Immortal Light: Wide Awake Read Free Page B

getting a boyfriend this year. It’ll be just like
every other year.”
    “ You know, Steph said she heard
someone talking about you the other day at Cranberry Sweets. And
she couldn’t be sure, but she thinks it was Mark.”
    Lucy’s eyes lit up as though Kat could see her
through the phone.
    “ Really? She thinks Mark Thompson
was talking about me? Wow,” Lucy said in a stunned daze.
    “ Why is that so amazing to you?
I’ve told you since the seventh grade that he’s got a thing for
you. I think he’s just too chicken to ask you out.”
    “ More like he’s too chicken to go
out with the nerdy girl.” Lucy’s tone had become
disdainful.
    “ You can’t be serious. Have you
looked in a mirror lately? Lucy, you’ve always been gorgeous, but
now you’re totally hot. How could he not want to go out with you?
He’s so sweet, too.”
    Lucy practically melted at Kat’s
suggestion that she and Mark could ever be an item. If Steph’s
information was true, maybe all Lucy had to do this year was be
patient.
    “ So are you coming on Saturday?”
Kat pulled Lucy back to earth by changing the subject.
    “ What’s on Saturday?”
    “ You haven’t heard? Chad’s folks
are letting him throw an end-of-summer party. They’ll be there, so
your dad should let you go, right? It’s not like there’s going to
be booze or drugs or stuff. So, how about it?”
    Kat was, in almost every way, the
opposite of Lucy. She was a socialite and was never really without
a boyfriend. The list of physical differences between the two girls
started at the top and went all the way to the bottom, beginning
with Kat’s dark brown hair; it was full and thick and it had a
natural wave to it that made her look like a super model. She had
skin so rich with color and so clear of blemishes that she never
had to wear make-up. Her eyes danced like brown sequins in the
sunlight and she had a smile that went on for days. She stood
five-foot-six in the 7th grade and had gained an inch every year
since. Being a long distance runner—one of the best Marshfield High
School had ever seen—she had the stamina of a cheetah and the legs
of a gazelle. To top it all off, she had had curves in all the
right places since she was twelve. Kat was all the things you might
find in a Greek Goddess.
    “ Yeah, it sounds like fun. I’ll
ask my dad. What time?”
    “ I think it starts at six, but we
should be fashionably late, you know?”
    “ I’ll take your word for it.
Should I pick you up?”
    “ Yeah. You should come right after
work so we can get ready at my place.”
    “ You got it. I’ll let you know
what my dad says.” The two girls said their farewells and hung
up.
    Walking into the library, Lucy saw
Mrs. Breen behind the checkout desk. Her glasses were perched at
the tip of her nose and their silver braided chain swung gently
around her neck. She was typing away at the computer while talking
on the phone.
    “ Good Morning, Sandi,” Lucy
whispered loudly to Mrs. Breen, who flashed a sunshiny smile full
of perfect, white dentures.
    Mrs. Breen raised her hand and wiggled her
fingers in jovial greeting, despite the business being conducted
over the phone.
    “ Any sign?” Lucy then whispered
with a distorted look of improbable hope.
    Mrs. Breen shook her head. “I’m sorry dear,”
she mouthed apologetically.
    Mrs. Breen was the only person
privy to the one little secret she hadn’t shared with anyone. Lucy
had been obsessed with Benjamin Raven all summer, in spite of the
fact that she hadn’t seen him since the flag incident. It was such
a trivial thing to think about and she had told Kat about him, but
she had never told her that he was almost the only thing that
occupied her thoughts constantly.
    Lucy smiled and shrugged her
shoulders as she sat down at her computer. Sliding her keyboard
toward her, she noticed a small dark object lying just under the
computer monitor. It looked like a moth and as she looked closer,
she couldn’t be