Zip by Ellie Rollins Read Free Book Online Page A

cup of hot chocolate.
    The bus depot was not far from Michael’s. Even so, by the time Lyssa turned the corner into the parking lot, her fingertips were blue from the cold and her braids were plastered to the back of her neck. She had to squint to see just a few feet in front of her. Lightning shot across the sky, illuminating the parking lot
    There wasn’t a single bus parked next to the long, squat building. All the windows were dark
    She had never considered that the bus depot might be closed. Buses ran all the time, didn’t they?
    She started toward the front door and was only three feet away when something large and furry jumped down in front of her. She stopped short, gasping
    It was a cat. Its black fur was wet and matted and two of its whiskers were missing, making its face look a little lopsided. When it saw Lyssa, all the fur on its back stood on end
    Lyssa froze in place. Fear crawled into her gut. Black cats meant the worst luck
    “Easy, kitty,” she breathed
    With a final hiss, the cat darted into the shadows. Pushing her anxiety aside, Lyssa ran up to the front door and jiggled the handle: locked
    There was a note taped inside the door but rainwater fogged up the glass, and Lyssa had to wipe off the panes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt before she could read it. It said:
    WE AREN’T GOING OUT IN THIS STORM AND YOU SHOULDN’T EITHER! GO HOME! WE REOPEN TOMORROW, 7:00 A.M.
    “No!” Lyssa shouted, banging her fist against the door. How could they close the entire bus depot just because of a silly storm? Already luck was against her. It was the black cat’s fault!
    “Tell me what to do, Mom,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around her chest, hoping for a sign. She’d never been afraid of sleeping outside before—but then again, it never stormed like this in Texas. When she and Ana went camping, they’d gather a bunch of blankets and pillows and head to the fairgrounds, building a tent behind the game stands and watching the lights of the fair and the stars twinkle through the holes in the blankets. The stars always twinkled a little brighter when Ana Lee was around, almost like they were trying to show off. They would build a fire, heat up cocoa and s’mores, and sometimes the circus clowns would join them, telling stories until Lyssa fell asleep.
    A fat finger of rain drew itself down Lyssa’s back and she shivered. She hopped up and down a few times to try to get warm. She had to move. If she stayed out here all night, she’d get hypothermia—or
drown
. She needed to find a shelter where she could hide out until the depot opened again, somewhere warm and dry where she could get some sleep.
    “Think, Lyssa, think,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and tried to
visualize a solution
, like her mom had taught her to do. She wasn’t far from the Lake Washington, and right next to that was…
    “The marina,” she said out loud, her eyes popping open. Michael had once pointed out all the boats, explaining that people tied them up to the dock at night so they wouldn’t float away. Lyssa remembered thinking how much more fun it would be to live on a boat
    She leapt to her feet and jumped on her scooter, kicking off into the rain. There were always hundreds of boats docked by the marina. All she’d have to do was hide belowdecks on one of them and curl up for the night. Then, at seven o’clock sharp, she’d board a bus for Texas.
    Lyssa sped down the wet sidewalk. Water arced on either side of Zip as the front wheel cut through the deep puddles. Soon, she consoled herself, she’d be dry, rocking to sleep on a boat, dreaming of adventure
    Lake Washington was the color of steel, so dark andstormy that Lyssa almost couldn’t separate it from the angry bruised sky above. The marina was on a piece of rocky land right next to the water. The long arms of the docks stretched out from the shore, and the sailboats and yachts crowded around them like thick clusters of fingers. A few lights