Read The Boy Project for Free Online Page A

the book clutched in his hand and asked if the information about Lieutenant Dixon was in it.
    â€œYeah!” said Jonah Nate enthusiastically.
    I asked if I could borrow the book.
    Jonah Nate didn’t look so enthusiastic anymore. “I don’t know. . . . It’s from my personal collection.”
    I figured any reading I could do about soul mates is going to help my research, so I promised to return his precious book the very next day if he’d let me borrow it. (As if I’d really keep a book about the Civil War lying around.)
    So here I sit with a book about the
Hunley
, hoping to find Lieutenant Dixon’s name in the index so I can just go straight to the pages about him. I don’t have time to read the whole darn thing. And really, who’d want to? Besides Jonah Nate, I mean.
Fifth period
    Evan has something written all over his hand. In Tabbi’s handwriting. I’m trying to read it. Even though I don’t care what she wrote at all, I really do.
    There, he’s raising his hand to give an answer for the question that Ms. Sabatino just asked: “What do you call the force that occurs when one object rubs against another?”
    Evan said, “Friction.” His hand said
Property of Tabbi Reddy
. Blech.
    Ms. Sabatino said Evan was right. I say it depends on what the objects are. If one object is Evan Carlson, and the other object is Tabbi Reddy, I’m pretty sure the answer is
disgusting
or
betrayal
or something.
    If you saw me right now, Mrs. Hill, I’m pretty sure you’d say I look sick!

Bedtime (According to my parents. For once I think they’re right.)
    Phone is ringing. I know without looking at caller ID that it’s Tabbi. There’s no way she’d miss calling me today. It’s what a best friend does when she has a new boyfriend.
    Tabs: Where were you at lunch? Evan and I looked for you.
    Me: Oh. Well. I decided to go to the library.
    Tabs: The library! The only person who hangs out there during lunch is Jonah Nate.
    Me: (
Don’t I know it.
) Well, I had to do some research.
    Tabs: For what?
    Me: (
Saying the first thing that pops into my head
) Science fair.
    Tabs: I thought those surveys we took were your project.
    Me: They are, but . . .
    Tabs: Hey! Will you be able to let me know if Evan and I turn out to be compatible?
    Me: (
Crossing my fingers
) No. It was a blind study.
    Tabs: Oh.
    Me: I’ve gotta go.
    Tabs: Wait! I need to tell you something.
    Me: Hmmm?
    Tabs: Thanks.
    Me: For what?
    Tabs: For leading me to Evan’s table. And for getting detention. (
She actually giggled!
) The day I went and sat by him by myself was the day Evan realized he liked me.
    Me: Glad I could help. Can we talk later? I’ve felt sick all day and I feel even worse now.
    Tabs: (
Sounding confused
) Feel better, then. . . .
    Me: Bye.
    I didn’t lie to Tabbi. I really did feel sick when I hung up the phone. Even sicker than before, because something was suddenly clear to me. That stupid prank I pulled with Chip had cost me my crush.

Friday, January 12
Lunch
    Today promises to be just as bad as yesterday. Tabbi wrote the same dumb words on Evan’s hand. Again. I couldn’t face lunch with them. Again. So here I am in the library. Again. Actually, I
had
to come here because Jonah Nate’s not letting me forget my promise. Every time he saw me this morning, he said, “Do you have my book, Kara? You
promised
.” Unfortunately, he seems to reserve his loud-whispering for the library.
    The last time he cornered me about the dreaded book, we were in the hallway right in front of Maybelline and The Sponge.
    Maybelline
said, “What book, Kara?
How to Be Popular in Ten Easy Steps
?”
    Unfortunately, Jonah Nate is deaf to sarcasm. “No!” he yelled. “A book about a Civil War submarine!”
    This made it worse, not better, because Maybelline and The Sponge grabbed each other and giggled. “Keep reading books