Free Spark by Melissa Dereberry Page A

said something or moved first, but within minutes, the three of us were standing at the door to the building.  It was a rusty metal door, dented in three spots, a trace of blue paint here and there.  The doorknob was dull silver metal and there was the faint suggestion of letters on the door that said, “Exit Only.”  Cricket rattled the doorknob, and it was locked, as expected.
                  I was getting so nervous I had to pee.  “Guys, what if Zach comes up here and finds us?  Isn't this trespassing or something? Let’s get the heck out of here.”
                  “No, not until we get a look inside,” Cricket insisted.  “Alex, look around for a key.”
                  Alex ran his fingers around on the bricks, into all the cracks.  “Nothing.”
                  “Ok, let’s just go, please!”  I pleaded.  Any moment, I just knew Zach was going to drive up.  Then how would I explain why the three of us were there?  How would I explain any of it?
                  “Wait,” Alex said.  “Look.”  He walked over to a window that was painted from the inside.  On the lower left corner was a hole in the glass, about the size of a tennis ball.  He leaned over and peered in.  “Hmmm,” he said.
                  “What?” Cricket breathed.  “Do you see anything?  What is it?”
                  Alex turned around.  “Not much.  Just a bunch of old junk.”
                  Cricket edged her way in, pushing Alex aside.  “Here, let me look.”
                  All this time, I was bouncing from one foot to the other, trying to stay calm.  I kept looking over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming.  Curiosity finally got the best of me, so I tugged on Cricket’s jacket.  “Let me see.”
                  It was pretty dark, but you could tell there was another window, somewhere, letting light in enough that we could see cubicles and some desks with huge computer monitors on them.  The desks were bare except for what looked like a stack of plain white paper and a plastic Solo cup with some pencils in it. 
                  “See,” Alex said.  “Just a bunch of junk.  That stuff is ancient.  Probably doesn’t even work.  Some old office space, probably hasn’t been used in years.”
                  “Let’s go,” I insisted.  “Before someone comes.”
                  They agreed, and we headed back to the car, but not before I peered in one last time.  In the dusty light, there on the other side of the desks, I could have sworn I saw him.  Zach Webb, standing there looking at me, except he looked older somehow, and he looked sad.  Like he’d just been betrayed by his best friend.  My heart jumped.  He was just as gorgeous as ever, and seeing him that way made me feel sorry for him.  It made me want to get closer to him even more.  Then there was a really bright light from somewhere inside, like a flash from an enormous camera.  Startled, I ran, as fast as my legs would go back to the car.
                  We didn’t say much as Alex drove to drop off Cricket first and then me.  It was like we were all disappointed in a way that we didn’t discover some big glaring secret in the old building, some terrible thing that would confirm everyone’s suspicions about Zach.  I decided not to tell them about what I saw before we left.  Anyway, it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me.  It was getting really good at doing that.
                  Before I got out of Alex’s car at home, he put his hand on my leg to stop me.  “Be careful, ok?”
                  “Ok … ”  I said, not sure how to respond. 
                  He squeezed my leg.  “No, I mean really.  You’re important to me.”
                  Now I officially didn’t know