Read Online Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn - Free Book Online Page B

anyway.
    The Lee Introductory School was in a section of Barona Lisa had only visited once or twice before, and it took some hunting before she finally located the squat three-story building. After the tall, majestic towers of the hive, Lee Intro seemed almost self-consciously earthbound, and it made her feel a little creepy as she landed by its front door. I’ll be just as earthbound soon, she thought. Steeling herself, she walked inside.
    The door opened into a spacious lounge about half-full of teens, many of them frowning intently into colorful books. The room itself was much friendlier and less intimidating than the reading area at the library had been, but still Lisa hesitated at the threshold. Maybe she should just go home and forget all of this—
    â€œMay I help you?” a courteous voice came from her right.
    Startled, Lisa turned and saw for the first time the alcove just inside the outer door. A young adult sat behind a desk there, a telephone and long sheet of paper in front of him.
    â€œI’m looking for Daryl Kellerman,” she said, stepping over to him. “He used to be at the Dayspring Hive.”
    The man ran a finger down his paper, stopped midway and slid it sideways. “Kellerman … well, he hasn’t checked out and he’s not listed on special duty, so he’s probably up in his room. You want me to call up there?”
    â€œYes, please,” Lisa said quickly, before she could lose her nerve.
    â€œWho shall I tell him is here?”
    â€œLisa Duncan.”
    The man picked up the phone, consulted the paper again, and punched numbers. “There’s a Lisa Duncan here to see Kellerman,” he said a moment later. “…All right. He’ll be right down,” the man told Lisa, hanging up the instrument.
    Lisa nodded and drifted away from the desk, wondering which direction Daryl would come from. Her heart was pounding and she could feel her courage draining away with the moisture in her mouth. What am I going to say to him? she thought frantically. She hadn’t yet come up with a good answer to that when a door on the left side of the lounge opened and Daryl was there. He spotted Lisa and came toward her.
    He’d changed a lot in less than a year, she thought as she put on her best smile and walked forward to meet him halfway. His face was longer and thinner and showed the black nubs of a struggling beard on his chin. He was taller, too, and seemed somehow terribly awkward in his movements. Part of growing up? she wondered, suppressing a shudder.
    They stopped simultaneously, about a meter apart. “Hi,” Daryl said, his voice sounding as tense and awkward as the rest of him looked.
    â€œHi,” Lisa said. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
    He smiled and some of his tension seemed to disappear. “Not likely. You were either the best worker or worst pest I ever had in a work crew, sometimes both at the same time. Uh … you come by just to see me?”
    Lisa hesitated—and was suddenly aware of a new silence in the lounge. Conversations had ceased, and she could feel eyes on her from the other teens in the room. Waiting to hear her answer to Daryl’s question? A taste of panic splashed her throat. New rules, new relationships — and I don’t know any of them. What do I say?
    â€œCould we go for a walk?” she suggested, choosing the easiest way out. “It’s pretty stuffy in here.”
    â€œSure,” Daryl said, a mixture of relief and disappointment in his voice. He looked past her to the man at the desk. “I’ll be going outside for a while,” he said, sounding very grown-up.
    â€œBe in by eight-thirty,” the other shrugged.
    As they left, Lisa thought she heard a faint snicker from the teens in the lounge.
    â€œSo … how is life treating you?” Daryl asked as the door closed behind them.
    â€œOh, pretty good,” she said. “How