Dreaming of Antigone Read Online Free

stay outside all night. He barks at everything.
    Gemini. The twins are certainly worth looking at this morning. But the house’s gabled roof blocks my view. Screw it. I pick up the telescope and carry it around the side to the front yard. Mom would have kittens if she caught me out here in the dark, but it’s not like there’s anyone else around. I set the telescope down in the driveway and start searching for the stars Castor and Pollux.
    What I see through the lens is breathtaking: Castor a bright, white double star, and Pollux, its brighter orange sibling. Off to the right of the twins, I find Betelgeuse, the pinkish-red star from Orion.
    A branch from the neighbor’s crêpe myrtle is blocking my view of the nebula in Orion. Frowning, I push the telescope farther down the driveway, until I’m close to the street. It’s an old neighborhood, full of historic houses, and we have far too many trees for my liking.
    I take a chance and move the telescope out into the street. We live on a dead end, so I’m pretty sure no one is going to come blowing through here at four in the morning. Most of our neighbors are retired old couples anyway, who almost never leave their homes unless it’s to go play golf.
    I’m adjusting the focus, when I get a strange feeling. I look up and down Azalea Cove, not seeing anyone. There’s no real breeze to speak of, and the subdivision is silent. Even the dog at the end of the block has grown quiet.
    I’m getting chills up and down my arms. I’m scaring myself. There’s no one out here, I tell myself. Everyone is inside their houses, sleeping like normal people. I consider going back inside, but I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to see the nebula again. There hasn’t been a night this clear in weeks. I need one last look.
    And then I hear the footsteps approaching. Too close. Too late to push my telescope out of the way, I stupidly stand by to defend it. And am run down by a jogger. Or possibly a serial killer.
    â€œSon of a bitch!” I scream, just as the jogger mutters his own string of four-letter words. We tumble, tangling arms and legs and landing on the asphalt. I hear the telescope hit the ground, scraping metal and breaking glass.
    â€œNo!” I wail. My parents are going to kill me. My elbow is scraped, and my hip hurts from breaking my fall.
    â€œWhat the hell?” A familiar voice demands above me. “Andria? What are you doing out here?”
    Oh dear God. What is Alex Hammond doing lying on top of me?
    â€œGet off!” I push at his chest. Of course he doesn’t budge. He laughs, and I can feel the rumble of his laughter under his rib cage. It makes my fingertips tingle.
    A porch light comes on next door, and the Ellisons’ terrier starts barking again down the street. Alex shifts, and I’m finally able to get out from under him. I scramble on my hands and knees on the pavement, feeling for pieces of my telescope.
    â€œWhat. Are. You. Doing?” he asks. “Do your parents know you’re out here?”
    â€œOf course not,” I hiss, as I find a shard of glass. Perfect. I’m shaking, and I pray he can’t see it in the dark. It’s probably not a good idea to admit I’m out here all by myself. “What are you doing out here? Waiting for your dealer?”
    I hear him let out a breath and stand up. “Couldn’t sleep.”
    â€œMe either,” I finally say, feeling like a bitch again. He brings out the worst in me.
    Alex picks up my telescope and follows me up the driveway to the front porch. “Been having nightmares ever since I came home.”
    I look up at him, now that I’m able to see his face. The neighbor’s floodlight is pointed straight at us. He looks tired. “Nightmares about what?” I ask.
    Before he can answer, the neighbors’ front door opens. Alex pulls me back against the far side of our porch, where