Last Light Falling by J. E. Plemons Read Free Book Online

really appreciate you staring at their breasts while they’re talking to you, well … most girls.”
    I don’t know how guys are, but girls can be downright mean and hold grudges for life. The ability to shrewdly manipulate your peers into giving you a higher ranking in the pecking order is hazardous. When girls master this, all is lost in our schools, and the social hierarchies these girls have pervasively developed will be convincing. I check out my book,
Ancient Hebrew Cultures,
and we wait outside for the bus to arrive.
    When we get home, all I can think about is food. The smell of roast and potatoes coming from the kitchen is like an aromatic punch in the face. Saliva is literally dripping from my mouth. Myra is an exceptional cook, and tonight is no exception, because this is our birthday meal. Gabe and I both have the same favorite dish, and we almost always ask for this dish on our birthday. But when we walk into the kitchen to get a better view of what our stomachs are about to receive, we see a spread of food on the table fit for a royal feast—you would think we were having company over tonight.
    There’s a moist and tender roast smothered in gravy, surrounded by roasted red potatoes and carrots accompanied with slices of caramelized onions, steamed asparagus drizzled with a butter sauce and lemon curry zest, freshly baked garlic bread, poached pears with silky smooth chocolate mousse inside, and homemade apple pie with whipped cream.
    Daniel comes in the door, and I ready myself for this royal feast. I patiently wait for Niki, Myra, Daniel, and even Gabe to get their plates before I devour my first helping. Three plates later, and my appetite has surrendered. I almost feel guilty for eating so much food. I excuse myself from the table and slowly ascend upstairs to what feels like mydeathbed. I haven’t eaten like that in years. If I was carb rationing, I failed miserably.
    I lie on the bed relaxing for a while, reading my new library book when Gabe walks in. “Have you given much thought about the key and the coordinates?” asks Gabe.
    “I don’t really feel like thinking about it right now.”
    “Maybe I can change that,” says Gabe confidently. “Come to my room. I need to show you something.”
    I’m reaping my gluttonous indulgence for good food while I lie on the bed unwilling to move, but I somehow manage to rouse myself from my overstuffed stupor. I curiously walk to Gabe’s room to see what he’s up to.
    “I mistakenly put in the longitude coordinates. This is where the coordinates are supposed to show,” Gabe says, pointing to the laptop screen.
    “That’s only a mile away,” I say.
    “Yeah, and it’s just two blocks from the school. You can barely make it out, but it looks like an abandoned gas station with an attached garage,” Gabe says. “We can do this, you know—after school.”
    “I’m not going to be a lab rat in a baited building. What if some sick, twisted pervert sent out these random envelopes with the same letter and key, and he is there just waiting for the first person to show up so he can torture or rape them? I’m not going anywhere near there until I have thoroughly staked out the place,” I say.
    “Well, then I’ll go alone,” says Gabe.
    “Fine, don’t come calling me when you wake up with a rag in your mouth and find your testicles hooked up to a car battery.”
    “Look, I don’t need your help, and I don’t need you to baby me every step I take,” Gabe says, his voice now elevated.
    “Baby you! Seriously, that’s what you think? I’m here to protect you,” I shout back.
    “Protect me from what … curiosity?” he says.
    “It’s curiosity that will get you into trouble if you’re careless,” I retort.
    “You can’t stop me,” he says defiantly.
    I want to desperately throw this key out the window and never have any mention of this letter again. The thought of burning it occurred to me, but in the heat of the moment, I throw the key on