Read Online The Challenge by Aubrey Bailey - Free Book Online Page A

beach with?" Megan asked.
    "None of your business."
    "It was Henry, wasn't it," Megan said. I kicked her under the table. "Ow! Uncle Ethan!"
    "Girls, no fighting at dinner," Ethan said. "Who's Henry?"
    "Just a new friend of mine," I said, looking at my dinner.
    "Is he in this group of yours?" Ethan asked.
    "Yeah," I said, slowly.
    "When do I get to meet him?" Ethan asked. There he goes, acting like a father.
    "If you're home tomorrow, then you'll probably meet him. We have band practice."
    "Alright, then," Ethan said. "Is this the boy who drives you to school now?"
    "Yes," I admitted, smiling slightly.
    "He has a very nice car," Ethan said. This was good. Uncle Ethan liked cars. He liked David at the beginning because David had a good car, but then he learned faster than I did what a sleaze ball my ex-boyfriend really was.
    Thankfully, the rest of dinnertime was silent. Megan had to do dishes, so I was free to go to my room. I picked up my cell phone and dialed up Henry to deliver the bad news.
    "Hey, pet," Henry answered.
    "How'd you know it was me?" I asked, bemused.
    "Caller I.D., love," Henry explained. "So what's up?"
    "Oh, yeah," my cheek turned hot against the phone, "I'm sorry, but I can't go to the beach with you this weekend," I said. "My uncle just told me that we are going to my grandma's place."
    "Oh..." Henry started. "You like your grandma?"
    "Yeah, she's great."
    "Then it's fine. It would suck to get blown off because you're going to see someone you don't like. Anything else you need?"
    "Well..." I said, caught up in the moment. I don't think it's possible not to play along with him when he's acting like this. "I'm actually not allowed to leave the house tonight..."
    "Say no more, love." Henry said. "Hanging up now."
    "Wait, what?" I sputtered. There was no answer. "Henry?" I flipped the phone shut, tossed it on my bed and cursed him under my breath. Then I heard Megan and Uncle Ethan laughing downstairs. There were only four or five movies and shows that both of them liked. Since they were probably watching something that would last at least an hour, I would be the only one upstairs that whole time.
    I closed my door and locked it. Last week, I had convinced Uncle Ethan to buy a lock for my door so that Megan would quit barging in unannounced. I turned around, leaned against the door and sighed towards the ceiling. Then I noticed something outside the window and jumped. It looked like a foot. It wasn't unusual for Lena to sneak over if she was bored, but that foot was way too big to be Lena's. I grabbed the baseball bat that my uncle made me keep under the bed and crept slowly towards the window, hugging the wall so my stalker wouldn't see me coming. Once there, I took a deep breath, slung the window up and shot my head out to see who had scaled my roof. I jumped again and hit my head on window when I saw Henry sitting next to my window on the roof. He jumped, too, and nearly fell off the roof, but caught himself on the window frame.
    I stared down at him, our faces now only a foot away. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I hissed.
    "Give you a heart attack?" Henry said, wide-eyed. "You came out swinging with a bloody bat and nearly made me fall ten meters to my death!" Henry gave a whispered yell.
    I glared at him. "Exactly how close do you live to me?" I asked, stepping away from my window as Henry calmed down and climbed into my room.
    "Maybe a five minute drive," Henry calculated.
    Something seemed a little off-his eyes were glazed and tired. "Are you drunk?" I asked.
    "Well...maybe a bit," Henry said. I frowned. "What? I'm still capable of doing things. I'm not swaying, am I?"
    "Not yet, but you nearly fell off my roof. How much did you drink?"
    "Ah...but I was able to climb up here in the first place, wasn't I, pet?" he asked, but then recovered upon my glare, "Two or three...just a few." he said, shrugging. He walked over and sat on my bed. "Did you change your clothes?" Henry