Second Night Read Online Free

puts me one major step behind all of you, but not for long. ’
    Gin leaned back in her chair. ‘Are you always so direct?’
    The waitress deposited five steaming cups in the middle of the table. Lauren opened her purse and sorted through the unfamiliar coins.
    â€˜I’m up front,’ she replied. ‘It saves a lot of time and breath.’
    A particularly noisy group at another, much bigger table in the far corner, shouted at someone just arriving. ‘Hey Caz! Over here!’
    â€˜Coffee’s hot, bro!’
    Lauren saw Bryony redden and Gin grimace. Jen and Shriek exchanged looks. The waitress dumped the muffins. She pocketed the money without bothering to count it and hurried away to prepare one of her ‘specials’.
    â€˜As I was saying,’ said Lauren, her eyes fixed on the tall, dark-haired newcomer. ‘This time I’ve got something to lose and something to gain and, if I’m not mistaken, he’ll do the job very nicely.’
    Gin laughed. ‘Shall we tell her?’
    â€˜I think we’d better,’ agreed Bryony.
    â€˜I see there’s a story here,’ said Lauren. ‘So what does he do? What’s he into?’
    â€˜He rides horses,’ said Gin.
    â€˜That’s cool. So do I.’
    â€˜He writes weird poetry that only the sad teachers like,’ added Jen.
    â€˜And he drinks coffee all the time and doesn’t eat,’ finished Shriek.
    Lauren raised perfectly penciled eyebrows. ‘What do you mean, he doesn’t eat?’
    â€˜He never eats lunch and he doesn’t snack. He just drinks endless, and I mean endless, cups of vomity-sweet coffee.’
    â€˜So how old is he? Nineteen? Twenty?’
    â€˜He’s sixteen next month,’ said Bryony.
    â€˜You’re kidding! Wow! I guess he works out.’
    â€˜I guess so,’ said Bryony ironically.
    â€˜So he’s still in school then?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜The same school as us?’
    Bryony sighed. ‘Yes.’
    Lauren’s blue eyes lit up. ‘This is so exciting! And he writes poetry! That’s so romantic.’
    â€˜Don’t get too thrilled,’ drawled Gin. ‘You only get a poem when he’s ditching you.’
    Lauren was instantly intrigued. ‘You don’t say! So who’s tried him out?’
    â€˜Jen and me are untouched by choice,’ said Shriek.
    â€˜Whose choice?’
    â€˜Ours of course!’ said Jen sharply. ‘Bry used to have a thing about him but she’s well over that.’
    Bryony nodded. ‘Absolutely.’
    Gin crushed the last of her muffin, wetting her fingers to pick up the crumbs around the plate. ‘My ‘try out’, as you put it, lasted three weeks and three days. He’s way too weird for me.’
    â€˜Did you get a poem?’
    â€˜I was voted out before he got round to doing me the honour,’ she said flatly. ‘Bry’ll fill you in. She used to hang around with his sister.’
    Lauren turned her eager attention to Bryony. ‘So how come you know him? What’s his name? Who are those people he’s with? What do his parents do? Which girl is he hanging out with right now?’
    Bryony answered reluctantly. ‘We live in the same village. His name is Caspar Wylde but he’s always called Caz. His older brother, Jasper, and his younger sister are over there at the same table. His father’s dead and his mother is a low-level servant with an income to match. She works for the local lord of the manor, if that’s what you’d call him. She has to do evenings behind the bar in the village pub to put any half-decent clothes on her back.’
    Lauren’s eyes twinkled. ‘Jasper and Caspar? So what’s the sister called? Pepper?’
    Gin allowed herself to smile. ‘It would have been fun, wouldn’t it? But no, she’s Jemima. They are known generally as Jas, Caz and