Page 19 of Bookworm

Harrison glanced up briefly. "Yeah, I prefer male authors."

"That's funny," I said. "I've always enjoyed books by women more."

After a few moments, I knew he wasn't going to say anything else, so I cleared my throat.

"Only a few pages in, and I'm hooked already," I said. "It's a romance novel."

Harrison chuckled at that.

"You…don't like romance?" I asked.

"Not really my thing," he said, and I noticed a red flush crawl up his cheeks.

"Maybe youshould try it," I said. "I know some people think romance isn't as deep or thought-provoking as some of the other genres, but her characters are so real and relatable. They feel like friends, you know?"

No response.

"I can't wait to get back to it."

Harrison stood, tucked his book under his arm, and gave me that friendly smile. Then he said, "I'll let you get to it then."

I went to protest, but he held up a hand.

"No offense, Charlotte. But I only have so long to read before P.E. We're playing dodgeball today, and I really need this. It gives me an endorphin boost. Understand?"

I did.

Books gave me a natural high too.

I couldn't fault Harrison for wanting the same thing—especially if it'd help him get through one of the worst, most sadistic games ever adopted by the educational system.

"I completely understand," I said seriously. "Sorry for taking up your time by flirting with you."

Harrison's face scrunched up. "Is that what this was?"

I nodded.

"Huh. Well, bye, Charlotte."

"Later, Harrison."

Pulling out my list again, I crossed his name off and realized I was now down to two.

Before I could get too down about it, though, Scarlett dropped into the seat Harrison had justvacated. Her smile was full of curiosity and mischief.

"Sooo?" she said. "How goes the man hunt?"

I laughed. "Not sure I'd call it that, Scar."

"Okay. How goes the suitor search?"

"Much better. Bonus pointsfor alliteration," I said then sighed. "And as predicted, it went awful."

Scarlett smiled. "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

"And yet, it was."

"Tell me everything," she said, folding her hands. "Spill the tea. Spare no details, then I can assure you it wasn't nearly as bad as you thought."

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