Read Rising for Free Online Page A

clock at 6:47 AM. Oh how she wished it had a snooze button.
    “Hello,” she said, trying to project a smile through the receiver. A trace of scratchiness grated in her voice. She doubted the dolt who called her so early in the morning would notice.
    “Sara, I hope I didn’t awaken you,” a deep, baritone voice hummed in her ear. Ron Hathaway—the guy Gretchen told her she’d been checking out. Well Gretchen was sort of right. Ron was a good-looking guy. Now if he’d just never open his mouth, they’d be a match made in heaven, except for the problem of her deformity. Perfect Ron would take one look at it and scream.
    “No, Ron, I’ve been up for hours now. What person in their right mind would want to still be asleep at 6:47 AM?” She always said ridiculous things just to see if he was listening.
    “Well beautiful, it’s your lucky day.” Nope, not listening .
    “How is it my lucky day, Ron?” Her tone held a sarcastic edge.
    “My date cancelled for tonight.”              
    Lucky her.
    “So I have in my possession,” he said, “an extra ticket to the Indigo Spire concert.”
    “No ,” she gasped. Indigo Spire was her favorite band of all time. Darn her for always listening to her MP3 player and for not listening to the radio more often. She hadn’t even known they were coming in concert until they were sold out. “You only have one ticket? Gretchen loves them almost as much as me.”
    “ Well, I have one ticket for me and one for you, if you’d like to join me.”
    “I didn’t even know you liked Indigo Spire.” Ron seemed more like the take-you-to-the-symphony type of guy.
    “Well, actually , I don’t care for the loud music, but…”
    “Well then, could I buy both tickets from you?”
    “Sara, I am trying to ask you on a date.”
    “Oh.” Oh shoot, was more like it. She’d rather stab herself with an ice pick than go on a date with Ron Hathaway. Besides, because of her hideous defect, dating was normally not an option. She and her body were determined to stay out of the public eye. Translation—no relationships, possibly ever. But, Indigo Spire… She just had to go see them. And to see them she had to go on a date... with Ron Hathaway.
    Sara groaned.
    “If you don’t answer me,” Ron said, “I’m hanging up.”
    “No, no, don’t hang up. U m, what were you asking me?”
    “I’m asking if you would accompany me to the concert tonight.” He enunciated each word in a clipped, annoyed voice. She’d better answer before he changed his mind.
    “Yes.”
    “Well then. Good. I’ll pick you up at seven.” The dial tone was his goodbye. He and Gretchen must have attended the same etiquette school.
    A rumbling in her stomach told her that despite breakfast being an hour away, she was hungry.
    She swung her deformity over the edge of the bed and pulled down her long nightgown. She considered her breakfast options as she wheeled into the kitchen. Should she eat Fruit Loops or granola? Did she want to be healthy? Nope. No way. Not after speaking to Ron. She needed comfort food.
    A half an hour later, Sara pulled out her laptop. Her phone rang a moment later. Her heart rate picked up in that instant. Now she was excited to hear the phone. Because she had no real friends besides Gretchen, the options of people on the other end were limited. Perhaps it was a new client for her web business. She could sure use the money.
    “Hello, this is Sara.”
    “Hi Sara. This is Steve Rowling. I saw your picture in an advertisement and you look like the kind of girl I’d want to create the web page for my bowling alley.”
    “Absolutely, Mr. Rowling, What d o you have in mind?”             
    An hour later, Sara started on Mr. Rowling’s new web page. She worked long and hard until late in the afternoon. When her eyes began to cross, she thought she should stop working before she became even more disabled than she already was. Besides, she had to get ready for a