Read Tempestuous for Free Online Page B

visit. The place screamed “warlock’s low-budget bachelor pad,” with walls painted floor-to-ceiling black and affixed with cheap star decals. Near the back of the shop, I spied Caleb engaged in conversation with a customer who was hidden from my view at the end of an aisle piled high with classic family board games. As I sidled up, I realized it wasn’t a customer—it was Chad Mathers, apparently still milking his break. As soon as he spotted me, the poor guy blushed from head to toe and stammered something about needing to head back to his post at the Cleat Locker.
    “See you tonight, Chad,” Caleb said as Ariel’s fantasy dreamboat backed away, all but stumbling over his sneakers. Tonight? Caleb was ditching my invite to Ariel’s birthday party so that he could hang out with some dumb jock? Talk about your odd couple.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” I said. “What’s happening tonight?”
    “Oh, nothing you’d be interested in.” Most likely true, I thought, though his cagey response annoyed me a little.
    “If it involves the likes of lug nut Chad Mathers, you’re probably right,” I said.
    “Really?” Caleb replied. “I was under the impression that ‘lug nuts’ were a lucrative market for you.” He picked up a price tag gun and began tagging boxes of Magic Eight Balls.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I flushed.
    “Your rep precedes you,” he said without looking up from his task at hand. “Not that it’s my business. I don’t judge. Besides, Ariel likes you, so I figure you must be okay.”
    Embarrassed that a virtual stranger apparently knew the complete
dossier
on my fall from grace at Eastern Prep, I was bordering on speechless. Gossip traveled at warp speed these days, it would seem.
    “Did you need something?” he said, getting straight to the point. His brusque self-confidence threw me off my game. I was used to granting people favors—not requesting them. I shifted my weight and scratched my left ankle with the toe of my right sneaker. I wasn’t sure how to play this guy.
    “Well, I was on my break and I thought I’d come by and say hi.” I smiled in my most winning manner. Inveigling 101: Open the door a crack with your charm and then waltz right in.
    “Okay,” said Caleb, with an elaborate shrug, though I thought I spotted a little blush creeping slowly over his face. That’s better. Now I was getting somewhere. Except for the fact that he didn’t seem to have much interest in holding up his end of the conversation. God, was this guy socially clueless.
    “Also,” I said, “I wanted to know if by any chance you could score me a copy of
Avalanche X
.” I hadn’t meant to just blurt it out like that, but this guy had a way of rattling me.
    “
What
?” he said, looking incredulous. “Oh right. I knew you didn’t come up here just to chat.” He shook his head in disgust. “GAME OVER” flashed in my head. “Even if I could get you that game—an impossibility, by the way—what makes you think I’d go out of my way to hook you up?”
    “But it’s not for me….” Forget it. It wasn’t worth this. Clearly Caleb was a jerk and I wasn’t going to lower myself by begging.
    “Of course it’s not for you. You probably just want to turn around and resell it for a hundred-percent markup, opportunist that you are.” Ouch. Now
that
really wasn’t fair.
    “You know, you’re not as smart as you think you are.” It was the best comeback I could muster. “Maybe if you actually gave me a chance you’d realize—”
    Caleb turned over a Magic Eight Ball and peered into its murky depths.
    “Not Likely,” he said, holding up the toy to let me see the prediction it offered. “I can put your name on the waiting list with all the other ‘regular people.’ I know that might be a foreign concept for you, but it’s the best I can do.”
    “No. Forget I asked,” I said and turned toward the exit. I was seething. This was a huge mistake.
    “Hang on,” Caleb called