Unknown (Unknown Series Book 1) by Wendy Higgins Page B

to avoid telling her to shut up, and when her drink came I almost snatched it up and sucked it down myself. Instead, I sat quietly and watched her sip.
    “All I’m saying is that you either need to flat-out tell him how you feel, no small hints that can be taken as jokes, or drop the fantasizing and move on. You’re freaking gorgeous. You’re going to regret wasting your youth.”
    Geez. I turned to face the bar and scowled at the rows of bottles. Remy slid her arm around mine and put her chin on my shoulder, gazing up at me with a pouty face.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said all of that. It’s the vodka talking.”
    “No, you’re right.” I rested my cheek on the top of her head.
    Behind me I heard a man cough loudly, and imbedded in the cough was something that sounded a lot like Lezzies . I saw flannel pass us.
    Remy started to turn, saying, “That’s it,” but I grabbed her arm.
    “Just ignore him. I promise to let him bleed to death if I get called to the scene of his accident. He’s bound to get stabbed by someone someday.”
    She giggled. As the night went on, I got to hear all the dirty details of Remy’s sorority life at UNLV and their brother fraternity with its myriad of hot, future businessmen. She was in her last year and would have her biology degree soon. Remy’s future sounded glamorous, and as much as I wouldn’t trade my job for anything in the world, I began to wonder if I wasn’t cheating myself out of something. But then, as I stood in the tight bathroom stall of the bar two hours later, holding Remy’s hair back, I realized we all had our place in life. I’d rather be the helper than the puker. Perhaps that made me boring, but I was happy. Ish. Happy-ish.

 

W hen it rains, it pours. And floods. And washes away adolescent dreams.
    That Thanksgiving, for the first time since the bombings on Fatal Friday, a true sense of dread had settled over the U.S. There’d been so much hearsay of imminent danger over the years. So much talk of threats and possible enemies, but it seemed like hot air because nothing ever happened. Today felt different. Every news station was abuzz. I sat with my family after our Mexican-American feast, watching the coverage. My phone sat on my lap, ringer on high in case I got called in to work.
    “Tomorrow is being hailed a monumental day in U.S. and world history,” the anchor said. “Every U.S. Senator and House Representative, along with our President and Vice President are headed to Washington DC to meet with leaders from allied countries. Never before will so many leaders be together outside of a decreed summit of the United Nations: Britain, France, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, and Canada to name a few. Those who cannot join will be present via satellite. The security level of the nation’s capital is on the highest alert it’s ever been.
    “For those of you just joining us, U.S. intelligence gained undisputed evidence that three undisclosed nations have nuclear weapons that are not sanctioned by the U.N., and are refusing to disable or allow the U.N. to further research. Our sources suspect the countries are Russia, North Korea, and one of the Middle East Emissaries, but representatives will neither confirm nor deny those rumors. They have, however, confirmed that our country is under a dire threat. The House speaker was quoted this Monday saying ‘Time is of the essence. We are overriding the U.N. and taking matters into our own hands.’ ”
    At this, my father shook his head from the recliner. “About time.” Grandpa Tate murmured his agreement. Mom, Abuela, and I continued watching in silence.
    “Once the international panel has met this evening, the U.S. representatives will immediately vote on whether or not the U.S. should declare war. The meeting is expected to last through this evening, possibly into morning hours.”
    There had always been known threats—countries and groups that were hostile to western culture, but