Star Runners Read Free Page A

champion?"
    "Funny," Josh grumbled. "I knew you'd be a smart ass."
    "Seriously, you okay?"
    Josh exhaled into the phone hard enough to cause static. "I guess. More ticked about getting suspended than anything else."
    "A week?"
    "Three days."
    "Sorry, man."
    "Me, too."
    Austin paused. "Sorry I didn't have your back today. I was behind you, but not close enough."
    "That's no big deal, buddy. Forget it."
    The tension in his chest left. "Next time, tell me you're planning on attacking someone in the middle of a cafeteria and I'll back you up."
    Josh laughed. "I didn't know I was going to do that."
    Austin walked into the grass and it tickled his feet. "So what are you going to do with your little vacation?"
    "Get to the top of our server. Wouldn't you do the same?"
    "I guess I would." Austin thought about spending three uninterrupted days racking up kills and statistics. "You might actually do it."
    "Did you still want to play Star Runners tonight?"
    Austin shrugged and moved toward the house. "You don't have any plans tonight? I thought you were taking out Nicole."
    "Not funny. With what happened to me today, I'm grounded. About all I'll be doing for the next few days is playing online. Dad's pretty mad about this whole thing and even madder I'm missing three days of practice."
    "Can you play in the game this week?"
    "Team rule is if you don't practice, you don't play. I don't know. Coach is not too happy, either. Maybe I'll get in later. Who knows?"
    "Alright, man. I’m up for a little Star Runners . Give me a few minutes and I'll log in."
    Josh hung up. Despite the fact he fought at school and got suspended, all Josh cared about was getting more game time.
    Closing his eyes, Austin rested his head against the cool brick of the house. Mom had spent another day at home. Ever since she quit her nursing job at the hospital to take care of Dad, she never left the house.
    He opened his eyes and stared at the stars as a shooting star passed overhead.

CHAPTER TWO
    The cool air whistled through Kadyn’s car windows. The smell of freshly cut grass swept in, and the drone of lawnmowers mixed with the buzz of leaf blowers.
    "Josh's coming back to school tomorrow, right?" Kadyn asked.
    "Yeah, I called him yesterday to see how forced vacation was. He sounded tired. Wish I could be worn out from three days off."
    Kadyn laughed. "You don't want three days off that way!"
    She turned left and veered onto Austin's street. Austin lifted his hand and held it out the window, allowing the air to lift his arm like flaps on a plane.
    "Why is it short weeks always seem longer?" he asked.
    "Dunno, but they do."
    Austin’s house came into view. In the driveway, Mom shuffled back toward the house. She wore a bathrobe and torn bedroom slippers. She slid her feet across the pavement as she flipped through mail.
    Austin turned down the radio. "Keep going."
    "What?"
    "Drive past my house," Austin said, leaning back in the seat.
    He glanced at Mom as the car went by. Her hair curled and tangled away from her head like an animal made a nest inside. She barely lifted her feet and looked as if she could have been eighty years old.
    He sighed.
    "Where do you want me to go?" Kadyn asked as the car continued away from his house.
    Austin shook his head.
    Kadyn reached down and touched his hand. "I'll drive around for a while, 'k?"
    Austin sat in silence, watching the neighborhood pass. The car went around the large curve near the neighborhood lake. She pulled the car near an empty tennis court and shut off the engine. Austin leaned back in his seat and stared into the cloudless blue sky.
    "Thanks."
    Kadyn shrugged. "What are friends for?"
    He listened to the birds singing. "I saw a shooting star the other night."
    "Really? Never seen one."
    "Yeah. Made me think about Dad."
    She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
    He nodded.
    "I hadn't seen your Mom since the funeral."
    Austin snorted. "Not many have."
    "The nightshift will do that to people."
    He