Free The Smartest Girl in the Room by Deborah Nam-Krane Page B

rolled over and started nibbling on his
ear. "And what else were you excited about?"
    "Hardly in the same ballpark, but I was
looking forward to some of the Irish History, Ancient and Twentieth
Century, and of course the Poli Sci classes and, um," he laughed.
"I can’t remember anything else now."
    He rolled over and kissed her. He was ready
for another round. She seemed to like the idea, but then suddenly
popped up. "I’m sorry, I’ve got to get out of here." She started
gathering her clothes.
    Mitch propped himself up on his elbows. "You
have to leave right now?"
    "Yeah," she said, putting on her clothes. "An
out-of-town friend is coming in, and I signed on for pickup."
    "I can give you a ride."
    Kyra looked up. "That’s okay. The train
station is really close by."
    "But it’s late-"
    "Trust me, I’m a big girl." She finished
getting dressed then gave him a kiss. "But call me on Sunday. Let’s
do something then, okay?"
    "Uh, yeah, sounds great," he said a little
dazed.
    Mitch got out of bed and took a shower,
dressed and left her apartment. He got into his car and drove away
smiling. He put in The Cure and sang to himself, then got home to
find his parents watching an old movie on TV. "Guys, you do know
there is something called a DVD player, right?"
    His father looked at his watch. "And you do
know that there is something called a telephone, right? These days
you can even fit them into your pocket and take them with you, or
so I hear."
    "Since when do you need me to call home?"
    "It’s a parental prerogative," his mother
said. "Last week was a fluke, but twice in a row and we get
worried."
    Mitch tightened his jaw. "Yeah, well, I think
I’m back a lot sooner this time." Without another word, he walked
up the stairs.
    He was brushing his teeth, looking eye to eye
with himself in the mirror when suddenly he started gagging. He
couldn’t stop, and two minutes later he was vomiting. "Ugh!" he
rinsed his mouth out and went back to his room.
    "Honey, are you alright?" his mother called
from downstairs.
    "Yeah, I’m fine."
    He shuddered a bit, then closed his door and
changed. He turned out the light and got under the covers. Barolo must be too sophisticated for me. He closed his eyes
for a moment then opened them again. The room was too quiet. He
shut his eyes tightly for a moment and tried to relax. Whatever , he thought, trying to sound casual to himself.
    As he drifted off to sleep, he had two
parallel thoughts: Sunday and the call he never made.
     

CHAPTER 10
     
    Emily, Zainab and Jessie were still at the
café at ten-thirty when Jessie’s cell phone rang. "Oh, go screw,"
she muttered as soon as she heard the ringtone. She answered it and
repeated herself. "I’m with her now, and her friend Zainab. Well,
you didn’t say when." She curled her lip. "No, I’m not telling you
where we are. Because we’re nearby and we’ll be coming home soon
and you can just calm the Hell down." She sat up straight. "Yeah,
that does make me feel much better. I hope she’s not home now. Just
shut up. I’ll be home when I want." She hung up. "Richard says hi,"
she said flatly.
    "Hi," Zainab said after a moment.
    Emily could picture Richard’s face. "Uh huh.
That sounded like we need to get you home, and it also sounded like
Michael isn’t there."
    Jessie scoffed. "There’s a special Do Not
Enter sign around my house that has Michael’s name on it. Aunt
Lucy’s pretty useless, but she was pretty serious about that."
    Emily looked at Zainab, who nodded then
turned to Jessie. "You know, Emily’s sleeping over my house
tonight. Why don’t you join us? We can watch bad movies, eat some
popcorn, drink a few beers."
    "You two can have the beers," Emily
mumbled.
    Jessie smiled, and Emily realized how young
she was. "That’s really nice of you guys, but I think Richard’s
taking me back to school tomorrow and all of my stuff is at the
house. But let’s do it when I’m back for break."
    "Back to school," Emily repeated. "And