Dusk (Young Adult Paranormal Romance) Read Online Free Page B

his sweet smile, I found it hard to care that Nikki was now doubly gunning for me.
    The breeze picked up again, moving against my neck and pushing me the last few steps to my locker. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear someone was behind me blowing air on my skin. Weird sensation, but not an unpleasant one.
    I made quick work of my combination, preparing myself to find nothing once the door opened.
    My Pre-Cal book stared up at me from the bottom of my locker. Not in my backpack, but the bottom of the locker.
    Huh?
    I rewound my brain to first thing that morning. I’d come up the hall, hearing random people talking about the new biker-guy. Saw him talking to Nikki. Opened my locker. He appeared. We talked. I hung up my backpack. Looked for my Pre-Cal book.
    For the life of me, I could not remember removing the book from my backpack or putting it in the bottom of the locker. Of course, I’d been distracted by Adrian’s attention… and his seriously gorgeous face… but I doubted that I’d tossed that book to the bottom of the locker.
    I never used the bottom of the locker. I always hung my backpack on the hook. Much easier to grab what I needed when it was at eye level.
    Yet there was no denying that the Pre-Cal book was there.
    I bent to pick it up, and when I stood, Adrian was there.
    “Told you it would turn up.”
    He flashed his dimples in a quick grin, then winked and walked off.
    Again.

Chapter 5

    T urned out having my textbook for Pre-Calculus didn’t make much difference. Yes, I was able to write down the page number for my homework assignment. No, I was not able understand how to do it.
    Well, I thought I understood it. It all made sense when Mrs. Faulkner explained it and showed us examples. At home, sitting at the picnic table in the backyard, trying to do my homework on my own, I was lost.
    Unfortunately, I had not inherited the math-genius genes from my dad, the mechanical engineer, and he’d been the one to help me get through two years of Algebra and one year of Geometry. But he wasn’t here to help me now.
    And truthfully, even if he was here, I probably wouldn’t even speak to him, much less accept his help. I think it’s an unwritten rule that when you cheat on your wife, you lose homework help privileges with your daughter.
    In an attempt to drown out the memories I kept buried, I picked up my phone and clicked to open my email. I’d kept away from most social media since my life blew up, but email seemed safe enough. No enormous list of unread messages waited for me, however at the top of my inbox was a message from Lea Graham.
    Lea was kind of my pen pal. Not through any official pen pal organization or anything like that. Her parents worked as missionaries in Kenya, and two years ago, their family visited the church that Mom, Dad, and I attended together. So close in age, the two of us hit it off and exchanged email addresses. We’d been keeping in touch ever since, although her messages were less frequent now that they were back in Kenya, where the internet connection could be sketchy.
    I’d heard from her once over the summer, not long after the funeral, and I just couldn’t bring myself to respond to her.
    Taking a deep breath, I opened the message and began to read.
    Hello Zoe. I hope that you are well. Here in Mombasa, the activity center that my parents run has received seven new computers. I’m typing on one of them now! It’s very nice for the kids who come here in the afternoons to be able to use technology to learn and play. Most of them have never used a computer. You should see their eyes light up when they sit in front of the screens. Sometimes when I find myself wishing for the conveniences I got used to while we were in the states on furlough, I just look at these kids and remember how very fortunate I am. However, we are expecting a new computer for our home, and I am very excited about that possibility! I do so look forward to your stories of traditional high school