Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) by Matthew Goldstein Read Free Book Online Page A

and then we can hang out all night. Well, until I get picked up. What d’ya say?” She winked.
    Cole hesitated. He considered what it would be like to have to introduce Amy to Beth. It wouldn’t be pleasant , but after the initial introduction, they could go to the library away from prying eyes. Beth would almost certainly leave them alone. She hated one kid being around; two were a horror she would try to pretend wasn’t happening. “Okay.”
    “Great. I’ll meet you at the entrance after school and we can figure it out with my mom and your aunt. And I know your mom doesn’t know me , but send her my best wishes.”
    “Thanks, I will,” Cole said. “Where do you want to meet?”
    Open your mouth wide and blink hard three times. Then shrug twice.
    What? Goddammit. That’s the same agreement as last time. I never get the same agreement twice, and in the same damn situation? Well, I turned you down once, I’m doing it again. This time he managed to keep a straight face.
    “By the front door,” Amy said as the bell rang. “Ooo, gym. All right, come on!” She got up and hurried away with her tray, leaving Cole who was still recovering from his second refusal of an agreement. He had never refused an agreement before and he had just refused the second in two days. What did that mean? What would happen? He immediately thought of his mother in the hospital bed and his silent promise to her. I swear to God. You leave her out of this. You got a problem you deal with me.

6
     
    Thanks to his relative athleticism, Cole managed to enjoy gym once in a while. It was the only time his peers showed him some level of respect, even if they did not intend to. Of course, they were always ready to pounce on his every mistake like lions waiting to attack, which provided gym with its own measure of distaste, but at least he was never chosen last when they picked teams.
    Due to recent cuts, gym class was only on Fridays. It consisted of the occasional organized sport with “free sessions” in between, which Cole attributed to his teachers' laziness. Today was one of those free sessions, as it had been for a while. With the end of the year looming ever closer, he had the feeling that the days of organized sports were over.
    During free sessions, Cole considered it a successful period if he managed to stay in a corner by himself without anyone bothering him. With Amy, this gym class was guaranteed to be unique, but not necessarily in a good way. As he pushed what he hoped were baseless fears out his head, he began to wonder what was going to happen. He almost faked a sickness to avoid gym altogether, a tactic he had used on more than one occasion. However, against his better judgment, he followed Amy into the bright, sunlit schoolyard.
    Cole blinked hard, trying to adjust his eyes to the new light, and surveyed the scene. The schoolyard was just an empty, open concrete space, large enough for the whole grade to run freely, and surrounded by a towering fence. Two teachers stood to one side, supposedly watching the students, but in reality chatting.
    Most of the students were already outside and it looked to Cole like a zoo of mentally disturbed animals. He walked out into the crowds, catching sight of Amy across the yard.
    She noticed him too. “Hey slowpoke! Come on! I thought you were right behind me.”
    Cole walked a little faster to catch up to her.
    “So,” Amy said. “What do you usually do during free gym periods?”
    Cole froze up again. Why did she have to ask that? “Not too much. Just kinda hang around.” I must sound like the biggest loser.
    Amy just smiled. “I don’t understand why you don’t have a million friends. You’re funny. All right, I’ll teach you a game. And once you get the hang of it we can do it with all the other kids and then they’ll all like you. Okay, first, the name of the game is…”
    “Hey! Cole! I told you I’d find you.”
    Cole turned to face Derek, more annoyed than anything