The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

right? These massive physiques don’t fuel themselves.” Walter flexed his pipe-cleaner arms for effect.
    Charlie’s mouth turned up ever so slightly.
    “Come on. Let it out,” Walter urged, knowing that he’d finally broken through Charlie’s façade.
    Charlie shook his head, releasing a wide grin in the process. “That works for me. Just put those guns away.”
    “Good call. This is California, after all. And I don’t exactly have a permit.” Walter tugged his sleeves to cover his puny biceps and then opened his arms wide. “Now get in here. I can’t head off without a hug.”
    Charlie obliged.
    “I love you,” Walter said as he held Charlie tight.
    Walter’s words washed away the small amount of animosity Charlie was still harboring. After a moment, he replied, “I love you, too. But now I seriously need to get to work.”
    “All right, all right.” Walter gave Charlie one last squeeze, and then let him go. He quickly rounded up all of his empty beer bottles.
    “Are you okay to drive?” Charlie said as he gestured to the six-pack in Walter’s hand. “You and Dad used to split that.”
    “Yeah, I’m fine. It took me almost eight hours to finish. Assuming I’m still tipping the scales at a massive 155 pounds”—Walter quickly did the math in his head—“My blood alcohol is about .021. Even if I lost a couple pounds, which my pants would argue otherwise, I’m still looking at .027, tops.”
    “Just making sure,” Charlie said. He trusted Walter’s math and his word, but after what had happened to his parents, he was even more sensitive to the risks of driving, not to mention driving while impaired. “Be careful.”
    “Don’t worry. I will. And I appreciate you looking out for me.” Walter tousled Charlie’s hair, turning the teen’s black mop into a mess that matched his own. “Hey! Look at that. Now you look like me.”
    “Awesome. That should help keep the girls away.”
    “Without a doubt. It’s worked my whole life.”
    Charlie and Walter said their goodbyes, and then Walter headed off. The very second that Walter was out of sight, Charlie rushed back inside his house. He snagged a pen that was lying on the kitchen counter, retrieved his Moleskine from his pocket, and quickly scribbled down Terry’s phone number and email address from memory on the front page of the notebook. He turned to the next page, which contained the most recent version of his plan, and added the summer internship to the top of his list.
    There was no way Charlie was going to let anyone, or anything, get in the way of his opportunity of a lifetime. That much he knew, or at least he thought he did.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    With Walter accounted for and on his way, Charlie was finally able to focus on his homework backlog. Even though Terry had promised him the internship, Charlie knew that it didn’t mean he could just coast. He grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen sink to combat the dehydration that he was no longer able to ignore, and then headed upstairs to get cracking on his assignments.
    Charlie’s bedroom was the converted attic on the third floor of the house. Charlie had relocated to the room when Grandpa Kim moved in with the family, but he chose to leave most of his clothes and junk in his old room. All that was in the new room was a bed and nightstand, a desk with his computer, and a throw rug to cover the laminate tile flooring.
    The previous owners had failed to properly insulate the room during their partial renovations. As such, it was always warmer or cooler than the rest of the house, and usually the opposite of what one would want it to be. That particular night, it happened to be cooler.
    Charlie threw on his Stanford University hoodie and took a seat at his desk. He blew into his hands for extra warmth, and then retrieved his Language Arts folder, having decided it would be best to just get the paper out of the way first. He skimmed over the assignment sheet.