Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky Read Free Page A

snatched the canister out of his hand. His face was still bright red, his brow stil drawn, but the anger had dissolved from his eyes. “If nothing’s changed in another three weeks,” he said low and
    threatening, “I’ll be shoving the rest of this cream down your throat.”
    Well, most of the anger had dissolved from his eyes.
    But Carswell merely smiled and gave Jules a friendly pat on the shoulder just as the anthem of the
    American Republic began to blare through the school speakers. “So glad I could clear things up for you.”

    ~~~~~~
    He walked into literature class four minutes late, his book bag over one shoulder as he deftly
    buttoned his blazer. He slid into the only remaining seat – front row, dead center.
    “So nice of you to join us, Mr. Thorne,” said Professor Gosnel.
    Crossing his heels, Carswell tipped back in his chair and flashed a bright smile at the teacher. “The
    pleasure is all mine, Professor.
    He could see her refraining from an eye rol but she punched something into her portscreen. The
    screens built into the classroom desks lit up with the day’s assignment. Great Dramatists of the First Century, Third Era , was emblazoned across the top, fol owed by a list of names and which of the six Earthen countries each dramatist had hailed from.
    “For today, I want everyone to select one artist from this list,” said the teacher, pacing in front of
    the classroom, “and choose a drama from their body of work that appeals to you. At half past, we’ll split into pairs and you can take turns reading the dramas you’ve found with your partner and discussing how
    the themes in them relate to our world today.”
    A finger tapped Carswell gently at the base of his neck, the universal symbol for “I chose you.”
    Carswel struggled to remember who had been sitting behind him when he took this seat, and if it was
    someone he wouldn’t mind being partnered with. Had it been Destiny? Athena? Blakely? Spades, he
    hoped it wasn’t Blakely. Once she started talking it was difficult to remember what peace and quiet
    sounded like.
    He slid his gaze to the side, hoping he could catch his mystery partner’s reflection in the windows
    before committing to the partnership, when his gaze caught on the girl beside him.
    Kate Fallow.
    His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
    Despite having been in the same grade since toddler primaries, he doubted that he and Kate had
    spoken more than fifty words to each other their whole lives. He didn’t think it was anything personal.
    Their paths just didn’t cross much. As evidenced at that moment, she preferred to sit in the front of the class, whereas he did his best to end up somewhere near the back. Instead of coming out to sporting
    events or school festivals, Kate always seemed to rush straight home when classes where over. She was
    at the top of their class and wel liked, but by no means popular, and she spent more lunch hours with
    her nose buried in her portscreen. Reading.
    This was only the second time Carswell Thorne had stopped to ponder one Kate Fallow. The first
    time, he had wondered why she liked books so much, and if it was similar to why he liked spaceships.
    Because they could take you somewhere far, far away from here.
    This time he was wondering what her math score was.
    There was a thud as Carswell settled his chair legs back on the floor and leaned across the aisle.
    “You probably know who all these artists are, don’t you?”
    Kate’s head whipped up. She blinked at him for a moment, before her startled eyes glanced at the
    person behind her, then back to Carswel .
    He grinned.
    She blinked. “Ex-excuse me?”
    He inched closer, so that he was barely seated on the edge of his chair, and dragged the tip of his
    stylus down her screen. “Al these dramatists. You read so much, I bet you’ve already read them al .”
    “Um.” She fol owed the tip of his stylus before. . . there it was, that sudden rush of color to her
    cheeks. “No, not al of