Ready or Not by Meg Cabot Page B

“He files them down.”
    â€œOh,” Lucy said. “Is he, um, nice? Because he looks…not nice.”
    â€œThat,” I said, “is the conflict. Hellboy is a demon constantly at odds with his own nature. He is Satan on Earth, yet was raised with loving care by people who had the good of mankind at heart, and now, as an adult, Hellboy has pledged to fight his own nature and save the world from evil. He is redeemed by his love for Liz, who is at odds with her own genetic destiny as a firestarter.”
    â€œOh,” Lucy said. “That’s nice. Okay, well, I’ll take it. How much do I owe you?”
    â€œA buck,” I said. “I’ll give you my employee discount, since you’re family.”
    â€œGreat,” Lucy said, and dug around in her purse. As she did so, she asked casually, keeping her gaze on the gum-blackened floor, “You know Harold, right, Sam? I mean, socially?”
    I blinked at her. This wasn’t exactly flattering, considering the social circles in which Harold travels. Also…where was this sudden fascination with Harold Minsky coming from?
    â€œUm,” I said. “Not exactly. I mean, he’s my computer lab TA. But we don’t exactly have the same friends. I’m a nerd. But not that big of a nerd.”
    â€œYeah, but you collect comic books like he does, and stuff,” Lucy said.
    â€œManga,” I corrected her. “Harold collects manga. I like to draw it.”
    â€œWhatever.” Lucy found her dollar and handed it over. “The point is—have you ever heard about him having a girlfriend?”
    I was so shocked, I nearly fell over.
    â€œHAROLD? HAROLD MINSKY?” What girl would touch him? I mean, with that hair? “No. Harold doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
    â€œI didn’t think so,” Lucy said, looking thoughtful. “That’s what makes it so weird.”
    â€œWhat makes what so weird?”
    â€œWell, the fact that he doesn’t seem to like me,” she said. “I mean, he likes me, I guess. But he doesn’t seem to like me. What I mean is—”
    â€œI know what you mean,” I cut her off. “You mean he hasn’t hit on you.”
    â€œWell, yeah,” Lucy said. “It’s just so…weird.”
    The thing is, you can’t even get mad at her, really, for saying something like that. She genuinely doesn’t know any better. Lucy is the kind of girl guys always hit on—all guys, except ones who are gay, or taken, like David. Having a guy not hit on her, the way Harold apparently hadn’t, was a whole new experience for her.
    And evidently, not one she particularly relished (SAT word meaning “to appreciate or enjoy”).
    â€œLucy,” I said. “Mom and Dad like Harold because they think he’s the type of boy who won’t hit on you. So unless you want someone even worse”—although to tell the truth, there really isn’t anyone worse than Harold, nerdiness-wise. Except maybe someone from Rebecca and David’s school—“I wouldn’t complain, if I were you.”
    â€œI’m not going to complain,” Lucy said, giving me a look that clearly said, “Are you crazy?” “It’s just weird , is all. I mean, all boys like me. Why doesn’t he?”
    Now I felt a burst of irritation with her. True, Lucy can be the coolest of sisters—case in point, the contraceptive foam she’d gotten me.
    But she’s also one of the vainest people on the planet.
    â€œNot everybody judges people on how they look, Luce,” I said to her. “I mean, I’m sure in your circle of friends, that’s de rigueur ”—(SAT word meaning “conventional or fitting”)—“but Harold has probably learned to judge people more on their insides than their outsides.”
    When Lucy just looked at me blankly, I tapped the cover of the DVD she was