Fade by Lisa McMann Read Free Book Online

she can make out with her right eye is the E . She doesn"t say anything. Just says the letters she remembers from before. And then he takes a second, different chart out.
    “Do that eye again,” he says.
    “What is the deal with you?” she almost yells. “Jeez, Cabel. I"m not
    your little kid or something.”
    “Can you read it or not?”
    “N,” she says.
    “Is that as much as you can read?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Okay.” He bites his lip. “Excuse me for a minute, will you?”
    “Whatever,” she says. So she needs glasses—maybe. Big deal. Cabel
    disappears into her bedroom, and she hears him pacing over the creak in
    the floor and talking to himself.
    Janie eats her sandwich and downs the glass of milk. Goes into the
    kitchen and makes another. Grabs a carrot and peels it over the garbage
    can. Pours another glass of milk.
    Takes her feast to the living room again and sits down. Turns the TV
    back on. She"s feeling much better. Her hands have stopped shaking.
    She swallows the last drops of milk and feels it sloshing around in her
    belly. She smiles, contented. Thinks she ought to be the poster girl for
    the Got Milk? ads.
    10:59 p.m.
    Janie pulls herself out of her post-dinner stupor and wonders what Cabel"s doing in her room all this time. She gets up and heads down the
    short hallway, pushes the door open, and gets sucked into darkness
    immediately.
    She staggers.
    Drops to the floor.
    ı
    Cabel"s frantic, trying to lock a door. Each time he locks it, another lock
    appears. As he secures each new one, the others spring open. He can"t
    keep up.
    ı
    Janie reaches for the door, blindly.
    Backs out of her room on her hands and knees, pulling the door shut
    with her.
    And the connection is broken.
    She blinks, seeing stars, and gets back to her feet. Pulls a ratty old
    blanket from the closet and settles on the couch, sighing. She can"t even
    sleep in her own bed these days.
    January 7, 2006, 6:54 a.m.
    Janie is startled awake. She looks around as a cold blast of air washes
    over the living room. She sits up and goes to the kitchen, looking out the
    window. Fresh footprints in the snow lead down the drive, across the
    street, and into the yard on the other side.
    She checks her bedroom.
    He"s gone.
    ı
    She shakes her head. What a jerk , she thinks. Then she finds his note.
    J.,
    Shit, I"m such a jerk. I"m sorry—you should have smacked me awake.
    I"ve got some things to do today, but will you call me? Please?
    Love,
    Cabe
    There"s something about a guy who admits he"s a jerk that makes him
    forgivable.
    Janie climbs into her bed. Her pillow smells like him. She smiles. Hugs
    it.
    Talks to herself.
    “I would like to dream about Center Street and I would like to talk to
    Miss Stubin again,” she says over and over as she drifts off to sleep.
    7:20 a.m.
    Janie rolls over and rouses herself. Looks at the clock. Sighs. She"s rusty
    at it. Repeats her mantra. Pictures the scene in her head. 8:04 a.m.
    She"s standing on Center Street. It"s dark, cool, and rainy again. Looks around.
    No one is there.
    Janie wanders up and down the street, looking for Miss Stubin, but the
    street is vacant. Janie sits on the bench where she sat before. Waits.
    Wonders.
    Recalls the previous conversation.
    “When you have questions about my notes, return here,” Miss Stubin
    had said.
    Janie slaps her hand to her forehead and the dream fades. ı
    When Janie wakes, she vows to practice directing and controlling her
    dreams every night. It will help. She knows it will. She also vows to keep reading Miss Stubin"s notes, so she can come up
    with some questions.
    10:36 a.m.
    Janie munches on toast as she pulls out the box of files from Captain.
    She begins where she left off, and reads the reports, fascinated. 4:14 p.m.
    She finishes the second file. Still sitting on her bed in her pajamas.
    Remains of snacks everywhere. The phone rings, and with a gasp she
    remembers Cabel"s note from this morning.