Read Online Alone by Marissa Farrar - Free Book Online

grinned. “No. I came to see
you.”
    She couldn’t help the buzz of excitement
coursing through her.
    “ Can we go somewhere,” she
said, her joy at having him with her overwhelming any shyness.
“Somewhere special to me?”
    “ I’d like that. Where are we
going?”
    “ You’ll have to wait and
see.”
    He stood and swept his hand forward.
“Lead the way.”
    They walked from the hospital grounds
together, leaving the sirens and the sickness behind. With each
step taking her further from Jackson, Serenity’s heart lifted a
little more. She kept checking for Sebastian beside her, that he
hadn’t disappeared on her again or she wasn’t hallucinating the
whole thing.
    They strolled side by side, their
fingers touching, and the backs of their hands brushing
together.
    The walk was long but neither of them
minded. As the late afternoon bled into evening and the last of the
light fell out of the sky, they headed down through the suburbs,
toward the ocean. Serenity didn’t feel the ache in her legs from
the long walk. The pain in her back, which normally gave her such
trouble, had all but disappeared.
    They headed down a hill; the expensive
houses of Santa Monica framed them on both sides of the wide
street. A soft glow lit the houses as families went about their
evening routines. Above them, street lamps flickered to
life.
    Finally, a view of the sea rewarded their
long walk. The ocean stretched out ahead, a black expanse of water
punctuated by the occasional light from a ship or small sailing
boat in the distance. The white sand of the empty beach glowed
under the moonlight.
    Ahead stood the pier, each side lit with a
myriad of colored light bulbs suspended from wires. On the right
side, restaurants served the tourists. Beside them an arcade house,
with its ten-cent slots and flashing fruit machines beckoned the
sightseers. A children’s carousel with colorful elephants instead
of horses, went around and around. Beside the carousel, a stand
sold popcorn and cotton candy, the sweet aroma drifting over,
tempting them in.
    Serenity knew the far end of the pier had
been closed off while reinforcements were carried out on the
struts. Her old company had won the tender for the work and she was
disappointed she wouldn’t be able to see the job through to the
end. In a few days, the rest of the pier would be closed off and as
far as Serenity knew, it would remain closed for the rest of the
winter.
    She hoped her dismissal wouldn’t spoil her
feelings about this place. She hated that something bad was now
linked to the one place she had always felt good.
    “ Come on,” she said,
suddenly excited. “I can never resist the smell.”
    Serenity grabbed his hand. The coolness of
his skin raced through her fingers and up through her palm as she
pulled him along eagerly. Distracted by the place she loved, she
barely noticed his frigid temperature. Sebastian laughed as she
dragged behind her.
    She pulled him up to the stand, the tangy,
savory scent of hot dogs and mustard making her stomach rumble but
she only wanted one thing from the stand.
    Paying the man behind the counter, she
turned back to Sebastian.
    “ It doesn’t even look like
food,” she laughed, holding up the large plastic bag. “More like
house insulation!”
    He looked at her with a mixture of
amusement and curiosity. Serenity fished a piece of candy floss
from the bag and put the sweet in her mouth, suddenly
self-conscious.
    The pink spun sugar dissolved like
sugary sand, melting from cotton wool into nothing but an
overwhelming sweetness.
    It was the taste of childhood, of the
times she remembered being happy.
    “ Here,” she said, holding some of
the cotton candy up to his mouth. The fluffy pink turned dark and
hard around her fingers. He shook his head and gently pushed her
hand away.
    “ No, thanks. I’m not a fan
of sweet things.”
    “ Oh, right,” she said, faintly
embarrassed, and popped the candy between her lips.
    “ So why do you like the