The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To Read Free Page A

of a lot to like, go into,” I say. “You know the loading dock by the auditorium?”
    â€œYes,” he says.
    â€œI eat lunch over there,” I tell him.
    â€œOkay,” he says. “Fifth-period lunch?”
    â€œYep,” I say.
    â€œGood,” he says all conspiratorial like we’re planning a high-stakes daylight robbery. “Good.”
    When I round the corner of the auditorium, Eric is sitting cross-legged on the concrete loading dock in direct sunlight, his lunch spread out in front of him.
    â€œAren’t you hot?” I say.
    â€œHmm?”
    â€œAren’t you hot?” I say. “I usually sit in the shade.”
    At lunchtime, the way the sun hits the school there’s a big wedge of shadow on one side of the dock. It’s cool up against the brick and easier to read over there.
    â€œOh, right,” he says. “Thanks.”
    I don’t know why he’s thanking me, I didn’t really do it for him. The truth is he’s so pale that in the sunlight he sort of hurts to look at.
    He starts packing up his lunch to move. There’s four or five little Tupperware containers and something wrapped in tinfoil. He puts them all in a small paper bag and moves toward the shade.
    â€œSo?” he says.
    I start unwrapping my lunchroom burrito. I have two chili-cheese burritos and a fountain Dr. Pepper. I remember coming to high school when the fact that they had soda seemed like a huge deal. The thrill has worn off but I still get it every day.
    â€œIt starts with this scientist who works for the government. He invents these cybernetic modifications for soldiers. His technology ends up causing the deaths of millions of people. Then one day he stumbles upon the technology to make time travel possible, and he knows that if the government gets their hands on it, they’ll make things even worse. Then he realizes that he can actually use the technology to go back and prevent those millions of people being killed. But the government busts in just as he’s about to go and there’s a shootout and he ends up getting sent too far back in time, to the Stone Age, through a temporal distortion.”
    I take a bite of my burrito. They’re pretty messy, but I’ve figured out how to eat them so not too much stuff leaks out one end.
    â€œThen in the Stone Age …” I won’t repeat the rest here but there’s cybernetic cavemen and a race to an energy crystal at the heart of the universe and the dead and the living keep switching places. When I finish I realize I’ve never said the whole thing out loud before, or any of it, really. Then I realize I forgot a bunch of things.
    â€œThat’s dynamite,” Eric says. “Really.” In the time it’s taken me to tell the whole thing he’s worked his way through four of the five Tupperware containers (string beans, some kind of potatoes, spinach, fruit salad) and half of what was wrapped in the aluminum foil, which turns out to be a pork chop sandwich.
    â€œWho packs your lunch?” I ask.
    â€œI do,” he says, and I remember I have a lunch.
    â€œLeftovers?” I ask.
    â€œNo,” he says. “I cook.”
    I expect he’ll talk now so I can eat without it being awkward but he doesn’t, he just sort of stares straight ahead. I eat anyway, and when I’m done I chew on the rim of my Styrofoam cup.
    â€œWhat if the scientist—?” he says.
    â€œWhat if the scientist what?” I say.
    He shakes his head. The bell rings.
    Wednesday in English Mrs. Amory splits us into groups for group projects. When she announces that Eric is in the same group as Cecelia, Cecelia sighs and looks at Jen and her other friend Teresa. She goes up to talk to Mrs. Amory when we’re all supposed to be getting together with our groups. After Cecelia and Mrs. Amory are done talking in very hushed tones, Mrs. Amory calls Eric and Ashlyn Taylor up and