Infinity Lost Read Online Free Page A

dressed in my uniform in two minutes flat. I pull a brush through my hair, kick my feet into my shoes, grab my blazer and satchel from the back of the chair, and hurry out the door.
    From there it’s a quick sprint down the stairs, out the front door of the dorm, and across the courtyard, followed by a quick shortcut through the cafeteria kitchen, up two flights of stairs, and finally into the science wing.
    “Hey, wait up!” I yell, pushing past a group of boys who are loitering in the hall. “Bettina!”
    I catch up with her just as she’s walking into Professor Francis’s class.
    “Hey Bit, why didn’t you wake me?”
    She looks at me accusingly from behind her glasses with those big, brown, doe eyes of hers.
    “I tried; honestly, I did. You were dead to the world. I can’t say that I’m surprised, considering what time you snuck in the window last night.”
    I follow her into class, frowning as we pick our seats. “As per usual I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “What?” Bit says, suddenly weirdly flustered. “No, of course you don’t . . . I didn’t mean snuck in, I meant . . . what I meant to say was . . .”
    “Save the chit-chat for your own time, please, Miss Otto,” Professor Francis says from the front of the class.
    “Sorry sir,” Bit says as she pulls her computer slate from her satchel, completely avoiding eye contact.
    I shake my head and smile. Bettina Otto can be so strange sometimes.
    The Professor clears his throat with a loud “ahem.” “Before we begin, I would like to make a little announcement,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
    “Due to an unexpected last-minute invitation, the location of the Annual Excellence field trip has been changed.”
    There’s murmuring and furrowed brows class-wide. A bunch of kids shoot their hands in the air to ask questions, but most look a little confused and perturbed, me included. Bit, on the other hand, is sitting quietly, smiling contentedly toward the front of the room.
    Professor Francis gently waves the forest of flagpole arms back down. “I know that those of you who are in contention to nab a seat on that bus were looking forward to visiting the Cité des Sciences Museum in Paris, but I’m afraid the new opportunity we have been offered is far too good to turn down.”
    The murmurs become a little louder and increasingly more excited.
    I can see by the look on the Professor’s face that even he is having trouble containing his own elation. “This occurrence is so extraordinary that the other members of staff have taken it upon themselves to hold a raffle to determine which one of them will accompany me as a chaperone. And I’m certain that when you all hear the good news, you’ll try especially hard on your final exams on Wednesday.”
    “You know something don’t you?” I whisper to Bit.
    “Maybe I do?” Bit says with an uncharacteristically sly, and, I must admit, quite disconcerting smile.
    “Tell us, sir!” Dean McCarthy shouts from the back.
    “Very well,” the Professor says with a huge grin. “This year, on the last Saturday of next month, the most deserving students will accompany me on the school jet, and we will be flying abroad to spend the entire day at the central research and development complex of . . .”
    Everyone has gone so silent that you could hear a butterfly’s wingbeat.
    “. . . Blackstone Technologies.”
    The whole class erupts into whoops and cheers and Bit looks at me with a proud, self-satisfied smile. “You wanted to see your father,” she whispers. “Well, now you can.”
    I don’t cheer. I don’t even smile. Instead, my mouth goes as dry as sand and my stomach lurches. I’m completely at a loss for words.
    As the day wears on, my anxiety worsens. In only a few days’ time, I may very well find myself standing before my father. Face to face. What will I say? What will he say? I did tell Bit that I wished I could see him, but I didn’t think