Read Online Flat-Out Celeste by Jessica Park - Free Book Online Page B

what’s going on with this outfit, ‘cause it doesn’t seem very you—Hey, wait a minute! I know you!”
    “You do?”
    “You’re in my chem class! Oh my God, I didn’t even recognize you!” He laughed and clapped his hands together. “Cool switchover, man!”
    “You are in my class?” Oh no, this was not good. “I thought you were all in college?”
    “Aww, the other guys are, and they don’t like to advertise that one of us isn’t, you know? They don’t want a high school kid in their sick band.” He winked.
    “Oh,” she said nodding. “Sick. Very much so. Yes, of course.”
    “At the rate I’m going, I don’t even know if I’ll get into college, but whatever. I’ll just hope the band takes off.”
    “I see. I am sure you will do just fine. The good news is that anyone who auditions after me will look even better than they might have otherwise.” She forced a smile.
    “You’re being too hard on yourself.” Zeke crossed his arms. “I’m glad you tried out, and you should be, too. I didn’t know you had this side of you. You’re so studious at school. Like, totally in another league. But I guess we have something in common, huh? I feel kinda honored that you tried out, man.”
    “That is a gracious attitude despite its being clear that I do not belong here. I do not have the talent that you have. This is not really who I am.”
    “It must be some part of you.” He nudged her softly with his elbow. “Listen, it’s freezing out here, so I gotta go back in. But I hope you at least had a little fun?”
    “It was an experience.”
    “Cool. I’ll see you after break. Have a good Thanksgiving!” Zeke ran back to the garage.
    It took ten minutes for the car to warm up nicely and to stop shivering. As she drove home, Celeste understood something important: Zeke had been nice to her. Really, genuinely nice. Maybe Dallas’ effort to reach out had been sincere after all. And maybe Celeste should have replied to her text. Maybe it was not too late? It was a risk she would take.
Celeste: Dallas, thank you for recommending that romantic story to me. I did read it, and I enjoyed it immensely.
    A white lie was allowed on occasion.
    So between Zeke and Dallas, there were now two people at her school who were speaking to her. Two was a rather small number, but it was better than none. Not enough reason to get overly giddy, but it was something. So despite her underlying sense of discouragement, she did feel slightly happy this evening.
    Until she pulled up to her house off Brattle Street in Cambridge and saw her parents’ cars. And another unfamiliar car. What? The plan was to get home before her family did so that she would have time to shower and scrub her hair back to its natural color and then change into regular clothes. How was she going to explain this unexpected radical new look? Her good mood evaporated. She was, in fact, quite angry. And the catsuit wedgie had reached new depths.
    Celeste got out of the car and slammed the door. Then she thought better of making any noise. If she were lucky, she might be able to sneak in the house and up the stairs to the bathroom where she could lather the shocking red out of her hair. She walked slowly up the steps to the porch. Coming home usually comforted her. It was a safe place, away from so many troubling situations. She wanted nothing more than to skirt inside undetected and reclaim some normality.
    Even though the door shut relatively quietly behind her, her father must have heard something because his head popped into the hallway from the kitchen. “Ah, Celeste, you’re home. Wonderful. Someone is here—Oh, God. Celeste? Erin, come here. Something is going on.”
    “What in the world is the problem, Roger?”
    Celeste widened her eyes, silently begging her father to let her go up the stairs. Standing in front of him in this body-hugging catsuit was most embarrassing.
    “Uh, I think Celeste wants to change first. Before she meets our guest