A View From Forever (Thompson Sisters Book 3) by Charles Sheehan-Miles Read Free Book Online

difficult to get my mind around. But I don’t really have any choice.
    She says, “Will you let me know how it goes?”
    “Of course,” I say. “I don’t know how…” I trail off.
    “Facebook, silly.”
    “Is that kind of like MySpace?”
    She nods, but sort of winces at the same time. “Yes, but not as obnoxious.”
    “Oh, perfect. I don’t have an account, on MySpace or Facebook. But I guess I can set one up if I can get to a computer.”
    “How about you set one up when we get back to the hostel.”
    “Okay….” My voice trails off again . She says it casually. I know there are a couple of computers in the common room. But I’ve never done social networking of any kind.
    A cynical thought passes through my head. I wonder if Spot has a MySpace account. I bet she does, and I bet if I had one, I’d know where she is today. More enthusiastically, I say, “Yeah. I’ll set it up tonight.”
    “And I get to be your first friend,” she says. The smile on her face shows a row of broad, white teeth. It’s hard for me to pull my eyes away from her .
    Hours pass before we decide to head back to the hostel. At one point Elle says, “Well, you two sure are getting along.” But she says little else.
    Technically our curfew was ten p.m.—it’s almost that late now. But as we walk back up the street, along the outskirts of the Old City, I see what looks like an ancient stone building. It’s dark, with nothing but holes where the window and doors should be. I stop, trying to see in. Most of the building doesn’t even have a roof.
    “Let’s check it out,” I say.
    “No way, man,” John says. “Place looks like it would collapse around you.”
    Mike shakes his head.
    I frown. “Come on, it’s just a building. It looks ancient.”
    They look at me like I’m crazy. I shrug. Then Alex says, “I’ll come with you.”
    Instantly I feel a rush of emotion. Because after the others refused, I was hoping she would say that. I grin and invite her in.
    I step forward, and through the arched opening. It’s dark in here, but I can see light from the moon , and a little from the streetlamp, flooding through a hole in the roof. Alex steps in beside me. I can feel her presence in the dark next to me.
    “What are we doing?” she whispers.
    “I don’t know… exploring?” I respond in the same whisper. I don’t know why. But I take a slow step forward, and she stays beside me. Beyond the front room, there’s a small hallway. Everything is dusty stone, undoubtedly tan.
    “This place is really old,” she whispers.
    From the door, John or Mike slowly makes a mournful wolf-howl.
    “Asshole,” Alex calls back to them . Then s he grabs my hand. I suck in a quick breath. Her hand touching mine has a weight all its own. We keep walking forward.
    “Watch your step,” I say. It looks like steps leading down, not far. Then we pass through another archway, and we’re in a courtyard.
    The courtyard is lit only by the moon, but it’s lit well enough to tell that it was once a garden. Now, it’s overgrown with vines and bushes, flowers everywhere. The fragrance is overwhelming.
    “Oh my God, it’s beautiful,” she whispers.
    “Yeah,” I say. I squeeze her hand, then both of us let our hands drop, like we’d been stung by bees.
    We only stay for two or three minutes. From the street, Elle calls, “Alex? You okay?”
    “Yes!” Alex responds. “Be right out.”
    She sighs after a minute. “I don’t want to leave,” she says. “It’s magical.”
    I smile at her, though she probably can’t see that well. Five minutes later, we get back out to the street. John says, “What was in there?”
    “Nothing,” Alex says, apparently wanting the same thing I so, to keep the courtyard a secret. “Just dust.”
    Our eyes meet, and she gives me a faint smile, and we continue on our way.
Wasn't Jewish Enough (Alex)
    The next morning, we gather for breakfast in the main room of the hostel. Coffee, toast, Nutella. I sit