Untethered Read Online Free Page B

gorgeous. His hair has turned coppery-gold from the summer sun and his calf muscles flex as he walks.
    Because Kevin went to grade school with me and Cassie, he never ignores us. But he never really says much more than, “Hey,” either. Yet this time he says, “Hey,” then does a double take and stops.
    The rest of his group kind of stumbles and says, “What the—?” Then they spot us. Ashley and Samantha roll their eyes and mutter but Bryce and Kevin stand still, looking only at Cassie.
    “Cassie Sanders?” Kevin pushes his sunglasses up into his hair. His eyes are darker than my dad’s espresso. “Wow. Hi. You look ...you’ve changed.”
    Cassie stops, arms crossed, hip out, posed like a model. She narrows her green eyes at him and pushes out her glossed lips. When she speaks, her voice is clipped and angry. “Really? Changed enough for you to speak to me now?” She tromps up St. Anthony’s front steps and doesn’t look back. Kevin and his clan look as shocked as I feel.
    “Uh ... well, ’bye,” I say. They grunt some response and I hurry to catch up to Cassie.
    “What was that about?” I grab Cassie’s arm once we’re inside the building.
    “He’s an ass, Sylvie. Did you see that? ‘Cassie Sanders, you’ve changed.’ What was I, a toad before?” She’s practically yelling.
    “Shhh. Of course not, you know that. But if you think he’s such a jerk, why are you always pushing me to ask him out?”
    “Because you like him.”
    “But why are you so mad?” I know the answer. I know it. I feel my voice go all squeaky. “You like him, too, don’t you?”
    “No!” Cassie shakes her head. “Maybe I overreacted, okay?”
    I decide to let it drop for the moment. My stomach is wrenched into a knot. Kevin’s noticed Cassie. And if she likes him, I’ll never have a chance. Never.
    Sam comes up and pokes me in the shoulder just as Cassie and I reach our locker. “Hey, uh, about lunch—” he begins but all of a sudden from behind me a voice, thick and gooey as taffy, drawls out, “Oh, look! It’s Psycho Sydell! With a boyfriend? A little young for you, don’t you think, Psycho? With glasses that thick you’d think he could see who he’s hooking up with.”
    Tori Thompson and two of her friends stand a few feet away, teeth bared and claws sharpened.
    Clueless, Sam shakes his head and says, “I’m her brother.”
    “Hmmm ... I should have seen the resemblance,” Tori coos. “Ugly runs in the family.”
    Thing about Tori is she’s toxic. She actually hung around me and Cassie for, oh, about three days freshman year. But I guess she didn’t like how well Cassie and I clicked. How we finished each other’s sentences, how we shared everything. Cassie wasn’t gorgeous back then, but she was still the more confident, the more with it, of the two of us. And of course she didn’t have strange collapsing spells. So Tori cornered her one day and forced her to choose: Tori or me. Cassie chose me. The next day Tori decided to make my life miserable. She hasn’t let up on me ever since.
    Now Tori grins her venomous grin. “Should have known he wasn’t your boyfriend. Because, Psycho, with a boyfriend? Not likely.”
    I don’t need this. Not on the first day. So I ignore her and shove my books into the locker. I know from experience that she’ll go away if I don’t take the bait. I don’t need the whole school seeing her make fun of me.
    But Cassie, apparently, doesn’t care about the whole school. “Just shut up, Tori. Leave Sylvie alone.”
    “Make me.”
    Heat rushes to my cheeks. “Leave it, Cass. She’s not worth it.”
    “Oh, I’ll make it worth your time, Psycho.” Tori moves closer to us, swinging her hips.
    Kevin comes up to us then and there. For a second, my stomach flutters and I remember the fifth grade. He’s still a hero. He’s here to save me. All that’s missing are the braces.
    “What’s going on?” he demands.
    Bite her , I think.
    But the only thing that