Read Online Extraordinary October by Diana Wagman - Free Book Online Page A

were saying something different. He looked worried. And scared.
    â€œWhat’s going on with you?” I asked.
    He put a pancake on a plate and handed it to me. He sounded like himself when he laughed. “You know what they say: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” He looked at me and waited.
    â€œAll day,” I responded. It was our standard joke—something I had said when I was a little kid and tried to justify eating banana pancakes at every meal—but again I didn’t laugh. I wasn’t even hungry. “Where’s Mom?”
    â€œShe left early. Said she had another conference.”
    â€œWhat? She has to get back in time for my birthday.”
    â€œTwo more days.” Dad studied me for a moment. “How are you feeling?”
    â€œFine. Fine. Just tired.”
    â€œSit down. Eat your breakfast. I’ll drive you to school.”
    â€œOkay, thanks.” Getting a ride sounded great.
    The syrup and butter were on the table, but I liked my pancakes plain. I picked it up with my fingers. That was another thing that would usually drive my dad crazy: I liked to eat pancakes with my hands. That morning he didn’t seem to notice. I watched him cooking. Usually it was one pancake for me and three for him. One for Mom and two more for him. He had one sitting on a plate on the counter beside the stove, but he hadn’t touched it.
    â€œDelicious, Dad. Have you had one?”
    â€œGot one right here.” He gestured to the uneaten pancake. “Yummy.”
    I watched him until it was time to leave and he never ate one bite. Something was definitely different about him. I wondered if hypnotism could make a person starve to death. I wondered if a fat person could live longer without food than a skinny person? Mr. Snyder, the bio teacher, loved it when we came in with practical questions. I would ask him, I thought—if I was awake. Ha ha ha.
    Dad tried to cheer me up the whole way to school. He told a string of terrible jokes continuing right up to when he dropped me off. “Hope you remembered your lunch,” he said. “You know what’s the worst thing in the school cafeteria?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThe food!” He was howling with laughter as he drove away.
    I was glad I’d told him I’d take the bus home. I couldn’t take his cheerfulness. Not that morning, not that day. It didn’t seem fair that it was an absolutely beautiful spring day. The sun was warm, the air was soft, the grass in front of the school looked incredibly, shockingly green. How could it be so beautiful out when Luisa was missing and I was hearing voices, possibly losing my mind. Where were the clouds, the ominous sky? It wasn’t right to see kids laughing and taking off their jackets and chasing each other around like kindergarteners. I sat on a bench with my head down, waiting for the bell to ring. Someone sat down beside me. I smelled flowers and sure enough, when I looked up, it was Walker.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” I asked. “Didn’t you hear? Luisa is missing.”
    He reached for my hand, but I slid away from him. “Two days until you’re eighteen.”
    â€œSo what? Tell me about Hayden College. What’s the campus like? Who’s your favorite teacher?”
    â€œWell…” he began and stopped.
    â€œDo you even actually go to college?”
    â€œI’m here because…” He stopped again. “Listen. You can’t worry about Luisa.”
    I picked up my backpack and stood to go into school, but he took my hand and just like the first time, I felt it all the way up my spine. My muscles went loose and I had to sit back down. “Walker.”
    â€œOctober. Please. Stay away from that new kid. That Trevor. And don’t look for Luisa. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the one for the good of the many.”
    â€œYou’re crazy. That doesn’t apply here. It