Read Online Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland - Free Book Online Page A

edible? Maybe we should go fishing. What kind of fish were they, Henry? Trout? Bream?”
    â€œGuys, can we focus here? I’m freaking out.”
    â€œWhy?” Murray said.
    â€œI think I like her.” It wasn’t easy for me to say. It wasn’t something I’d normally admit to. Maybe, because it was senior year, I wanted some scandal. Not “contracting an STD from my shared love interest and earning the nickname the Trichomoniasis Trio” levels of scandal, but something. I was always on the outskirts of the teenage drama, always listening to Lola’s and Murray’s stories of love found and love lost, but I was never a participant.
    For the first time, I wanted in. For the first time, someone might be worth it.
    â€œOh boy,” Lola said.
    Muz wiped a fake tear from his eye. “I’ve waited so long for this auspicious moment. Our little ankle biter finally becomes a man.”
    â€œWhat do I do?” I said.
    â€œDoes she like you? I mean, could you see something happening?” Lola said.
    â€œWell, she did take me to her secret fishpond and talk to me about death. Maybe, in her brain, that means she’s super into me?”
    â€œNot necessarily. If she
is
an MPDG, she probably takes everyone there.”
    â€œGrace isn’t a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, okay? If she were, she would wear sundresses and have bangs and ride a Dutch bike with baguettes in the basket and smile a lot. She’s not quirky; she’s straight-up weird. Actually, I think she might be depressed.”
    â€œOkay, lover boy, I wasn’t trying to insult you.”
    I didn’t tell La what I was really thinking: that Grace had turned up at school that morning in the same clothes she’d worn last night, her hair a nest piled at the top of her skull, her eyes rimmed red and puffy from a sleepless night. Girls who lied about having family in the city and occasionally slept in the streets hardly seemed capable of fitting the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype.
    Murray swung his arm over my shoulder. “Look, mate. The most important thing is to not be too hasty. You get one opportunity with this. You balls it up and you’ll be in some strife. Give it time. You only met her a week ago. Just assess the situation. Take note of her body language. Get to know her before you crack onto her, right?”
    â€œThat is strangely the wisest thing you’ve ever said,” said Lola.
    â€œAs we’d say Down Under, there’s no point pushing shit uphill with a rubber fork on a hot day.”
    â€œAre these real Australian sayings or do you come up with this stuff yourself?” I said.
    â€œIt’s genetic,” Muz said, grinning. “We’re born with it already in our blood.”
    â€œAnd what’s this crap about ‘I go somewhere in the afternoons’?” Lola said. “What does that even mean?”
    I shrugged. “No idea. She gets out of the car, wanders down the street, and disappears. Two or three hours later, the car vanishes too. I don’t know if she comes back for it or if someone else drives it away or what.”
    â€œThat’s some enigmatic fuckery right there,” Murray said.
    â€œGrace Town is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” I said.
    â€œWe
could
solve it. I mean, I know we ain’t no Madison Carlson, but we
could
give it a red-hot go.”
    â€œWe could,” La said slowly. “Follow her. See where she goes. Suss out the sitch.”
    â€œThat’s a bit Christian Grey–ish, don’t you think?” I said.
    â€œDude, you aren’t gonna sniff her hair while she sleeps. We’re just gonna trail her for five minutes to see where she goes. She might be visiting her
boyfriend
or something.” I could tell by the way Murray enunciated the word
boyfriend
that he knew the mere mention of a possible lover would be enough for me to agree. He was