Orion Cross My Sky Read Online Free Page A

terrified her.
    Clara went off in search of the library director, and Tammy found a cozy nook at the back of the library where there was a small table and two chairs.
    She collected some helpful books, then sat down and began to read.

7
    Chapter Seven
    B ehind Pete’s Service Station , there was some empty land, mostly covered by trees. But there was also a smaller garage which housed a project car Orion and Zane were working on. They spent time with the 1979 Trans Am any chance they got. Zane’s father, Pete Johnson, encouraged the boys and took them to a you-pull-it junkyard outside of town where he often acquired parts that couldn’t be ordered easily from dealers or distributors.
    Being a technician meant hard work, but Orion loved it. He was studying for his first ASE test, which he would take in just a few weeks. Although he hadn’t attended school for it, he’d learned from the best mechanics, and now, he was studying electrical with a passion he’d never had in high school.
    “I think she’s almost ready to go,” Zane said, stepping around the car. The well-lit garage gave them plenty of room to work. Zane’s father was often passing used tools to his son, so they didn’t have the best equipment—but it got the job done.
    Orion nodded appraisingly at the old beast, which needed a paint job. Its faded blue coloring, coupled with some of the rust around the edges, showed its age, but it was a trouper. The great big bird on the hood, stretched out over the shaker, was the original. Somewhere deep inside, the car was alive , and Orion knew he could wake it up. They could get it started with a lot of patience, and it had taken them months.
    Now, at last, both Orion and Zane were fairly certain they had a running car on their hands. After a lot of engine work, tinkering with the transmission, and many long hours of dedication, the car would soon be on the road.
    “What should we call it?” Zane crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
    “Hmm. Not sure.” Orion grinned, a sudden urge to create mischief overtaking him. “Put the hood down. Lemme try to turn the engine over.”
    “All right, let me just check a few things first.” Zane grabbed a clean oil rag and wiped off his hands before peeking under the hood to make sure everything looked right. “Okay.”
    He put the hood down while Orion climbed into the driver’s seat. Then he leaned against the open window, shaking his head. “What the hell makes you think you can drive ’er first?”
    “Get in.” Orion rolled his eyes, making a show of being annoyed.
    Once his buddy was in the car, and they were both comfortable on the original dark interior—which was torn and in need of replacement—Orion pushed the key into the ignition.
    “Here goes nothin’.” He shoved down on the clutch, putting the car into first gear.
    “You realize this beast ain’t got no power steering, right?”
    Orion tilted his head to the side, making it clear he didn’t care. Then he turned the key, and the engine grumbled to life like an old man waking up from a sound sleep. It reverberated through his body, sending sparks of pain into his nerves, which he forced himself to ignore. “Shit, listen to this baby purr!”
    Putting his strength into it, he piloted the car out of the garage. The sounds of the engine shook him inside and out. The seat beneath him trembled with the force of it.
    Zane’s dad was working in the shop, too preoccupied to notice them at first. Orion got a glimpse of Pete Johnson glaring at them, his hands on his hips, as the Trans Am pulled out onto Main Street where the crash had happened only a day before.
    If he’d been thinking straight, he would’ve listened to Zane, who was saying something about the registration, the dates on the plate.
    Behind the wheel of this car, there was no way he could listen to reason. He’d been seduced by the feel of it, by the gears changing as he handled the stick-shift, by the way the engine grumbled and