Carnelian Read Online Free

don’t like the “I’ve been taken away
from heaven and planted here on earth” drop-dead-gorgeous type?
We’re in college. Time to explore new types, girl.” Sim raised her
eyebrows as we approached the car. My face was already red. I
couldn’t deny what she said, but how else could I say that I knew
better than to be interested in him? I couldn’t let myself be
interested in him. Guys like him were always trouble.
    “Simardeep, what could you be doing to make
your new friend blush that much?” Mr. Singh asked. My face reddened
a bit more with embarrassment, though I would not have thought that
was even possible. I didn’t need to discuss cute guys with Mr.
Singh.
    “I am being nice, Daddy,” Sim replied. “We
were just talking about finishing all these boxes, and I made Mari
run back down here with me. She’s just warm.” Sim lied expertly and
winked at me when he wasn’t looking. Maybe Sim wasn’t as completely
honest with her parents as it seemed before, when her mother was
putting all Sim’s stuff away.
    “Well, if you ladies can take the top three
boxes, I can get the rest,” Mr. Singh offered.
    I grabbed the top two boxes. The less trips
past underwear model, the better. Sim grabbed the other box and led
us away as her dad piled the rest on the closed trunk before
locking up. I looked back to see if we should wait for him.
    “He’s fine,” Sim answered my unspoken
question. “He walks slowly. My mom and I leave him behind all the
time.”
    I wouldn’t say that he walked slowly,
remembering how he had bounded across the lot to me when I waited
before, but I followed Sim anyway. She seemed to be in a bit more
of a rush than last time. We flew by the guys still sitting at the
table and up to our room without a glance back. Sim pushed me in
first, and I set the boxes down on the bed. She snuck in behind me
when her mother’s back was turned and slid the box in her arms
under my bed. She put her finger to her lips begging me to be quiet
about the mystery box. Sim stood back up quickly and smiled at her
mother as she turned around.
    “I’ll go back down to get the door for your
dad,” I offered as Sim’s mom started to hand Sim clothes to hang
up.
    I went back downstairs. It wouldn’t be a
problem because I didn’t have to walk outside again by the guys. I
could just stand inside the door and open it once Mr. Singh made
his way there. He wasn’t far down the walkway when I got to the
doorway. I leaned against the door and ignored the students walking
by.
    “Was she the one in the red shirt or white?”
a familiar, nasally voice asked.
    “White, with the short shorts,” underwear
model replied as they passed by.
    I looked at my shirt. It was white and my
shorts were a tad bit short.
    “Oh, you mean the hot one that ran into me
today when we were looking for you,” a third voice added. None of
the guys noticed me flattened against the doorway.
    I might have convinced myself before that I
wasn’t the one underwear model was looking at for his next girl,
but it was going to be harder to convince myself of now. What did I
do to be targeted? It was only my first day at Morton.
    “Melissa is going to be mad,” tall guy said
as they walked down the hallway out of hearing range. They hadn’t
seen me, but I had heard them. College was getting harder by the
minute and I hadn’t even been to my first class yet.
    I looked up and Mr. Singh was trying to get
the door open. I reached over and pushed it open for him. He
smiled, surprised to see me.
    “Oh, Mari, thanks,” Mr. Singh replied as I
took a couple boxes and led the way back to my room.
    Sim was almost done unpacking with the help
of her mom. It wouldn’t take more beyond the boxes we just arrived
with. Sim took the top box from her father and opened it as I sat
down on my bed to watch. They were like a well-oiled machine. Each
person had a task, and they all moved around getting it done. For
as much as they bickered, they were quite the