Read Online Five: Out of the Dark by Holli Anderson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Holli Anderson
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Running water!
He squeezed my hand and smiled down at me. “This is amazing. We might actually be able to stay here a while.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “It’s structurally safe, it’s well hidden, it’s huge. There’s even a gas stove and a small ice box here behind the bar. Hey, wouldn’t it be perfect if there was actually a flushing toilet, too?”
“Do you think … that’s possible? Did you look for one?”
“No, not yet. It’s been so long since I’ve had that luxury I didn’t even think to look until now. Could you imagine? No more
buckets
?” I said dreamily.
Halli must’ve heard our conversation because she dropped her rag and ran to look for a bathroom. Johnathan and I stayed where we were. I was really enjoying his warm hand holding mine and he must have felt the same way because he made no move to let go.
The distinct sound of a toilet flushing preceded Halli’s “Woo hoo!” from a doorway half the distance across the room from the bar.
Johnathan laughed. I laughed. Lost in relaxed laughter, and surrounded by the comfort of the first place we’d been able to call home in a long time, Johnathan’s grip on my hand tightened and he pulled me to him. My breath caught in my throat as he wrapped his arms around my waist, then lifted me up and squeezed me tightly. His unrestrained joy and his arms wrapped around me so perfectly were my idea of heaven. He so rarely laughed, and we’d had so few moments of this kind of closeness.
I could have kissed Seth! On the cheek, of course. My first real kiss was saved for Johnathan. And every real kiss after that, too.
We spent the next couple of hours cleaning up, picking out our areas, and organizing our possessions. We checked out the stove and found that one of the burners still had gas piped to it. We discussed the plausibility of keeping the ice box supplied with enough ice to keep food cold, and decided it would be difficult at best. Halli came up with a brilliant solution. She gathered a few bricks, cast a freezing spell on them, and put them in the ice box. We wondered if they might actually stay cold in there for two or three days before we had to zap them again. Only time would tell.
Seth constructed a trap door over the stairs using broken boards from the room above. Meanwhile, Johnathan and Alec filled us in on what they’d found out on their information-gathering expedition.
“Some of us can register as siblings, stating we’re homeless. They can’t require past records that way,” Johnathan explained. “But, I think it would be suspicious if we all did that. As homeless students, we don’t even need a parent or guardian to sign for us. We asked a worker at a homeless shelter and she gave us a copy of the McKinney-Vento Act that says, basically, that schools have to register homeless kids even if they don’t have a parent to sign for them, or past school records, or proof of immunizations.
“As for those of us who won’t be registering as homeless, we talked to a couple of
document specialists
some thugs pointed us to. They said making fake school records wasn’t a problem … the problem is their asking price for doing so.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where we would come up with that kind of money,” Alec added. “They wanted like a hundred bucks per person!”
“I can probably get my real records,” Seth said in a hushed voice.
We all looked at him.
Finally, I broke the silence. “How?”
“Well, don’t be mad, ’kay? I sometimes contact my family.” We all sat in stunned silence. “They understand why I had to leave and they’ll do what they can to help us. I’ll have my mom mail them to our grocer friend. I might even be able to have her send my sister’s records for Paige.”
“Okay. Perfect. Thank you, Seth,” Johnathan said. I think we were all a little jealous that Seth’s parents understood and supported him as best they could. “One more thing, though.” Johnathan added as
He squeezed my hand and smiled down at me. “This is amazing. We might actually be able to stay here a while.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “It’s structurally safe, it’s well hidden, it’s huge. There’s even a gas stove and a small ice box here behind the bar. Hey, wouldn’t it be perfect if there was actually a flushing toilet, too?”
“Do you think … that’s possible? Did you look for one?”
“No, not yet. It’s been so long since I’ve had that luxury I didn’t even think to look until now. Could you imagine? No more
buckets
?” I said dreamily.
Halli must’ve heard our conversation because she dropped her rag and ran to look for a bathroom. Johnathan and I stayed where we were. I was really enjoying his warm hand holding mine and he must have felt the same way because he made no move to let go.
The distinct sound of a toilet flushing preceded Halli’s “Woo hoo!” from a doorway half the distance across the room from the bar.
Johnathan laughed. I laughed. Lost in relaxed laughter, and surrounded by the comfort of the first place we’d been able to call home in a long time, Johnathan’s grip on my hand tightened and he pulled me to him. My breath caught in my throat as he wrapped his arms around my waist, then lifted me up and squeezed me tightly. His unrestrained joy and his arms wrapped around me so perfectly were my idea of heaven. He so rarely laughed, and we’d had so few moments of this kind of closeness.
I could have kissed Seth! On the cheek, of course. My first real kiss was saved for Johnathan. And every real kiss after that, too.
We spent the next couple of hours cleaning up, picking out our areas, and organizing our possessions. We checked out the stove and found that one of the burners still had gas piped to it. We discussed the plausibility of keeping the ice box supplied with enough ice to keep food cold, and decided it would be difficult at best. Halli came up with a brilliant solution. She gathered a few bricks, cast a freezing spell on them, and put them in the ice box. We wondered if they might actually stay cold in there for two or three days before we had to zap them again. Only time would tell.
Seth constructed a trap door over the stairs using broken boards from the room above. Meanwhile, Johnathan and Alec filled us in on what they’d found out on their information-gathering expedition.
“Some of us can register as siblings, stating we’re homeless. They can’t require past records that way,” Johnathan explained. “But, I think it would be suspicious if we all did that. As homeless students, we don’t even need a parent or guardian to sign for us. We asked a worker at a homeless shelter and she gave us a copy of the McKinney-Vento Act that says, basically, that schools have to register homeless kids even if they don’t have a parent to sign for them, or past school records, or proof of immunizations.
“As for those of us who won’t be registering as homeless, we talked to a couple of
document specialists
some thugs pointed us to. They said making fake school records wasn’t a problem … the problem is their asking price for doing so.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where we would come up with that kind of money,” Alec added. “They wanted like a hundred bucks per person!”
“I can probably get my real records,” Seth said in a hushed voice.
We all looked at him.
Finally, I broke the silence. “How?”
“Well, don’t be mad, ’kay? I sometimes contact my family.” We all sat in stunned silence. “They understand why I had to leave and they’ll do what they can to help us. I’ll have my mom mail them to our grocer friend. I might even be able to have her send my sister’s records for Paige.”
“Okay. Perfect. Thank you, Seth,” Johnathan said. I think we were all a little jealous that Seth’s parents understood and supported him as best they could. “One more thing, though.” Johnathan added as
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