Human Blend Read Free Page A

she
requested.
    “How about you tell me some things about
Julie Miller?” Austin asked.
    He pushed away from the wall and sat down
next to her.
    “I'm not very interesting,” Julie
replied.
    “Somehow, I doubt that,” Austin smiled.
    He's too cute , she thought. “What do
you want to know?” Julie sighed.
    “How about where are you from?” he asked.
    “Florida,” she lied.
    “One word answers, okay. How old are you?” he
asked.
    “Eighteen,” she said. “How old are you?” she
quickly asked him.
    “I just turned eighteen a few weeks ago,”
Austin said.
    “Happy Birthday,” she said, fighting a
smile.
    “Thank you. I guess we are playing twenty
questions. What about your family?” Austin laughed.
    “What about them?” Julie teased.
    “Ah, Julie, it's like pulling teeth!” he
exasperated.
    “Maybe you should be a dentist instead of a
teacher,” she kept up the game.
    “Why do you have so many secrets?” he asked.
She paused, unsure how to answer that one. She stared at him for a
few moments before answering.
    “It's... complicated.”
    “I'm a good listener.”
    A muffled ring could be heard at that moment.
“I think your pants are ringing,” Julie smirked, thankful for the
save.
    “Saved by the bell,” Austin kidded before
standing up, and digging his cell phone from his pocket. He looked
at his watch before answering it,.“Shit,” answering, “Yeah, hey, I
know. I lost track of time. Okay, alright. I'll be right there,”
Austin snapped the phone shut, obviously irritated. “I hate this,”
Austin mumbled to himself, but loud enough that Julie could
hear.
    “Problems?” Julie queried.
    “I gotta go relieve my mom at the
laundromat,” he answered, grumpily.
    Julie felt bad. “I didn't mean to take up
your Saturday.”
    “You didn't. I just feel bad I didn't get to
show you anyplace else,” he said.
    “It's fine, I like exploring,” she said with
a smile. “Go help your mom,” Julie finished, standing.
    Austin started for the door then back tracked
to her. “Can... can I see you again? ”
    This is your chance, cut him off now. “Sure,” Julie said smiling. Idiot.
    “I'll take you to this breakfast place, it
has great food,” Austin smiled.
    “Sounds great,” Julie replied.
    “Tomorrow morning then, around eight?” Austin
asked as he opened the door.
    “I'll be ready,” she answered. Austin gave a
final wave and started back down the hallway. Julie closed the door
and slumped against it. “You just ask for trouble,” she grumbled to
herself.
    Pushing aside her thoughts on Austin for the
moment, Julie walked back to her duffel bag. She had more things to
organize to secure a safe lifestyle here.
    She dug down deep and pulled out the case
that contained the cash she had taken from them. She had counted it
on one of her stops along the way. Over 200,000 dollars in cash.
She hated carrying around that much money, but it was
necessary.
    They would be monitoring banks, looking for
large deposits. Not to mention, if things collapsed she needed to
be able to grab it and run. “I'm going to be more careful this
time,” she told herself.
    She could easily get more money if she needed
it, but the way in which she could achieve it, well, she didn't
feel good about it. Julie had an unfair advantage. She possessed
another ability, one that they favored most. Julie could foreshadow
lottery numbers, horse winners and really anything containing
numbers. The numbers just appeared in her mind. She remembered
being small and rattling off the lottery numbers before they were
even drawn. She could even see the combination to any lock.
Numbers. She didn't want to get money that way, it was dishonest.
If she had to live lies, she wanted to live it as honestly as
possible. She chuckled at the irony of that thought.
    She opened up the closet in her room and
opened the safe. She put the cash in there. Julie read the
directions and set her combination. She went back to her duffel bag
and