Read Online Shadow of the Past by Thacher Cleveland - Free Book Online Page A

fine. But not today.”
    He ate his cereal over the sink like it
was some sort of bomb ready to explode all over his well thought
out clothing choices. When he finished and headed back upstairs he
realized that it was only 10:00. Was it too early? Did she even
expect him to call right away? Was this too desperate?
    Of course it’s too
desperate. You kissed a girl that wants to kiss you again and it’s
turned you into a fucking madman who eats cereal over the sink like
a crazy person. You left desperate five miles back.
    Mark flopped back down on the bed,
watching the world’s slowest second hand spin. The only other time
a girl had showed interest in him was a drama club party Steve
dragged him to their freshman year. Sarah Bingham had found him
hiding out in a corner watching everyone else have a good time and
started talking to him. After some awkward conversation, the two
ended up kissing in the hall closet. Badly, he now realized,
although he decided to attribute that to the fact that he’d been
balanced on one leg so he wasn’t stepping in a mop bucket. He tried
talking to her at school later that week, but she ducked him like
she owed him money. He had tried calling her a couple (dozen)
times, and it wasn’t until he watched her duck behind a friend as
she snuck through the cafeteria that he realized she probably
didn’t want anything to do with him.
    It took talent to make a young woman
attempt a marine crawl through a chaotic and crowded high school
cafeteria, and until now he thought that might be his only gift to
women.
    Settle. She said you were
nice, and sweet, and that she wanted to see you again. As long as
you don’t hump her leg or drool, you should be come off as normal.
For you.
    He reached over for the phone. Normal
was a stretch, but he thought he might be able to pull it
off.
    It rang forever, each chime daring him
to hang up and chicken out, but then a breathless young female
voice answered.
    “Hey you,” she said.
    “I hope I didn’t call to early. I just
. . . wanted to see what was going on.”
    “Nothing important. My mom’s been
dragging me out of bed way too early to help unpack and all this
crap. What’re you up to?”
    “Same thing. Well, I don’t have any
crap. How much stuff do you guys have, anyway?”
    “Too much! I can’t wait until we’re
done and they can leave me alone. It’s such a pain!”
    “Yeah, I bet,” Boxes upon boxes full of
fancy brand new stuff. Total pain, what a hassle.
    “So how about you swing over and
arrange a jailbreak?”
    “Yeah, that sounds . . .
arrangeable.”
    “Great! Get here fast before they wall
me in with more boxes.”
     
    Does this get any
easier? Mark fantasized that standing at
her door waiting for someone to answer would become second nature,
but for now it still filled him with the same dread it did
yesterday. It was just well-lit so there was nowhere to
hide.
    Before fleeing became an option, the
door opened and a tall, almost painfully thin man beckoned him
in.
    “You must be Mark,” he said. “Come in,
come in.”
    “Thanks,” Mark said, hands clenching to
fists in his jacket.
    “Can I take your coat?” Mr. Baker said,
placing a hand on Mark’s shoulder.
    “No, I’m good,” Mark said. Mr. Baker
smiled and nodded, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. The man’s
short, crinkly hair was gray at the temples, and he wore tiny
silver spectacles that seemed designed to add menace to his
glare.
    “So Mark,” Mr. Baker said, “Chrissy
tells me that you have some sort of scooter you ride around on, is
that correct?”
    “Yes. Yes, sir,” Mark
said. Here it comes.
    “Well,” Mr. Baker said, beginning to
circle around Mark with slow, deliberate strides. “I’m sure it’s
fine for you to get around and all, but I think you can understand
that her mother and I may be a little cautious about her
safety.”
    “Yeah, I guess I can
understand that,” Mark said, trying not to obviously look like he
was trying to keep