1942664419 (S) Read Online Free

plate.
    Columbia! New York City! Not even the huge pile of dishes could yank me off that buzz.
    I hadn’t finished drying the first glass when a puff of wet bubbles sloshed onto my cheek.
    Maggie giggled, and I retaliated, whipping her with my towel. She screamed like a preschooler, wiping her wet hands across my shirt. Mrs. B. snorted as she took the glass from my hand and placed it in the cabinet.
    Laughing, I wiped the soap from my nose. Dad was right. This was exactly what I needed. Maybe life could return to normal.
    Maybe it already had.
    Maggie handed me the last plate and dried her hands. “I gotta pee.”
    “So classy,” I said.
    “Would you have it any other way?” Her curls bounced as she passed through the door.
    No. I guess I wouldn’t.
    “Mom?” Bobby’s voice called from the next room.
    I took the paper towels from Mrs. Baker. “I got this. Go ahead.”
    Her smile warmed me beyond measure, a combination of affection, gratitude, and serenity. God, I loved coming here.
    After wiping down the counters, I scooted out the back door and breathed in the night air. Autumn crispness tickled my cheeks as moonlight crept over the trees and cast a deep shadow across the swing set Mrs. Baker insisted on relocating with each base transfer. “Family stability,” she called it. Maggie and I had made fun of her during the last move, since none of us could even fit on the slide anymore.
    We sure did put that swing set through a lot in its day, though. All Three of us. Bobby would challenge Maggie and me to climb to the top and dare us to jump. Maggie and I would swing so high we thought we’d flip over.
    I swallowed down a sticky ball building in my throat, taking in the rusted edges and dented poles. It didn’t matter how big we grew. Nothing ever looked more beautiful.
    Pulling my sweater around me, I settled onto a swing. The chains creaked in their aging hinges. The cold rubber seat stretched under my weight, hugging my hips. For the first time since landing back in New Jersey, the essence of home enveloped me, melting the tightness in my shoulders.
    “Last one off is a rotten egg.” Bobby took the other swing beside me.
    Apparently I wasn’t the only one feeling nostalgic. I wished I knew what to say to him. Things were different now, even if we didn’t want them to be.
    The last time I’d seen Bobby, flames of chaos had surrounded us. He’d looked so sad and defeated. Since he obviously hadn’t been court-martialed, it was likely no one knew he’d been the one who set David free.
    If Bobby hadn’t been there, I would be dead. A shiver spiraled down my spine. Everyone would be dead.
    “Listen, Bobby. I never got a chance to thank you—”
    He poised his finger against my lips, lingering a touch longer than he probably should have. “I couldn’t let you die. The alien said he could save you. I never expected … ” He looked to the grass. “The way you looked at that thing, it killed me, Jess. I mean, I know you were under its control, but—”
    “I was not under his control. And his name is David, not it .”
    “Well, you looked like you cared for that thing. A lot.”
    I shook my head. “You can’t even imagine what we’d been through.”
    His nose crinkled. “The news feeds say you let that thing touch you. That’s not true, is it?”
    I got off the swing. “That’s none of your business.”
    He appeared beside me. “Oh, God, you did. How could you?”
    “It’s not what you think.”
    “Then what is it?” Fire brimmed in his eyes.
    I considered dousing him with the garden hose. “Back off,” I muttered, retreating to the house.
    “Jess.”
    I stopped, my hand on the back door, gritting my teeth to keep from shouting at him.
    “I will always be here for you.” Bobby’s voice actually sounded tender, caring. “When you snap out of it, I will still be here. And I’m at least the right species.”
    He did not just say that . I pulled open the door and stomped inside. Mrs.