Read The Tragedy of Loving Jamie Clarke for Free Online Page A

with our teachers they made fun of us for weeks. To this day, Amber swears she has nightmares about it and if she knew I was considering it she’d kill me. But at least in The Cove I’m safe from the prying eyes of my classmates and worse yet, Charlie, who still hasn’t moved on from “us.”
                         “Have you been to The Cove yet?” I ask as I begin walking down the block toward the Ocean Walk, a man-made pathway that parallels the ocean providing pedestrians a breathtaking walk into the cove.
                         “Can’t say that I have,” Jamie replies. “The most I’ve seen of this town so far is the high school, the ocean and a Trolley stop with a red trolley named, Hally. It was a pretty exciting day.”
                         “Oh well then you haven’t seen anything yet. We also have Cally, Ally and Sally.”
    Jamie’s face lights up. I know it’s all an act; no one is ever excited about the fact that we have more than one Trolley unless they’re tourists. During the summer months Perkins Harbor is a hot tourist spot, especially for Canadians. Tourists swarm both The Cove and the main part of town looking to soak up the sun and take in the beach breeze while doing some shopping. It’s during the summer months that my parents work the most. The Anchor has become the most sought after resort in Perkins Harbor and usually both my parents and Amber’s parent’s work double hours. Mom, Mrs. Hills and Mrs. Claven work the front desk as reservation managers while dad and Mr. Hills work as hotel managers and Mr. Claven manages the pool staff.
    “So tell me about yourself, April Marks,” Jamie says as we approach the entrance of the Ocean Walk.
    I fold my hands in front of me afraid that if I leave them at my sides Jamie will think I’m trying to hold his hand. I thought I would have relaxed a little by now but I am still so nervous that at any moment my breakfast is going to come up.
    “There’s not much to tell. I’m pretty basically what you see is what you get ,” I say tugging at the bars to center the brace again. Normally my mother helps me get it on but since they were gone by the time I got out of the shower, I had to do it myself and couldn’t get the straps tight enough to keep the brace from sliding.
    “Okay well if you won’t tell me something I am going to be forced to draw my own conclusion about who you are,” Jamie says crooking his lips in a way that it makes me stumble off the path and hug against a rose bush. “Wow it’s only our first date and I’ve already knocked you off of your feet. I must be doing something right.”
    He pulls me up and as I brush the dirt and bristles of the bush off my dress I am feeling even more nauseous than ever. I must have looked like a crippled turkey when I fell. All I want to do is turn around and go home and curl up under my covers till the end of time. I am so busy thinking about being buried alive by my shame that it takes me a minute or two to notice that even though I’m vertical again Jamie is still holding my hand. He is staring at me with those blue eyes and his lips look like they’ve been designed for kissing and before I know it we’re engaged in another stare-off. I have a thousand thoughts running through my mind but the one that plays over the most is the image of him leaning in to kiss me and me throwing up on him. I see his face full of disgust as he wipes the contents of my breakfast out of his eyes and it makes my knees quiver. I pull my hands back and pretend that I have an itch on my neck.
    “Shall we?” I say taking a step forward hoping that he’ll forget the awkwardness of my movements in the last few minutes.
    “Okay, so before I give you my conclusion as to who I think you are, can you at least tell me about some of these hobbies of yours,” he asks.
    “They’re really nothing special,” I reply as I maneuver around a group of