Free Searching for Mine (Searching For #4.5) by Jennifer Probst Page A

it.”
    Luke slid out, grabbed his shovel from the back, and trudged through the growing mounds of snow. They both worked quickly and thoroughly and finally headed back home.
    “Luke?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Have you decided what you’re going to do when the Little Rascals show up?”
    His statement had the desired effect. Luke grinned. “I like that. The Little Rascals.”
    “Thought you would.”
    Luke gave a long sigh. “I don’t know. I just want them to leave me alone. I was stupid. I’m just sick of not having someone to hang with at school.”
    “Are there any guys you’d like to hang with?”
    He nodded. “Yeah, there are two that seem tight and they’re cool. But they kind of keep to themselves.”
    “I hear you. You’re not going to want to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyway. They’re not going to approach you. You need to man up and ask if you can hang with them. Either at lunch or recess.”
    The boy gnawed at his thumbnail. “I don’t know. I’ll look like an idiot if they say no.”
    “If they say no, it’s really not a big deal. It’s not like you’re asking them on a date, dude. You just want to have a few conversations.”
    He laughed again. “Maybe. I’ll see.”
    “What are they into?”
    “Pokémon cards. Basketball, too, but we can’t play outside until it gets nicer.”
    “You got any Pokémon cards?”
    Luke snorted. “Of course. Got a whole binder full.”
    “That’s your in. When you approach them, talk Pokémon. Usually you just need something to break the ice a bit.” Connor mentally winced. Another cliché. Damn Ella and her crazy tyrannical English.
    Luke tilted his head, obviously thinking over his suggestion. “Good idea.”
    “The weather’s not going to be pretty the next couple of days. I’ll talk to your mom, but are you up for helping me out?”
    “Yeah, no problem. I’m alone every day until Mom comes home anyway. I do my homework and stuff but sometimes it gets boring.”
    “Same as me. My shifts start early. Other than Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I have your mom’s class, I’m home in the afternoon. If you ever want to do homework together, just come over. And if you’ve ever read Virginia Woolf, come by with your notes.”
    Luke laughed. “Okay.”
    They drove back in comfortable silence, and Connor dropped him back off at the house. He watched him disappear inside and he parked the truck, his spirits light. Luke was just like his mother. After a while spent in his presence, it became easier to find ways to like him.
    He settled in for the rest of the night with a smile on his face.
     

Chapter Nine
    “Love is like the wild rose-briar; Friendship like the holly-tree. The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms, but which will bloom most constantly?”—Emily Brontë
     
    The next couple of weeks, Connor settled in to a comfortable rhythm.
    Luke accompanied him when he needed to plow, and they got into a habit of stopping at the diner afterward for cheeseburgers. On Monday and Wednesdays, he showed up with his homework and hung out until Ella got home.
    Connor was used to being solitary, so it surprised him how easily he fell into a new routine and began to look forward to spending time with Luke. Through him, Ella had softened and often invited him over to the house for dinner. As the grueling winter hurled its fury in various ice and snowstorms, they huddled inside for warm food, hot cocoa, and sometimes the occasional board game.
    His paper began to take shape at a slow, grueling pace. Sometimes, he’d bitch about the convoluted style of feminine whining from her assignments, but now she just laughed and challenged him by offering up various facts and shared stories about their lives that were so vivid, he found himself reluctantly intrigued.
    Connor wasn’t sure when it happened, but he knew somehow, some way, they’d become friends.
    He refused to analyze the reason or try to dig deeper. He was too afraid if their odd