Fair Coin by E. C. Myers Read Free Book Online Page A

surprised to see her wearing a tank top; he was even more surprised that he could see straight down the front of it. He felt faint.
    “Checking something out?” she said, eyes still glued to the page.
    “Uh,” Ephraim said. How did she know he'd been staring at her?
    Jena looked up and pushed her bangs back. “Hi, Ephraim. Checking out?” she repeated.
    “Oh. Returning, actually.” He placed the book on the counter. She stood and pulled it toward her. She ran her fingers over the worn cover gently, then turned it over and aimed a scanner at the barcode on the back.
    “Getting something else today? Or are just you here for the computers too?” she asked.
    “Too?” Ephraim responded.
    “Nathan's over there already. Better not let Mrs. Reynolds catch him trying to download porn again.”
    Jena slid the book onto the cart behind her desk, then returned to her reading as though Ephraim weren't still standing in front of her.
    Well, what had he expected? She was at work, she probably didn't have time to chat with friends. And he wasn't really a friend. But she didn't look exactly busy, either—there weren't many other people in the library this early, on the first day of summer vacation.
    “Hey,” Nathan said when Ephraim rolled a chair over.
    “You did a pretty good job on Michael yesterday,” Ephraim said. “I meant to call to find out how you pulled it off.” He'd been so distracted by the situation with his mother, and the coin, it had completely slipped his mind.
    “Say what now?” Nathan glanced at Ephraim.
    “I saw him at the hospital last night. After you schooled him.”
    “You've got it backwards. That asshole shoved me in a locker.” Nathan rubbed his shoulders. “I bet he used to shove the circles into the square pegs in kindergarten too.”
    Ephraim laughed. “He did. But you finally got back at him. How'd you escape from the locker, anyway?” Ephraim usually had to rescue Nathan after the coast was clear.
    Nathan frowned. “I was in that locker for over an hour. Ms. Kelly finally heard my yelling. She had to find the janitor to get me out with the master key. I thought I was going to be trapped in there all summer.” Nathan's face was bright red; he'd had a crush on the curvy Social Studies teacher since freshman year. Even though he classified for honors level, he'd chosen Ms. Kelly's survey class and opted for extra tutoring with her as often as possible—and he'd still nearly flunked the class.
    “Well, someone beat him up in the parking lot. Why would he lie and say it was you?” That would have to be more embarrassing for him.
    “I wish I could claim credit for it,” Nathan said.
    Ephraim had wished his mother wasn't in the hospital, and the coin made it so she'd never been there. Maybe his last wish had also changed the incident with Michael? He just didn't know why the coin would have affected the outcome of Nathan's fight, which seemed completely disconnected from his wish.
    Ephraim put his hand in his pocket, but he hesitated short of drawing the coin out. Should he tell Nathan about the wishes? How could he explain something like that? Since Ephraim seemed to be the only one who remembered the way things were before the wish came true, there was no way to prove the coin was magic.
    “What were you doing at the hospital?” Nathan asked.
    There was no point to having this conversation again. “Forget it. I'm glad you made it out all right.” Nathan looked a lot better than Michael had. “I suppose it could have been worse. He might have locked you in my locker with the vomit.”
    Nathan gave him a strange look.
    “Oh no. Tell me he didn't,” Ephraim said.
    “What the hell are you talking about? Who left vomit in your locker?”
    “You took a picture of it!”
    Nathan wrinkled his nose. “I don't recall any vomit, and I'm perfectly okay with that.”
    Ephraim sighed. He didn't know why the coin would have wiped that event too, but he had no complaints if it removed