Read Online The Children by Ann Leary - Free Book Online Page A

though I had my hood pulled up over my head. He pulled over and stopped his truck. I gave him a little smile.
    â€œHey, Everett,” I said.
    â€œWhat’re you doing out so late?”
    â€œI was with Sally. We were … visiting a friend.”
    â€œWhere’s Sally?”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œYou said you were with her.”
    â€œShe’s still at our friend’s.”
    â€œYou’re gonna get hit by a car. You need to put a reflector on the back of your bike. I almost didn’t see you.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œI’ll give you a ride.”
    â€œOkay, thanks,” I said. He lifted my bike into the bed of the pickup and we started off.
    â€œDoes Joan know you’re out?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said.
    â€œWhat about Whit?”
    â€œIt’s fine,” I said. “They’re asleep.”
    â€œHave you been drinking or something?”
    I shook my head and tried not to smile. I was feeling shy suddenly, and embarrassed. I glanced at him a few times as he drove. When he turned onto East Shore Road, I realized I was sad that the ride was almost over.
    â€œWhere were you?” I blurted out.
    â€œThe tavern.”
    â€œI was at Holden,” I said.
    â€œDoing what?”
    â€œSally and I have a few friends there.”
    â€œI thought they locked up all the dorms after ten.”
    â€œThey do, but the doors have keypads. Sally and I know all the codes.”
    â€œYou know all the combinations to the dorms?”
    â€œWe know all the combinations to every building on campus.”
    â€œYou do not.”
    â€œThe science building. The dean’s office. All the buildings. I can prove it. I just proved it to a kid who lives in the senior boys’ dorm. I got him a copy of his transcript. He’s giving me a hundred dollars to alter it before it goes out to colleges.”
    â€œWhy would you want to stick your neck out like that? For some entitled Holden brat?”
    â€œI don’t know. It’s fun.”
    â€œYou know you could get arrested?”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œTrespassing, for one. Stealing.”
    â€œWho would catch us?”
    â€œMy uncle Russ, he’s head of security. I’m tempted to tell him what you girls are up to. You’re too young to be hanging around there.”
    â€œWe’re in high school. We’re the same age as the kids who go there.”
    â€œBut you don’t go there.”
    â€œMy mom grew up at Holden, you know.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œThe athletic building is named after Whit’s grandfather.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo Sally and I like to go and swim in it sometimes. You know, with friends.”
    Actually, Sally was the only one who ever swam there.
    â€œBoyfriends?”
    I sank into my seat and shrugged. Sally was the only one with boyfriends.
    â€œI just like it there,” I said finally.
    â€œYou don’t belong there. Be careful,” he said, and then he pulled the truck over. We were still almost a quarter of a mile from Lakeside. My heart was racing.
    â€œI thought you were driving me home.” I wanted Everett to kiss me.
    â€œYou can get out here. I’m not gonna risk Whit seeing me drop you off.”
    â€œHe wouldn’t care.” But Everett had already jumped out and was unloading my bike.
    I got back on my bike and gave him a little wave as I rode past.
    â€œI think he’d care,” Everett called out. He drove slowly behind me until I turned into our driveway.
    So it was our shared secret that united us at first. From then on, when Everett worked around the place with his dad, I noticed him. Sometimes I’d be sitting on the porch doing homework. Sometimes, if it was a weekend, I was out fishing on the dock, or rigging the sailboat with Spin. I always called out to him now to say hello, and he’d mumble something in reply.
    He caught me leaving Holden again, a few months later.