DIFFERENT (Different Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

ended up missing playtime for a week and also acquired a new nickname that seemed to have stuck.
                  Leo opened the door and led me through a hallway that was covered in pictures of a perfect-looking family. I looked at one of a little girl with her hair in bunches wearing a white floral dress. Next to her was a blonde haired boy, a year or two older. He was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, and he had his arm around the girl. They were both smiling, the kind which was verging on laughter.
                  Leo tugged at my arm and dragged me into the huge living room that was packed full of people, some of whom I recognised from school. The only light was coming from the DJ booth in the corner, which a boy from my year called Dunc Taylor appeared to be in charge of.
                  As Leo let go of my arm I felt like I’d lost my support, and I instantly felt sweaty and uncomfortable, so I took my jacket off as I switched my weight from one foot to another.
                  ‘Leo, so glad you could make it,’ Megan said, as she appeared out of the crowd and wrapped her arms around Leo.
                  She’d straightened her normally wavy chestnut coloured hair so that it fell effortlessly down her tartan dress, and as she stood close to me I got the overwhelming scent of berries. Great, not only did she look amazing, but she also smelt great too. Suddenly I didn’t feel so pretty in Louisa’s dress.
                  ‘As if I was gonna miss this,’ he grinned.
                  ‘Well, I’m glad that you could make it,’ she said, as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
                  I rolled my eyes. I really didn’t want to be standing here watching her flirt with my best friend. Talk about awkward.
                  ‘I’m going to go get a drink,’ I said to Leo.
    ‘Oh, Celeste, it’s so nice to see you, and I love your dress,’ Megan said, as she gave me an exaggerated smile.
                  ‘Thanks, yours too,’ I fake smiled back at her. ‘Leo, you want one?’
                  ‘Huh?’ he replied, clearly distracted by Megan.
                  ‘Do you want a drink?’
                  ‘Nah, I’m good. Thanks, Cel,’ he said, unable to divert his eyes away from Megan.
                  I weaved my way through the sweaty, dancing bodies and past the DJ booth, where there was a door that I kept seeing people come in and out of with plastic cups in their hands, so I hoped that it’d take me into the kitchen.
                  I’d met plenty of girls like Megan throughout my life. On the outside she seemed pretty perfect: she was gorgeous, clever, and she had a loving family, yet she didn’t realise how lucky she was. Leo had told me about how she missed her dad because he worked away from home a lot and how she’d ended up with a ‘C’ last term in chemistry and she was gutted about this. To a girl like Megan, these were huge life events. Then there was the fact that people like me always seemed to unnerve girls like her. She always had an unsure look in her eyes around me, as if she wasn’t sure what I was about. The only reason that she was pleasant to me was because of Leo, but this was better than being on her bad side.
                  There was a group of people already in the kitchen. They were chuckling as a boy with spiked up blonde hair poured something out of a glass bottle into one of the jugs of fruit juices. I decided that I’d be better off avoiding that, so I grabbed a plastic cup off one of the worktops and went over to the sink, where I turned the tap on and filled up my cup with water.
                  ‘You don’t want to be drinking that, not when you can have some of this,’ the blonde-haired boy said as he lifted up the