Rhythm & Clues: A Young Adult Novel Read Free Page B

for restoration. Dusk’s shade covered most of the decay, turning the buildings all the same murky gray hue.
    Closing my eyes, I counted to three. Don’t be chicken. Don’t be chicken. Before I could talk myself out of it. I left the safety of my car and crossed the entryway into darkness, sucking back the gasps that wanted to betray me.
    Debris from the building’s deterioration littered the floor, and everything smelled like moldy bread. Equal parts dread and excitement welled in my stomach as floorboards creaked under my feet. A spark of red light caught my eye, flickering in the distance where a paper lantern hung from the ceiling. It twirled on a string, a small light bulb trying its best to stay illuminated. Up ahead, another lantern guided my way. With cautious steps, I followed the glowing lanterns up the stairs like Dorothy’s yellow brick road until I found a guy sitting cross-legged on the dirty floor, fiddling with a laptop.
    He looked up when I entered, his eyes widening in surprise. His hair hung in his eyes, cascading around his face in long hemp-colored strands.
    My shoulders relaxed. Just a teen boy. An opportunity. Not a murderer.
    He placed his computer on the ground and stood. His lanky body nearly reached the low ceiling. With my 4’10” stature, I had no concept of height; everyone was taller than me.
    “Didn’t think anyone would show.” He flashed me a striking smile.
    I gave him a small laugh. “You didn’t make it easy.”
    “Really?” His brow furrowed and a slight hint of a frown crept on his lips.
    “I just meant…” I reached up and swatted one of the lanterns hanging low from the ceiling. “Most make their advertisement flashy. Yours looked like you used the board as your personal trash can.”
    “Got you here, didn’t it?” He moved from his defensive position at the far end of the room and sat about ten feet away from me. Afraid to get too close? That thought stung.
    “I was curious.” I nudged a discarded sandwich wrapper with my shoe. “Besides, it takes a lot to scare me.”
    “Curious about being in a band?”
    “That too, but mostly about who would hold a band audition in such a strange place. Also, I think I’m the only one who reads that grocery board.” I didn’t want him to think I was weird, so I added, “I work there, you know.”
    “I know. You’re a checkout girl.”
    He couldn’t be lying because he had his facts right, but I’d remember someone like him. Someone so tall, with trendy hair and clothes that screamed that his mommy dressed him. Someone gorgeous in a way that wasn’t intimidating because it seemed like he had no idea. “I don’t recognize you.”
    “Yeah, we’ve never gone through your line. I think your hair scares my mom.”
    I reached up to touch my strands and straightened in a proud way. “It scares my mom too. That’s kind of the point.” For the last few months, I’d been dying my boring blond hair a dark black and then pouring bleach on random strands, creating a streaky, almost zebra-like appearance. I figured if everyone was going to make fun of me at school anyway, I might as well give them a target. Better this than call me a slut based on my mom’s actions and giving me a reputation I could never live up to. It was hard to be a slut when you’d never even kissed a guy.
    “I’m Gavin, by the way. Gavin Tully.” He approached me with an outstretched hand, which was too polite for such an informal meet up. His hand trembled, like he didn’t want to touch me, but he still felt the need to use proper etiquette.
    “Moxie.” I snubbed him to spare him the horror of making contact with me and to spare me the agony of him pulling away too fast. “And seriously, why haven’t I seen you before if you’ve seen me?” I unhooked the least flickering red lantern from its string to act as a campfire flashlight. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I avoided getting tangled in the electric wires, which were pulled taut,