Free Invisible by Marni Bates Page B

doghouse.
    â€œSince you’re my consultant, I will consider all of your specific recommendations,” I said loftily. “But kindly keep your opinion of my personal life to yourself.”
    Scott grinned. “I don’t think I will. You forget: I call the shots now. If you’ve got a problem with that, take it up with Mr. Elliot.”
    â€œThat’s coercion!”
    His smile only deepened. “That’s journalism.”
    â€œI will hold you in contempt for this.”
    Scott’s beat-up leather jacket barely moved as he shrugged. “I’ll live. So drama club at lunch and then what I want after school.”
    â€œI can’t do that,” I told him, relieved that I didn’t even have to make up a lie to avoid him. “I work after school on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. That’s non-negotiable.”
    He nodded. “Okay. Where do you work?”
    I looked at him suspiciously. “Why?”
    â€œJust making conversation.”
    â€œFiction Addiction Used Bookstore.”
    â€œDo you like it?”
    â€œYeah, I do, actually.” Just thinking about the store got me smiling. “I still can’t believe I got the job.”
    I braced myself for him to say something snarky like, Yeah, I have no idea why anyone would want to hire you!
    But he didn’t.
    Instead, he smiled back and it struck me that for the first time since I’d overheard him talking about me with Lisa Anne, we were actually having something that resembled a nice conversation.
    â€œWere there a lot of applicants or something?”
    â€œNot to my knowledge. But my boss is very . . . particular about how her store is run. She won’t accept any books with boring covers. She says that it’s her store, and she can judge them however she wants.”
    â€œSounds like an unusual woman.”
    I laughed. “Oh, she’s that for sure.”
    â€œGood. If I’m forced to go somewhere I always prefer there to be interesting people around.”
    I stared at him in outrage. “You’re kidding me. You started that conversation so you could stalk me at work? Was that supposed to be some kind of charm offensive or something?”
    â€œThat depends on whether you found me charming.”
    â€œNot so much.”
    â€œThen clearly it wasn’t.”
    I wanted to blame my lack of a comeback on my slowly building headache, sore body, and emotional whiplash. Already I’d had to deal with a sentimental mom, an uncomfortable dad, an irate teacher, and now a jerk turned dictator—I didn’t want any of the above to follow me to work.
    â€œYou’re not going to the bookstore with me.”
    â€œSure I am.” Scott’s cocky grin was out in full force. “To the store and to the drama lunch. I’m going to make damn sure that we get a story worthy of the front page. See you later, Grammar Girl.”
    I could hardly wait.

Chapter 11
    I shouldn’t have done it.
    I knew better than to open my writing notebook during my English class. But I really didn’t want Scott Fraser tailing me all the way to work, and I thought if I had the bare bones for a drama club story written, then I might be able to dodge that bullet. And, okay, I didn’t exactly have a story yet . . . but that didn’t mean I couldn’t prepare some snappy headlines.
    Drama Club: Where Not Everything Is Staged.
    Lame.
    I tapped my pen restlessly while Ms. Helsenberg lectured on about Doctor Faustus . Okay, so maybe Scott had a point about the drama club lacking real potential. Lisa Anne had made it clear that she wanted something sensational. Something shocking.
    I could only think of one story with that kind of potential:
    Â 
    Rock Star’s New Relationship on the Rocks?
    Timothy Goff, the front man of America’s hottest indie band, ReadySet, is known for holding back information when it comes to his private life. Rumors have connected him to