Empty by Suzanne Weyn Read Free Book Online

facilities—but, ironically, it’s hard to build them without oil.”
    Tom absorbed this news with a sense of growing dread. The subject scared him, and it wasn’t a good feeling. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He glanced back at Niki waiting in the car.
    â€œWhen are you coming back to school?” Tom asked his teacher.
    â€œNext week.”
    â€œGreat. Well, I’ll see you then.”
    â€œSee you then.”
    â€œNice to meet you,” Mrs. Curtin said with a wave.
    â€œYou, too,” Tom replied, pulling open his car door.
    â€œWhat was that about?” Niki asked when Tom got back in the car.
    Once again, he found her lemon-and-honeysuckle scent drew him to her.
    â€œWhat did he say?” she prompted.
    â€œOh, just about how the world is falling apart and there’s nothing we can do to stop it,” Tom said, trying to sound as if it didn’t matter. And when he was there beside her, drinking in her citrus-sweet perfume, it really didn’t seem to matter—nothing mattered.
    â€œWhat else is new?” Niki scoffed. “The world’s always been about to collapse. But it never does. Isn’t that what social studies is all about?”
    â€œYeah, I guess.”
    They drove for a while in silence.
    â€œDidn’t we just pass your road?” Tom pointed out.
    â€œOh, I forgot to tell you—we’ve moved back into the lake house in Marietta. The electricity stays on all the time in Marietta! It’s not like here in Sage Valley, where it blinks on and off and nobody knows when or why. Things are much better in Marietta.”
    â€œHow is Marietta managing that?” Tom asked, shocked at the news.
    â€œPeople in Marietta have connections,” Niki replied slyly. “There’s a rumor that they tapped into the power grid down county, where there’s still reliable electric. We have constant heat, hot water, refrigeration—just like always.”
    â€œWow,” Tom murmured. He’d never spent much time thinking about what it meant to be wealthy. Now it hit him, in a much bigger way than before, how much of a difference money could make.
    They drove into Marietta. Unlike in Sage Valley’s downtown section, here people were on the streets, businesses were open. “Are your gas stations open?” Tom asked excitedly.
    â€œOne is. A tanker comes every day and refuels it.”
    â€œWhere does it come from?”
    â€œI have no idea. There it is.” Niki pointed to a Shell station on the corner.
    Tom let out a low whistle. “Eighty dollars a gallon!” It amazed him that a line of vehicles snaked out of the station and down the road.
    â€œIt’s not stopping people,” Niki commented.
    â€œNot these people,” Tom said. “It must be nice.”
    â€œWhat must be nice?”
    â€œTo be rich.”
    â€œIt is,” Niki told him with a grin.
    They got on the long road to the beach where they’d run out of gas, and passed the station that had been closed the last time. It was still shut down.
    After a few more miles, they arrived at the lake house. Niki opened the front door with a remote-control key, and Tom followed her in. “Wow, this is a cool place,” he said, impressed. He’d never been in such a luxurious home.
    â€œThanks.”
    Niki picked up a note from the glass coffee table and read it. “Mom’s out with her friends,” she reported. “So, good—that means nobody’s home.” She gazed at Tom boldly. “You know I’ve always liked you, don’t you?”
    â€œNo,” Tom admitted with a shaky laugh. “I thought you always liked Brock.”
    â€œI was always going with Brock, so I could never let you know how I felt.”
    Tom was struck by the faulty logic of that, but he had no interest in sorting it out—at least not right then. “I’ve always liked you, too. But I figured