Free The Islanders by Katherine Applegate Page B

Christopher means?” he repeated.
    â€œI don’t care what it means.”
    â€œIt means boyfriend .”
    â€œNo, it does not.”
    â€œIt will eventually,” he said smugly.
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    For once he was quiet, staring off toward the skyline of Weymouth. She began to wonder if she had finally managed to discourage him.
    â€œI have to tell you something,” he said.
    So much for discouraging him.
    â€œJust look at me, listen to me for one minute. Less, even, if I talk fast, and then I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the trip.”
    Aisha sighed dramatically, and lazily, reluctantly, met his eyes. They were flecked here and there with gold highlights amid the deep brown.
    â€œThe day will come, Aisha Life Gray, when you and I will stand here on this very boat, wrapped in each other’s arms, our lips joined, our eyes closed to everything else around us. Not because you’re the only black chick on the island, not because everyone expects us to get together, but because when I first saw you walking down Exchange Street, I froze, I stoppedmoving, stopped breathing, stopped thinking. In that instant I knew that you were the reason I was on the island, in Maine, on planet Earth.”
    He moved closer, and Aisha realized she herself was no longer breathing. He raised his fingers to her cheek as if to draw her close. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, her knees grow weak.
    Then he stepped back. “No, I’m not going to kiss you now.”
    Her eyes flew open, suddenly alarmed.
    â€œBut soon,” Christopher said. He turned his back to her and started to walk away. Then he hesitated. “And when I do kiss you, you’ll stay kissed.”
    Zoey paused outside Benjamin’s room. From inside, she could hear Nina reading, her voice barely muffled by the door.
    â€œI sat down on the edge of a deep, soft chair and looked at Mrs. Regan. She was worth a stare. She was trouble. She was stretched out on a modernistic chaise longue with her slippers off, so I stared at her legs in the sheerest silk stockings. They seemed to be arranged to stare at.”
    Zoey knocked.
    â€œYeah,” Benjamin’s voice called out.
    Zoey opened the door. Nina was seated in the rocking chair, eyeing her a little impatiently. Benjamin was lying on the floor,his head on a pillow, legs propped up on the edge of his bed.
    â€œI have the feeling that is not The Plague you’re reading,” Zoey said.
    Nina held up a pastel paperback. “ The Big Sleep. Raymond Chandler. Much cooler than Camus.”
    â€œAnd that’s on the suggested reading list for this year?” Zoey asked skeptically.
    â€œNo, but it ought to be,” Benjamin said. “I was reading it in Braille, but this is easier.”
    â€œI volunteered,” Nina said, looking a little embarrassed. But then, maybe the color in her face was the result of their sunbathing yesterday.
    Zoey decided against bringing up the point that her parents paid Nina to read schoolbooks, not mystery novels. It wasn’t exactly her business, and the last thing Benjamin would put up with was his little sister acting like she was his mother.
    â€œSounds good,” Zoey said. “Look, Nina, I’m heading down to the restaurant. They asked me to wait tables for the dinner shift.”
    â€œThat’s okay,” Nina said. “I’ll stay a little while.”
    â€œNo,” Benjamin said dismissively. “I’ve been hogging your time enough, Nina, go ahead. I’m being a jerk making you sit here and read to me all afternoon.”
    â€œNo, you’re not,” Nina said quickly.
    Benjamin yawned. “Truth is, I think maybe I’ll catch some Z’s. I’m going over to your house later anyway, to see Claire.”
    Nina closed the book with an audible snap. “Okay, whatever.” She smiled frostily at Zoey. “I guess I will walk down with you.”
    They