Out of This World Read Free Page A

from each other? I realize I tuned him out.
    But now I look around and realize the landscape has been changing. The dirt underfoot seems pretty much the same, but the shoreline is much farther away and we’re coming up on some foothills. Behind them I see mountains rising impossibly high. We sure don’t have anything like that in So-Cal.
    â€œIt’s kind of hard not to think about what’s happened,” I say.
    â€œI told you. Vincenzo deserved to die.”
    â€œYeah, but did Chaingang? Did Cory or Tomás?”
    â€œI wouldn’t worry about the coyote boy,” he says. “They’re next to impossible to kill permanently.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    He shrugs. “They keep coming back.”
    Which doesn’t explain anything, so I just say, “Right.”
    Cory and maybe even Tomás might be able to come back, but it’s hard to think about that big solid presence of Chaingang being gone. Marina must be sad, too.
    I don’t want to think about that. Not Chaingang dead, or the two of them as a couple. I just can’t figure out how they ever hooked up in the first place. I can ask myself the question a thousand times and it still makes no sense.
    Chaingang’s the guy you’d want to have at your side when it comes to a fight, but hang with him on a regular basis? We don’t have anything in common. I can’t see Chaingang surfing or skateboarding. I’m pretty sure he’s not much of a fan of rockabilly or surf music, so I can’t see him hanging out in Des’s garage during band practice. Or even sprawled on the couch with us watching movies.
    Those were good times. Marina can read for hours, but she always falls asleep during a movie, usually with her head on my shoulder. And she always smells nice, her hair a mix of some fruity shampoo and salt …
    Until I messed things up, it was always good. When we walked, she’d often loop her hand into the crook of my arm, and both hello and goodbye usually required a hug.
    I think about how betrayed I felt when I found out that she had been a Wildling for months and not told me. And yet I did the same thing to my mom, for the same reason: to keep the people I care for safe.
    But after I blew up about it, I couldn’t take it back. I could say I was sorry, but it still lay there between us—how I’d been such a jerk—and nothing’s been the same since.
    Maybe I drove her to Chaingang. It’s a stupid idea. But then I think of Des telling me earnestly on more than one occasion how she was into me. He’s such a wild exaggerator that I just laughed it off.
    Except … except …
    I think of other little signs.
    I shake my head. Maybe I’m an idiot. All of it—the hugs, the hand on my arm when she’s talking to me, even the punches. Could she have wanted to be more than just friends?
    I just took her for granted. I knew that she’d always be there. But I never had a clue how she really felt until I pushed her away, and then it was obvious that she was hurting bad.
    I drove her away. And I really didn’t have a clue how I felt about her. Until now. When it’s too late.
    â€œYou’re doing it again,” Tío Goyo says.
    My head snaps up. “Doing what?”
    â€œLiving in your head.”
    â€œYeah, well, I’ve got a lot to think about. What are we even doing here? We’re supposed to be looking for Elzie. Like, now.”
    He nods. “And we will. But to find her we need to recalibrate your awareness of the world around you.”
    â€œHow long’s that going to take?”
    He shrugs. “It depends on how quickly you’re able to assimilate what I have to teach you. I’m hoping it won’t take more than a few weeks.”
    â€œWeeks? Are you kidding me? This is nuts. She could be dead today .”
    â€œThis is true. She could already be dead. But I prefer to assume that