Birdie by M.C. Carr Read Free Book Online Page A

goes ape shit on the coinage, man!" Curly argues. Wasn't convinced apparently.
    "No, Donkey Kong goes apeshit," Blondie laughs heartily at his own joke. The waiter chuckles and shakes his head but I can tell his chuckle wasn't joke-induced. He's laughing at his friend's absurdity.
    Blondie doesn't realize it and claps a hand on the waiter's shoulder, grinning.  "See? He gets it," he said.
    Curly purses his lips and shakes his head back and forth. "Nope. Sega all the way."
    I sigh again because I'm still waiting and this pointless debate is eating up my break.
    "Hey, yo. Guys," I interrupt, waving my menu. "Not that this argument needs to go any further, but for the sake of my starving stomach, the curly-headed kid is right. Sega. But not because of that hedgehog that rolls around. Big whoop. But the Shining Force series was awesome. That alone means Sega wins."
    The two friends give me dumbfounded looks but the waiter looks thoughtful.
    I slap my menu on the counter. "Bacon cheeseburger please, sweet potato fries for the side, and a diet coke. I work next door at the library and don't have much time left and your menu says you deliver..." I gather my things. "So. Ok." I leave hastily, as their looks turn from astonishment to indignation that I'd intrude on their discussion.
    Ten minutes later, sitting in a blue plastic chair in the break room with my feet propped on the identical chair next to it and deep into a Sharon Shinn fantasy that someone returned to the book drop this morning, my cheeseburger and fries arrive. An older woman with gray fringe around her forehead and a name badge labeled Nadine smiles at me and gives me the total and I reach into a couple jean pockets, forgetting where I stashed the coupon. I’m surprised at the slight pang of disappointment I feel that it’s not the waiter from behind the counter.
    I only get in a few bites because my break is almost up. Before heading back out onto the main floor, my eyes flick to the phone on the wall. The library’s phones have long distance so we can place calls to other libraries outside of Shenoah. The urge to call Darla is strong. I haven’t spoken to anyone in over a week and I don’t even know if she knows Tim exists, much less his number.
    The urge passes and I pack up my food and head back into the stacks. If I get caught abusing long distance, I could get fired. One week and I’ll have my first paycheck. Then I can use a small portion to buy a calling card. Until then, I’ll have to make do living in this cocoon of a small town.

Wes
     
     
    I stand outside the library, looking through the glass display window featuring Clifford the Big Red Dog in all his big doggie glory. I don’t see her in there. I only see Miss Shirley, the pruny, white-haired librarian who looks exactly the same as she did when my mom took me here as a kid. Same pruny wrinkles, same white ponytail down the length of her back. She’s suspended in time, that woman.
    I also see Yvette Larson. She has cropped honey brown hair and a plain face, but she’s light on her feet, even as she loads herself down with a stack of books that she deposits on the desk. The gracefulness is becoming. She disappears and reappears with more and more stacks of books.
    That’s all I see from my vantage point on the sidewalk. The other girl, the new girl must be somewhere in the stacks. She said when she ordered her lunch that she worked here. I haven’t been in this library in years, but surely I would’ve seen her since most of my time is sucked up in the diner next door. She must have just started working here. She looks younger than me but maybe she has one of those Peter Pan faces, never aging. She doesn’t go to my school.
    I stand there until it becomes uncomfortable. Until I’ve spent too long at the display window and it’s either enter the building or look like some weird Clifford the Big Red Dog creep.
    I go inside.
    Miss Shirley gives me a hello nod, but her demeanor is still