Extraordinary Means

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider Page A

Book: Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider Read Free Book Online
Authors: Robyn Schneider
day.”
    God, I was going to kill Nick. The bags looked heavy, and I didn’t know how I was going to carry all of them back without him.
    Michael’s cell phone vibrated, and he pulled it out, checking. He made a face. “Gotta head back, but it was a pleasure doing business with you, sweetheart.”
    I hated when he called me that.
    “The pleasure’s all yours,” I said, and somehow managed to cram everything into my backpack.
    “What a shame.”
    He smirked at me, and the leaves crunched under his feet as he walked away. I clicked my flashlight onto its highest setting, heading in the opposite direction.
    I WAS HALFWAY across the grass when I saw Lane sitting in the gazebo, looking miserable. At first, I thought I was imagining it. That the shadows were up to some new trick, making me see boys in the dark. But when I got closer, I saw that it really was him, hunched and upset and sitting on the steps.
    “Lane?” I called.
    It was just the two of us outside. Everyone else was atthe movie night, or in the cottages, or asleep. And I wondered why he wasn’t any of those places. Why he was leaning against the peeling paint of the gazebo, looking like the universe had just punched him in the gut.
    “Hey,” he said.
    “Bad night?”
    “That would be an understatement.”
    My backpack was heavy, and I’d had to walk pretty far through the woods wearing the thing. I was exhausted, and all I wanted was to get back to the dorm, take off my boots, and climb into the shower. But I couldn’t leave him there.
    He’d been nothing but nice to me, and then I’d stomped all over him, trying to put out the embers of a fire that had never existed. Yesterday in the library, I wouldn’t have blamed him for sitting back and doing nothing when Mrs. Hogan nearly caught us stealing internet. But he’d run up and distracted her, making up a dumb story to save me.
    Even after the way I’d acted. Even when he didn’t have to.
    “Move over,” I said.
    I shrugged out of my backpack and sat down next to him on the steps. We stared out at the woods. The trees. The sky. All of the things that didn’t belong to Latham, that weren’t put here behind iron gates for us to cough over.
    There was barely any space between us, and I hadn’t quite realized how intimate it would be, sitting there together in the dark. I’d interrupted his solitude, and I could feel him wondering why.
    “I used to come to this gazebo a lot,” I said. “Back when I first got here. It felt almost magical, like if anything at Latham could transport you somewhere else, it was probably this.”
    “I thought you hated me,” Lane muttered.
    I guess I deserved that.
    “False alarm,” I said. “It turns out that what I really hate is TB.”
    “Yeah, me too.”
    His shoulders were slumped, and the stubble that shadowed his jawline looked more defeated than deliberate. Up close, I could see that his jeans were too loose, and the belt I’d made fun of was actually necessary. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept for days. And I had no idea what to do, or say, or how to apologize to this strange, sad boy who was so different than I’d imagined.
    “I only hated you because I thought you were an asshole to me when we were thirteen,” I said, all of it spilling out in a clumsy, unplanned mess. “It was stupid, and dumb, and if I’d thought about it for two seconds, I would have realized that the girls in my cabin had faked the whole thing. So I’m sorry. I was horrible to you, and you didn’t deserve it, and you still saved me from Mrs. Hogan.”
    “Who’s Mrs. Hogan?” he asked, coughing a little.
    “The librarian,” I said.
    He nodded, filing away the information.
    “How long have you been here?” he asked.
    “Fifteen months. Maybe sixteen, depending on whether it’s October yet, or if I only think it is.”
    “It’s October fourth,” he said automatically.
    “Got the weather forecast for me, too?”
    “Sorry.” He shrugged. “Hey, can I

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