Free Angels on Sunset Boulevard by Melissa de La Cruz Page A

party.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œI’m Nick. Nick Huntington.”
    Taj grinned. “Hey, you were the guy who called tonight. Is your name really Nick Nick?” she teased.
    He blushed, jammed his fists into his trouser pockets. God, he could be such a nerd sometimes.
    â€œI’m just teasing,” she said slyly. “Walk me out?”
    â€œSure.”

Taj
    THE BOY SEEMED NICE ENOUGH. THE PREPPIE. ONE OF Sutton’s friends, most likely. She would let him walk her out, and then she would disappear. The ritual was a joke. She shouldn’t have joined in; she knew that now. It was too weird with Johnny gone, without him looking out for her. It was scary—she didn’t know how Div and Deck could do that. It was all in good fun at first, but now it was getting way too serious. It wasn’t what it was supposed to be anymore. There were too many kids in there who just watched and didn’t participate. Too many boys who were there for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t about that, she’d wanted to scream.
    And the girl who’d gotten Tapped that night. She looked like she was about to faint when she saw the needle. The fear in her eyes! That had been painful to watch. And it wasn’t supposed to be painful … it was supposed to be holy. A divine experience, shared with those who felt the same as you.
    She’d only stayed for a few minutes, and then she’d had to bail. She didn’t want to bump into Sutton again. He’d only convince her to stay.
Give it another chance. Let the Spirit move you.
    Just keep talking to the cute boy,
she told herself. He wasn’t one of the chosen. He didn’t have the password. He didn’t make the cut. She wondered why—he was handsome enough, surely. But those were the unwritten rules of TAP. Some people got in; some people didn’t. She guessed he was one of those kids who just didn’t get it. He was nice enough to offer her a ride home, but she told him all she needed was a ride down to Sunset.
    â€œOh man,” the boy—Nick (he had a name)—was saying. “I totally forgot. I didn’t drive.”
    â€œThat’s all right,” Taj said. A Bel-Air preppie with no wheels? “You know how to ride one of these?” she asked, finding her board against the wall in the entrance hall. She handed him Deck’s Osiris.
    â€œA little. When I was a kid.”
    â€œI’ll loan it to you. My friend won’t mind. We could skate down the hill, then I could catch the bus home.”
    â€œThe bus?” Nick smiled. It occurred to Taj thathe’d probably never heard of anyone actually taking the bus, let alone admitting it.
Well, welcome to my life,
she thought.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œI think we can do better than that,” Nick said.
    â€œWhat are you thinking?” she asked. They walked companionably to the front gate, each of them holding a skateboard.
    â€œDude, not like that,” Taj said. “You can’t hold it like a briefcase.”
    â€œWhat?” Nick asked.
    â€œHold it here, by the lip, see? The top of the board?” Taj said, showing him. “Only amateurs hold it to the side, like you’re doing. Dead giveaway. I can’t be seen with anyone like that.”
    â€œOh, no?”
    â€œNope. And don’t hold it by the truck either,” Taj said, pointing to the wheelbase. “Only gutter punks do that. It’s a board, not a weapon. When you hold it by the truck it looks like you’re planning to pound someone with it.”
    â€œMaybe I am.” Nick smiled.
He is really hot,
Taj thought.
    â€œOkay whatever you say,” he said.
    They’d made it out to the gravel path when they were stopped at the exit by the same girl who’d beenhanging on Button’s arm earlier that evening. Maxine something. The one who’d made that comment about Taj being responsible for Johnny’s songs. But the girl wasn’t paying