Read Juliet Immortal for Free Online

from the beginning. “I’m fine.”
    “What happened? To that side of your face? And your ear?”
    “What?” I’ve forgotten about the scars, forgotten I’m Ariel. Ben’s matter-of-fact tone doesn’t help. It’s obvious he isn’t repulsed by Ariel’s face the way she assumes people—boys in particular—will be. “I … It was a long time ago. There was an accident with some grease when I was six. I’ve had surgeries. It’s a lot better than it used to be.”
    “I got burned by a cigarette when I was kid,” he says. “It hurt like crazy, and that was just a little thing. Nothing like that.” He shakes his head. “That must have been hell.”
    He’s offering empathy, not pity, something I know Ariel would appreciate, but I feel awkward accepting his compassion. I don’t deserve it. I haven’t suffered through Ariel’s pain. My own physical suffering was brief—a few minutes on a cold stone floor with a knife cutting slivers of agony through my chest.
    Still, I suppose I have my own scars. Even if no one can see them.
    “I try not to think about it.” I lift my eyes to Ben’s. “I don’t want to feel sorry for myself. I don’t want other people to feel sorry for me either.”
    “I don’t. I think you’re tough.”
    “Oh yeah?” My lips curve. “And that’s a good thing?”
    “Tough is very good and you’re very tough.” His hand brushes against mine as he reaches into the back, making my pulse beat faster. “At least, tough for a girl named after a mermaid.”
    My smile fades. He isn’t really talking about me, and the heart speeding in my chest isn’t mine. I have to get out of this car. Ariel and Ben can become better friends at a later date. Preferably after I’m gone. I like Ben, but I don’t like the way he makes me feel.
Me
, the bodiless soul who has no business feeling anything.
    I am Ariel now, and I need to get home.
    “We should probably go,” I say. “It’s getting late.”
    “Sure.” Ben holds out a plastic bag he’s fetched from the back and we throw the used cloths inside. “But if that psycho messes with you again, find me,” he says. “I’ll be in schoolstarting tomorrow. You go to Solvang public, right? Or do you go to the private—”
    “I go to SHS. Mom says she’d rather save her money for college than waste it on private school. But really, don’t worry about Dylan. I just want to forget tonight ever happened.”
    “I don’t,” he says, voice soft, cautious. “If it hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met you.”
    Our eyes meet again and suddenly the car seems too small and his words too big. It would be so easy to bridge the distance between us. A word, a touch, it wouldn’t take much to take this new friendship in another direction. Ben is interested, maybe he even feels what I feel, this connection that defies explanation.
    But even if he does, it doesn’t matter. Ariel isn’t ready and I’m not able. This … whatever it is has to stop. Now.
    “I’m overrated. Ask my mother,” I say, making a joke, avoiding the possibility he’s thrown between us. “Speaking of my mother …” I glance down the road, but the blue house from Ariel’s memories isn’t in sight just yet. “I should really get home.”
    Nurse will be worried if I don’t contact her soon. I need her help locating the soul mates I’ve been sent for. She always knows where to find them, even in the most densely populated areas. In a small town like this she’ll no doubt have already mapped the route from my new house to both of theirs.
    “Right. Hint taken.” Ben sounds hurt, but I pretend not to notice, pretend my chest isn’t aching the way it did when I slid off his lap. He starts the car, pulls back onto the road. “I was supposed to be home an hour ago anyway.”
    “Why weren’t you?” I ask, filling the silence for the last few feet of our journey.
    “A friend and I had a fight. She’s just … confusing,” he says. “I don’t know. I