Read Online The Summer the World Ended by Matthew S. Cox - Free Book Online Page A

someone at the door for you.”
    Who’d come to see me?
She chucked a game DVD at a box half filled with old ones she hadn’t played in a year and looked up at him. “Is it Mina?”
    “No… it’s some little black girl. Okay, maybe not little… your age.”
    “Amber?” Riley’s hand flew to her chest, at the base of her throat.
Oh, shit.
    She jumped up, ran past him, and raced down the stairs. Her best (only) friend, Amber Nelson, waited on the porch in a purple string tee, shorts, and flip-flops. A giant smile faded to a look of worry as Riley pulled the door to behind her, and sat on the top step. Amber’s toenails were the same shade of hot pink as her shorts, and a plastic clip kept her thick, straight hair back.
    “Damn, Rile… Dubya-tee-eff. You look like the walking dead.” Amber looked over her at the door, sat next to her, and whispered. “We landed late last night. I couldn’t wait to get over here. Who’s that creepy dude?”
    “My dad.”
    “Oh, damn. Didn’t know you had one. How’s your mom doing?”
    “She’s―” Tears rolled out of her eyes. Riley swallowed the lump in her throat.
    “Real sick?”
    Riley shook her head. “She died.”
    “No… no…” Amber grabbed her shoulders. “Fuck, Riley… I’m so sorry.”
    They clung to each other, crying for a few minutes.
    Amber spoke first. “How’d it happen?”
    Riley sniffled. “Aneurysm.”
    “Oh… Those are usually sudden. People don’t last―”
    “No.” Riley stared guilt into the step between her feet. “She died that night. They said she didn’t feel anything.”
    “You bitch!” Amber shoved her shoulder. “When I texted you… you knew! That’s messed up! I’ve known you since fourth grade, and you didn’t trust me enough to tell me? Holy shit, Rile… I’m on the beach livin’ it up, and your mama’s dead?”
    “It’s not like that!” Riley yelled. “I… you were on vacation. I couldn’t tell you something like that with a stupid text.” Her voice fell to a faint, leaky whisper. “I’m still not sure I even believe it happened.”
    “I didn’t even wanna be there.” Amber fell seated again with a huff. “I could’ve handled it. We could’ve talked it out. Don’t look like you handlin’ it.”
    “I’m not. I gotta go live with Dad in New Mexico.”
    Amber squeezed her hand. “Tell him you can’t go. You can sleep over at my place.”
    “That didn’t work so hot when I invited you over.”
    “Yeah…”
    “I should’ve told you.”
    Amber slapped her across the back of the head, a little too hard to be playful. “Yeah, you shoulda.”
    “How was Puerto Vallarta?”
    “How can you talk about…?” Amber gasped, stared for a moment, and got an ‘ohh’ look in her eyes. “It was okay. Hot. Sandy. Full of tourists. The hotel had a nice pool, but the beach was better. I’m so sick of bottled water. Mom let me wear a bikini. Purple. Dad almost passed out. They’re probably
still
yelling at each other over that whenever I’m out of range.”
    Riley grinned for a moment, before getting somber again. “We’re leaving tomorrow. They’re gonna sell the house.”
    “Sorry. I can’t believe your Mom died.”
    So much for the greatest summer of all.
“And I’m getting dragged across the country, and I won’t be able to hang with you at all.”
    “We can still blast noobs. We hang out online as much as in person anyway… and you can come back for like holidays and shit if your Dad’s okay with it. It’s not the end of the world.”
    “Yeah, it is.” Water leaked out of Riley’s eyes, though she worked on, at least,
looking
stoic.
    “We got today, right? We can hang out… scrape as much time as we can.”
    That’s what I said the night Mom died.
“‘Kay, I gotta pack my room first.”
    “Lemme help?”
    “Dad’s gonna order pizza tonight, can you eat over?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You didn’t call your parents to ask.”
    Amber shook her head while raising a defiant,