Zip by Ellie Rollins Read Free Book Online

part of their three-person family, and she needed to be okay with the marriage if it was going to work. At the time it had been easy for Lyssa to give her blessing.
    But now Lyssa didn’t know what to think. They were no longer a family anymore—not really. It was just her and Michael. She sat down at Michael’s desk, facing the largest computer in the room, and thought about what she should write. Finally she opened a Word document and pulled the keyboard toward her.
    Dear Michael—
    The winds of change are coming and they’re taking me with them. Don’t come looking for me.
    Lyssa
    She reread the message to herself in a whisper.
The winds of change are coming
—what Ana had always said. And now the winds of change were going to blow Lyssa back home.
    When she glanced back down at Michael’s desk, she saw the paper airplane sitting next to the keyboard. Weird. She didn’t remember folding it back up into an airplane or carrying it down from her room. She decided it should probably come with her anyway. For good luck.
    Beneath the airplane was the journal Lyssa was supposed to write in for her first day of school. She bit down on her bottom lip, considering the journal. If her plan worked, she wouldn’t be going to school in two weeks. She’d be in Austin, where she wouldn’t have to do that stupid assignment at all. Still, she scooped the journal up and shoved it into her now-full backpack. It could come in handy.
    Taking one last look at the place that was had been her home for the summer, Lyssa took a deep breath and headed to the garage. There was one final thing she needed.

CHAPTER FIVE
A Black Cat and a Lost Key
    T he garage was cold and musty smelling. After stubbing her toe on one of Michael’s skis, then nearly tripping over a pair of running shoes, Lyssa took her cell phone from her pocket and held it out in front of her to help light her way. Even though she had left Zip on the covered porch, she found it propped next to Michael’s bike. Michael always brought it in from the rain. He said it would rust if she didn’t bring it inside. Lyssa ignored the feeling of being watched as the gadgets attached to Michael’s bike winked at her in the half dark, like eyes. She rolled her scooter forward.
    “Ready to go, Zip?” she whispered. She patted Zip’s handlebars and pushed the door open
    A gust of wind blew into the garage, forcing Lyssa to take a quick step back. The rain was driving hard, stinging drops that cut like cool glass. A flash of lightning tore across the sky. She hadn’t realized the storm had gotten so bad. She took a deep breath, then shoved her scooter into the rain and down the driveway
    Clouds obscured the moon and stars. Even the streetlamps seemed dimmer than usual. Silver raindrops shot sideways through yellow pools of light, and when thunder rumbled in the distance, one of the lamps flickered and went out entirely. Water gushed down the street next to her, making it look more like a river than a road
    Lyssa had never seen so much rain in her life. One dry summer, she and her mom had tried out this rain dance they read about in a book, but it hadn’t worked—in fact, that night in Austin seemed even hotter than usual. Secretly, Lyssa preferred it that way. She loved when the ground was so warm it burned the bottoms of her feet.
    She climbed onto her scooter and kicked off. Riding was more difficult than she expected. Water logged her wheels, causing them to skid, and the rain made her handlebars almost too slick to hold on to. She gritted her teeth. She’d never had so much trouble riding her scooter before. She was the Scooting Star! She’d ridden her scooter over the fire breather’s bed of coals. She could handle a little rain
    She forced herself to go faster, rolling beneath the tall evergreens, hoping they’d shield her from the wind. While she rode, she fantasized about the warmth of the bus depot Maybe when she got there, she’d find a place where she could get a