Read Online Fire in the Woods by Jennifer M. Eaton - Free Book Online

the middle of the night? And no noise at all?
    I shivered and backed away from the window. Keeping an eye on the mass, I fumbled for my phone and dialed Maggie. I recounted my entire day, right up to the apparition that’d just flown over my house.
    “Did you see it?” I asked.
    “So they flew a plane over your house. It’s not the first time.”
    “Have you been listening to a thing I’ve said?”
    “Come on, girl. I don’t care about the plane,” Maggie said. “I want to hear about the hottie. He’s actually there in your house? Right now? And your Dad’s not home?” Her giggle always sounded maniacal. “Are you going to do it ?”
    “No! Maggie, come on.”
    “But seriously. What are you going to tell your Dad?”
    I shook my head. “I was thinking of the truth. I can’t send David back into the cold, and I can’t really hide him either. Right now he’s passed out on the sofa.”
    “Holy cow. The major’s going to have a brain aneurysm.”
    “Believe me, I know.” I tucked back the curtain and peeked up at the stars. Everything seemed perfectly normal—now. “Maggs, that plane, or whatever—it was weird. I mean, really weird. I couldn’t even hear it, but it must have been huge.”
    “Hon, maybe you were dreaming.”
    “I wasn’t.”
    She held a long pause on the line. “Are you going to deal with the real problem, here? What do you think is wrong with Prince Charming?”
    I checked the window again and slumped onto the bed. “I have no stinking clue. He says he has this funny disorder.”
    “Okay, so what is it?”
    I rolled onto my back. “He said it was something like thermo-dynamic disorder. Or maybe it was thermo-nuclear disorder. I don’t know…something that makes him really hot and he freezes when it gets cold out. I tried to Google it but I couldn’t find anything.”
    “You already knew he was really hot.”
    I ignored her. “It was so bizarre. I couldn’t get him warmed up, no matter what I tried.”
    “You know, if it happens again, you can always smother his body with yours.”
    “What?”
    “Seriously. I see it in the movies all the time, and they told us that in first aid class too, remember? Sharing body heat and all.” She snickered. “And I hear friction…”
    “Maggie!” I sat up and tossed my pillow back to the head of my bed. Not that the idea of snuggling up with David was all that gross, but I didn’t need her to know that.
    “Okay, okay, but I’m going to research it to make sure he doesn’t have the plague or something.”
    “Whatever. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    I smushed my forehead against the window screen again and counted stars. Not that I knew how many were supposed to be up there, but tallying them made me feel better. Scattered light clouds left from the earlier storm dotted the sky, but otherwise the stars shone as brightly as any other night. I closed the window, pulled the blind down, and leaned against the edge of my dresser. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep.
    I grabbed my comforter and pillow and padded down the stairs. Throwing the bedding on the chair beside David, I placed my fingers on his forehead. Still hot. Duh – Temperature disorder, Jess.
    First things first: I needed to make sure Dad didn’t have a conniption when he walked through the front door so he didn’t shoot David or something. I grabbed the note pad from the counter and scribbled: Don’t be mad. I’ll explain in the morning on the yellow-lined sheet. I taped the note on the couch behind David.
    Lame, but it was all I could come up with. Tomorrow was not going to be fun.
    I eased back into the chair beside David and yanked the lever to raise my feet. Using the blanket to prop up my side, I cuddled into my soft down pillow and watched David sleep. So many questions…but tomorrow I’d get some answers.
    Hopefully David would comply. If not, Dad might beat the answers out of him.

6
     
    The trumpeting throng of Reveille smashed