The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno Read Free Book Online Page B

attention.”
    â€œIt’s fascinating. You should do some research.”
    I couldn’t think of anything less interesting than researching the kind of fake legs my sister had to wear, but I nodded and tried to look engaged. I mean, clearly Benson was into it.
    The order-up bell dinged and Benson went to get our food. “Tell Willa I said hi,” he said, handing me a paper bag. I struggled to carry it with the two coffees.
    â€œSure, will do. See you soon, Benson.”
    I shouldered open the door and was hit with a wave of heat so powerful I was surprised it didn’t light the bag on fire. Willa was currently leaning against the window with her eyes closed. I tapped on the glass and she jolted, instantly irritated. She rolled down the window, and I handed her the bag and her coffee.
    â€œBenson has a crush on you,” I said.
    She rolled her eyes but not before I thought I saw a flicker of something else. Embarrassment? Disbelief? “Benson does not have a crush on me. Oh, why—did he give us extra tater tots?”
    â€œExactly.”
    I walked around the side of the car and put my coffee on the roof while I pulled the door open.
    â€œWell, that was nice of him,” Willa said slowly, staring into the bag.
    â€œIs everything there?” I asked, sliding into the car and shutting the door behind me.
    â€œEverything’s here.”
    â€œThen why are you being weird?”
    â€œI’m not being weird.”
    â€œWhy are you staring into the bag like that?”
    â€œI’m not staring into the bag like anything, shut up.”
    I put my seat belt on and shifted the car into reverse, maneuvering out of the parking space slowly.
    â€œMaybe I’m being weird because I’m going to get new legs,” Willa said finally. “I’ve had these ones for years.”
    â€œWell, you said they pinch you.”
    â€œA lot of things hurt, but that doesn’t mean you won’t miss them when they’re gone.”
    â€œHow philosophical.”
    â€œI’m just saying. Getting new legs kind of sucks. You have to learn how to walk all over again.”
    I shifted into drive and merged into traffic. Willa popped a tater tot into her mouth and then handed one to me. It was really the perfect tater tot. They’d perfected the art of totting taters.
    â€œDid you not get a coffee?” she asked, taking a sip of hers.
    â€œOh, fuck,” I said.
    â€œThe roof?”
    â€œThe roof.”
    I looked in the rearview window. I was expecting to see my coffee, laying broken and spilled in the middle of the road, but it wasn’t there. So I pulled over and looked on the roof, but it wasn’t there either. I got back in the car.
    â€œHere. We can share.” Willa handed me her cup.
    â€œThanks.” I took a sip and burned my tongue.
    It was too hot for coffee anyway.
    â€œYou have something on your mind,” Willa said after a minute.
    â€œMe?”
    â€œNo, the other person in the car I might possibly be talking to.”
    â€œI don’t have anything on my mind.”
    â€œYou’ve been acting weird since yesterday. You know, after you fell asleep instead of doing dishes and then looked at my phone like a creep.”
    â€œI didn’t look at your phone like a creep,” I said.
    â€œYou were counting in your sleep, and I know you only count when . . .” She trailed off. It wasn’t easy for either of us to talk about. She had told me once that sometimes when I did it, she could feel something scratching at her skin. Sometimes when I had panic attacks, she could feel herself not breathing.
    â€œI wasn’t counting.”
    â€œYour lips move,” she said, and demonstrated. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. “It’s okay. You can talk to me about it. You can tell me if it’s happening again.”
    â€œNothing’s happening. There’s nothing to talk