Nightlight Read Free Page B

propping me upright against the wall, Adam staggered backwards, huffing and puffing.
    I dismissed him and stepped inside the office.
    “I’m paralyzed for the next hour,” I announced to the secretary.
    “Go sit in your car, dear,” she said, looking up from her copy of
Daylight
.
    I skipped outside to my car, trying to daydream aboutits powers as king of the cars, but I was too disturbed. First of all, if I had gotten my car for free, that meant that everyone else had paid
more
money for
tinier
cars. Secondly, I was pretty sure there was something supernatural about Edwart—something beyond rational speculation.
    So I stopped speculating about him and watched a procession of ants go by. Life would be much easier if I could carry things twenty times my body weight.

2. RESCUE
    THE NEXT DAY WAS WONDERFUL … AND TERRIBLE . So, overall, I guess it was okay.
    It was wonderful because it was raining less. It was terrible because Tom hit me with his car.
    “I’m so sorry—I didn’t see you!” he said, driving away to find a parking space before the lot filled up. I picked myself up and smiled knowingly. Tom’s constant attempts to get my attention were flattering and sometimes surprising.
    Adam sat next to me in English again. I began to worry that this would become a pattern, that he would expect to occupy the seat next to me
forever
, even when I was just eating breakfast at home with my Dad. Mr. Schwartz called on him and he mumbled something—I think that the sombrero I was wearing was both alluring and practical for the weather—but my mind had drifted. I was thinking aboutEdwart. I took out the list I made of rational reasons he wouldn’t talk to me:
    —too scared
    —too sad
    —too mute
    —not human
    I was about to start a new list, Places I’d Like to Visit, when I heard someone saying my name.
    I looked up. It was Adam.
    “Class is over,” he said, and walked out. I wasn’t used to all this attention from boys.
    “Yeah,” I called after him. “I knew the whole time!” He didn’t respond. I sighed. I should have known no one would get my sense of humor in English class.
    On my way out, I bumped into a desk, which bumped into another desk, which bumped into a table with a Popsicle-stick and marshmallow model of the Globe Theatre on top of it. The model wobbled dangerously. Knowing my luck, it is a miracle it didn’t topple over onto the desk. Instead, it toppled onto the floor, where I accidentally slipped on it and somehow got marshmallow in my hair.
    At lunch I sat with Tom and Lucy’s friends again. Looking around at all the other tables, I realized this must be the popular table. It was definitely the closest to the door—optimal for getting to class on time. Also, everyone at the table had a bag lunch with their name on it. I felt bad for thekids at other tables, who were probably nice, but just not socially connected enough to sit close to the door or use paper bags. Tom’s lunch had “My Little Sugar-Pie” written on it. When I asked him why his mom only made him a little sugar-pie, he pretended not to hear. I made a note to pack some vegetables for that boy.
    After lunch was Biology—with Edwart. I wished my heart wasn’t beating so fast as I walked down the hall. I especially wished my armpits weren’t sweating so much; I must be secreting pheromones like crazy, which would only heighten Adam and Tom’s frenzy. Drenched in my natural secretions, I walked into class and braced myself for their wild attacks. Instead, I saw Edwart. He looked like a boy in an ad for deodorant, which I definitely would have bought if he were selling it, even if it had aluminum in it, which causes AIDS. I slid into the seat next to him. To my astonishment, he looked up from his computer with a slight nod.
    “Hi,” he said in the quiet voice of a boys’ choir of angels.
    I couldn’t believe he was talking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as last time, probably because of the smell, but he