tolkien,” Alex corrected me,
“
and he wrote the greatest fantasy series of all time.”
“Yes, but Shakespeare could be considered the greatest literary figure of all time.”
Before Alex could respond, a young man appeared in the front of the room.
“Good morning, class,” he began. “Today we have a new student. Jackie, is it?”
When I heard my name, I instantly froze up. The entire class turned to look at me.
“Um, yes?”
“All right, then,” the teacher continued enthusiastically. “Welcome to Valley View. I’m Mr. Piper, and I teach most of the science classes here. Why don’t you stand up and tell us something about yourself?”
He wanted me to stand up, like in front of everyone? I could feel my face burn.
“Jackie?” Mr. Piper prompted me.
I heard my chair scrape back and then I was standing. My hands shook and I quickly tucked them behind my back. “Um, okay. Hi, I’m Jackie Howard and I recently moved here from New York.” I announced my short greeting in a rush and sat back down. If I had to do this in every class, today was going to be a nightmare.
“Thank you, Jackie,” Mr. Piper said, rubbing his hands together. “Moving on. Please take out your books. Today we’re going to start working on our skeletal unit.”
“Not much of public speaker, huh?” Alex whispered. A lazy grin covered his face, and for a moment I was taken aback at how similar he looked to Cole. They had the same strong jawline, the same sun-kissed skin, and the same blue eyes surrounded by thick lashes that any girl would kill for. But as I studied his face, subtle differences started to emerge: a nearly invisible sprinkle of freckles dotted his nose, and his eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue with flecks of gold that I noticed only because we were sitting so close.
When I realized that I was staring, I shook my head and looked away. “No, not at all.”
“Me neither,” Alex told me. “Just thinking about it makes me itch.” He pushed his textbook into the middle of the table. “You don’t have a book yet, right? We can share.” I smiled to myself. It seemed that I made another friend in the Walter house.
Mr. Piper dove into his lecture, and I focused my attention up front. It was then that I noticed the blonde from before. She was sitting across the room, glaring daggers in my direction.
***