Falling by L C Smith Read Free Book Online

me in.” I announce, shifting all the blame to him.
    We finally reach the edge of town, but I can’t bring myself to look at the clock on the dashboard, I don’t want to know exactly how late I am until I have to.
    “You might want to ease up on my door handle, in a normal car you wouldn't have much effect, but in Ernie here, you actually will crush him.”
    “I'm sorry, what?” I look down at myself.
    “You are holding the door handle so tight your knuckles are white. Am I that bad of a driver?”
    I release my hand. “Sorry, just nervous. And no your driving is fine. And who is Ernie?”
    “My car.” He strokes the dashboard like he did the seat.
    “You named your car? That's kind of lame.” I add apologetically.
    “Have you seen my car? It needs a name so that people know what it is. It's so old, it almost doesn't look like a car anymore.”
    “Poor Ernie. He can hear, you know.” I pat the dashboard, and whisper, “Don't make him feel bad for being old. It's not his fault. So mean.” I shake my head at him.
    “So Reid, do you go to the library often?” He asks changing the subject after a minute. “I’ve never seen you around before.”
    “A couple of times a month maybe, usually just if I need something for school that the school library doesn’t have.” I shrug. “Why?”
    “No reason. Just thought I would have noticed you before now.” He pulls around a corner, then adds, “But I’m probably still at work when you are there.”
    “Probably.” I say, holding in my happy dance for later. I want to say something back, but everything that comes to my head seems so cheesy. I settle for watching the houses move quickly past the window, and feeling him close enough to reach out and touch.
    “Are you always this quiet? Or are you just too scared to talk to me because I am so awesome?” He asks once we are only a couple of minutes away from school, and I realise I haven’t said anything for twenty minutes.
    “Clearly it’s because you are so awesome. It’s almost frightening.” I mock.
    “I know, people tell me all the time.” He grins at me. He is so easy to be around, I hate that in thirty seconds I’m going to have to get out of this car, and I don’t know when or even if I will ever see him again.
    “Thanks for taking me out, it was great.” I say once he pulls up to the end of the line of traffic waiting outside of school.
    “Not a problem, we should do it again some time.”
    “We should.” I can’t quite keep my voice normal as I say it and he laughs.
    I drag my eyes to face school. This is just my luck. All the teachers are lined up outside welcoming the students back, translation, sucking up to the parents. They never wait outside to welcome us home from anything else.
    “Bye.” I wave, blinking hard to break the hold his gaze has on me.
    I drag myself up the path, forcing myself not to look back, even though I can’t hear his car drive away.
    Someone slinks their arm over my shoulder. “So who was that?” Sara asks all excited, still looking over her shoulder at his car.
    I look back with her. He's watching me walk in. “That is Keller.”
    “Cool name.”
    “I know. It matches him.”
    “He is super-hot.”
    “I know.” I hope he can’t lip read because we are both still looking at him.
    “Sooo?” She drags out.
    “So what?” I know what she's getting at, but I can see Mrs. Snouse now, and if I keep talking to Sara like I was here all along, she might just leave me alone.
    “You know.” She looks back at him again. “He just waved at me.” She squeaks, I whip my head around. Now he is laughing at us.
    “I met him at the mall on Saturday. I accidentally tripped over his girlfriend. Then I ran into him today near the library. He works at a record store a couple of shops down.”
    “Oh, yeah?” She is giving me her what-a-load-of-crap look. I just shrug my shoulders. I steal another quick look to see if he's still there. He's on his phone, it looks