Read Online Finding Home by Lauren K. McKellar - Free Book Online

mate. Are we cool?’
    It was hard not to smile. Cool rock guy Nick looked incredibly flustered, his ears reddening, his eyes to the floor. Apparently, swapping desks, combined with the earlier pull away, hadn’t gone unnoticed.
    ‘No! Why would you think that?’ I replied. I didn’t really have a choice. It was better than saying, ‘No, I don’t want to like you because you’re bad for me. Instead, I’m focusing on seriously crushing on your friend and want to increase my chances by sitting next to him. I can hardly hit on him at lunch with his girlfriend there.’
    ‘Just since you joined our group.’ He shrugged, looking out the window. ‘We’ve been in this class together for a few weeks now, but you won’t sit next to me. Only Luke. I don’t want to sound weird or anything, but I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t done something wrong.’
    I felt horrible and guilty, because I’d offended such a nice guy. Nick didn’t presume that I sat next to Luke because I had a crush, because Nick thought I was better than that. Clearly, he was wrong.
    ‘You’re getting worked up over nothing,’ I said lightly. ‘I didn’t even realise I wasn’t sitting next to you.’ Lie. ‘The reason I’m moving now is that I got asked to help some English students after class, and I need some time to prep.’ At least that wasn’t a complete lie. I’d always been good at English and, somehow, even though I’d come in halfway through term to work on a book I’d never read before, I’d not only shot to the top of the class, but the top of the grade. This had impressed my teacher so much that she’d asked me to help out the Student Success program she hosted after school.
    The theory was that maybe I’d speak teenager a lot better than she did and be able to translate the painfully boring work for someone who just didn’t get it. It was super-geeky, but at least it meant I didn’t have to face Lou and the emptiness of my room too early in the day. There was only so much ordering of hot chips and watching Lily and Kyle make out I could take.
    ‘Look, I’ll sit next to you if you want, if it’s that big a deal,’ I added. I didn’t want to offend him, even though I’d much rather stay where I was.
    ‘It’s not a big deal .’ Nick shrugged. I realised it was the wrong choice of words.
    ‘I didn’t think it was, not like that, I —’
    He started to laugh, a deep, throaty chuckle that made me want to smile along with him.
    ‘I’m reading too much into this, aren’t I?’ I asked, grinning.
    ‘Only because I was reading too much into where you were sitting,’ he said, laughing. ‘I shouldn’t have been so suspicious of your motives; I guess sometimes I just think way too much. Anyway, tell me about your nerdy English program. You must be pretty smart, right?’ There was no menace in Nick’s words, only a gentle teasing.
    ‘Not at everything.’ I twisted my hands in my lap, embarrassed. ‘Just English.’
    ‘You’re good at music, too,’ Luke said, catching the last part of our conversation as he strode across the room towards us. He jumped onto the seat to the other side of me and turned to stare in my direction with those big, brown eyes. I could have melted. Why, oh why, did I fall to pieces around him?
    ‘For sure,’ Nick agreed.
    As I blushed, my cheeks turned the colour of tomato sauce. I almost didn’t notice as the rest of the class came flooding through the door all at once, like they’d been waiting for a secret signal. Mr Davison followed at their heels, looking like a border collie rounding up sheep.
    ‘Um, can we talk about something else, perhaps?’ I asked in a soft voice. As much as I enjoyed Luke’s praise — and, surprisingly, Nick’s too — it was not doing wonders for my skin. I doubted I’d ever been so red.
    ‘All right, class,’ Mr Davison said.’ Welcome. Let’s go back to our groups for the major performance. Amy, can I see you for a sec?’
    I walked