or an orphan or if he just needed a place to hang out when things at home were bad. The crew was there for him
“Weren’t you ever worried that grown-ups wouldfigure out the code?” Lyssa asked. Demo just shook his head
“Grown-ups don’t pay enough attention,” he said with a smirk
“But all this stuff!” Lyssa continued. She had so many questions that she could hardly keep quiet. She felt like a pot bubbling over with water. “How did you get it?”
“You’d be amazed at what people will throw away,” Demo said. “We all go Dumpster diving after dark. And Regina is a whiz with anything electronic—she’s the one who rigged all these cars and set up the televisions and everything.”
Regina opened her mouth to say something, but then the show started up again and she turned toward it immediately and motioned for quiet. Demo leaned in next to Lyssa, lowering his voice so it would be barely heard over the TV.
“You can stay here, you know,” he said. “If you promise not to tell anyone where we are, you can stay for as long as you like. Just because you’d be the shortest, though, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have to pull your weight.”
“I—I have to think about it.”
But excitement was already rising in Lyssa’s chest. Stay with the Lotus Crew? It’d be like having a whole new family again, like being home with her mom and Penn andthe Texas Talent Show. She wrapped her blanket tightly around her and looked past the edge of the dock. The clouds parted to reveal a beautiful, black sky covered in stars. Something shot across the sky—a shooting star.
Lyssa glanced around to see whether anyone else had noticed, but the Lotus Crew were all focused on their televisions
Lyssa’s throat caught. Her mom would have cared way more about shooting stars than about a television show
Even surrounded by new friends, Lyssa suddenly felt very alone. She wanted to call Penn, tell her all about the crazy runaways she’d ended up with. But it was getting late and Penn’s parents didn’t like for her to get calls after nine on weeknights
Lyssa finally dug through her backpack, pulling out her journal for school
Dear Penn,
she wrote.
I just saw a shooting star and you know what that means—I get one wish. Jealous? What should it be this time? A swimming pool filled with hot chocolate? It’s freezing here. Unlimited turns on the Heinous Hurricane? I miss the fair so much…
Lyssa paused and looked back up. Another shooting star streaked across the sky, then another and another, until the whole sky was glowing with light. It looked likethe sky was on fire, like it was falling all around her. Lyssa watched the stars, feeling guilty
Of course she couldn’t stay with the Lotus gang. She had to get to Texas. She had to find her mom. She had to do whatever she could to save her home
Fear and excitement clutching her heart, Lyssa watched the shooting stars light up the sky. It hurt to think about leaving the Lotus Crew, but she knew it’d be worth it once she reached Texas and climbed that dogwood tree in her front yard. Her mother would be waiting to guide her and to fill her with her magic, and Lyssa would know what to do about the protest and her home and Michael and school and everything. All she had to do was get there
Clenching her eyes shut, she made the same wish over and over
Let me reach Austin in time to save my house. Let me go home.
Lyssa bunched her backpack up, being careful not to ruin her University of Washington patch, and shoved it beneath her head as a makeshift pillow. She tried to get comfortable, but something hard and sharp protruded from the bottom of the bag and kept sticking her. Frowning, Lyssa pulled the backpack open and started looking through the random collection of items that had accumulated there over the months
Surrounded by old candy wrappers and pencil nubswere two demo CDs bound together with a rubber band. When Michael had first given her the voice-recording
“Weren’t you ever worried that grown-ups wouldfigure out the code?” Lyssa asked. Demo just shook his head
“Grown-ups don’t pay enough attention,” he said with a smirk
“But all this stuff!” Lyssa continued. She had so many questions that she could hardly keep quiet. She felt like a pot bubbling over with water. “How did you get it?”
“You’d be amazed at what people will throw away,” Demo said. “We all go Dumpster diving after dark. And Regina is a whiz with anything electronic—she’s the one who rigged all these cars and set up the televisions and everything.”
Regina opened her mouth to say something, but then the show started up again and she turned toward it immediately and motioned for quiet. Demo leaned in next to Lyssa, lowering his voice so it would be barely heard over the TV.
“You can stay here, you know,” he said. “If you promise not to tell anyone where we are, you can stay for as long as you like. Just because you’d be the shortest, though, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have to pull your weight.”
“I—I have to think about it.”
But excitement was already rising in Lyssa’s chest. Stay with the Lotus Crew? It’d be like having a whole new family again, like being home with her mom and Penn andthe Texas Talent Show. She wrapped her blanket tightly around her and looked past the edge of the dock. The clouds parted to reveal a beautiful, black sky covered in stars. Something shot across the sky—a shooting star.
Lyssa glanced around to see whether anyone else had noticed, but the Lotus Crew were all focused on their televisions
Lyssa’s throat caught. Her mom would have cared way more about shooting stars than about a television show
Even surrounded by new friends, Lyssa suddenly felt very alone. She wanted to call Penn, tell her all about the crazy runaways she’d ended up with. But it was getting late and Penn’s parents didn’t like for her to get calls after nine on weeknights
Lyssa finally dug through her backpack, pulling out her journal for school
Dear Penn,
she wrote.
I just saw a shooting star and you know what that means—I get one wish. Jealous? What should it be this time? A swimming pool filled with hot chocolate? It’s freezing here. Unlimited turns on the Heinous Hurricane? I miss the fair so much…
Lyssa paused and looked back up. Another shooting star streaked across the sky, then another and another, until the whole sky was glowing with light. It looked likethe sky was on fire, like it was falling all around her. Lyssa watched the stars, feeling guilty
Of course she couldn’t stay with the Lotus gang. She had to get to Texas. She had to find her mom. She had to do whatever she could to save her home
Fear and excitement clutching her heart, Lyssa watched the shooting stars light up the sky. It hurt to think about leaving the Lotus Crew, but she knew it’d be worth it once she reached Texas and climbed that dogwood tree in her front yard. Her mother would be waiting to guide her and to fill her with her magic, and Lyssa would know what to do about the protest and her home and Michael and school and everything. All she had to do was get there
Clenching her eyes shut, she made the same wish over and over
Let me reach Austin in time to save my house. Let me go home.
Lyssa bunched her backpack up, being careful not to ruin her University of Washington patch, and shoved it beneath her head as a makeshift pillow. She tried to get comfortable, but something hard and sharp protruded from the bottom of the bag and kept sticking her. Frowning, Lyssa pulled the backpack open and started looking through the random collection of items that had accumulated there over the months
Surrounded by old candy wrappers and pencil nubswere two demo CDs bound together with a rubber band. When Michael had first given her the voice-recording
Similar Books
