Page 110 - Ext. Listening Reading_Neat

best parties and hoisted her over the last bell rang and I was finally able to
social ladder. I feel Steve's eyes burning a
hole through me but I don't look up to
meet his gaze.
Brad leans over and whispers to me.
"What's between you and the new guy?"
"Is that any of your business?" His mouth
opens to reply but Ms. Patterson walks in
saving me from any further conversation.
She goes on to tell us about her date last
night and I continue to look at my book,
turning the pages every now and then to
make it believable.
When the bell rings, it sounds like my
death sentence. I try to get my things
together as fast as possible but by the
time I swing my bag over my shoulder,
he's halfway to my desk. So I do the only
thing I can think of in a moment's notice; I
latch on to Brad's arm. They both watch
me, waiting to see my next move, and as
Brad opens his mouth to speak I pull him
outside the class room.
"What's wrong with you Green?" He
demands, still letting me drag him.
"Walk!" I order. I take him down and let go
once we're the end of the hallway.
"What was that?"
I smile and my voice is drenched in
venom. "I was using you Brad. I'm done
now, you can go." I shoo him off.
"I deserve an explanation."
"Get lost James!" I use his last name the
same way he always uses mine suddenly
making him more of object than a person.
He scoffs before he walks away. Needless
to say I wasn't about to attend journalism.
The rest of my school day is spent trying
to avoid Steve and considering I don't
know exactly which classes he has or
when I found it a lot harder than it
seemed. But at least I knew he didn't have
mine so I ran to and from them until the
106 | Extensive Listening & Reading
drive home.
It was surprising to see my mother home
as I walked in through the door. "Hey
Angel, how was school?" I groaned in
response and sat on the couch. "Bad
day?" I nodded. "Want something to eat?" I
shook my head no. "You know honey, this
may not be the best time but Mrs.
Anderson called." That got my attention.
"She was sorting through some of Sandy's
things and she thought it may be nice for
you to go down and pick some things
you'd like to keep. Isn't that nice?" I
shrugged. "I thought maybe you could give
her a call, see if you could go down there
today."
"You want me to call her," my voice made
it sound like she was crazy. Just then
there was a slight beeping sound. My
mother went off to her room to check her
phone and I pulled mine out. The message
was from Steve.
-'Can we talk? Come over later.'
I sighed. I guess it would all come down to
which conversation I wanted to have least.
I pressed the letters on the screen.
-'Busy tonight, Sorry'
"It wasn't mine," mom announced as she
came back.
"It was mine." I get off the couch and
reach for my keys. "I'm going over to
Sandy's." It felt as if someone had
punched me in the gut. "I mean the
Anderson's."
Mrs. Anderson was quick to let me in. I
guess she never actually thought I would
show up. "Tea Angel?"
"No, thanks." I replied. What kind of kid
drinks tea?
"I'm really glad you came over you know."
She poured a cup for herself. "This has
been hard on all of her friends but I'm