Free Boy from the Woods (9781311684776) by Jen Minkman

Kolbe is acting really weird. In fact, it doesn’t
get weirder than this.”
    Julia blinked
at him owlishly. “What... what do you mean?” she stuttered,
following Axel’s gaze toward the bar. The bottom dropped out of her
stomach when she made out a familiar head with light-brown
curls. “What? He’s here ?!”
    “As you can
see,” Axel replied drily. “And like I said, he’s acting weird.
So nice .”
    Julia
clenched her jaw , gawking at Michael in
consternation. Okay, this was absurd. Why couldn’t Michael just
disappear from her life and stay gone ? What was he even doing here
so soon after an almost fatal accident? Only yesterday, he’d lain
bleeding in her lap. He should take it easy, stay indoors and go to
bed straight after Sesame
Street . She had to stop herself from
marching up to him to give him some unsolicited medical
advice.
    “When I came
in here a half hour ago, he was playing darts with two friends,”
Axel continued, apparently oblivious to her inner turmoil.
“ He said hello, then asked me if he could
buy me a drink and whether I wanted to join their game. Seriously,
it was like The Twilight
Zone . I was actually chatting with them
until five minutes ago, when Florian and Moritz finally got
here.”
    “Huh. I thought he only hung out with the
cool dudes.”
    Axel smirked. “Yep, I hear you. I mean, I love myself just the
way I am, but I can totally see how reading books, fixing computers
and building model airplanes could be considered un-cool by His
Highness Kolbe…” He jabbed a thumb toward Michael. “Until now, that
is.”
    “Well, what
did he sound like?” Julia asked in a hushed voice. “Did he say
anything to you?”
    Axel frowned
down at the beermat he was busy crumbling to pieces in his hands.
“Yeah, of course we talked. You know, this may sound strange, but I
got the distinct feeling he was different .” He looked up at his
cousin. “You think that hit to the head did something to
him?”
    Julia sucked
in her breath. So Axel noticed it too – Michael really was behaving strangely. What did it all mean?
    At that
moment, Florian and Moritz came back to their table, and to her
mounting alarm, she saw Michael trailing behind them, making eye
contact with her.
    And then he
was at their table. “Hey you,” he said,
leaning his arms on the wood of the bar table, his fingers brushing
hers. “What’s up?”
    She prayed to
God he wouldn’t mention her visit this afternoon, because that
meant she’d have a lot of explaining to do to the boys – not to
mention to Gaby if she ever got wind of it.
    “I’m fine,”
she replied, avoiding his gaze. She was afraid she’d turn red if
she looked him in the eyes for too long. Michael was looking way too
good tonight. He had that characteristic, irresistible smile on his
lips, and his eyes looked gentle and friendly. When Julia finally
dared glancing back up, he took her hand in his.
    “You want to play a game of darts with me?”
he asked.
    Julia felt the skin of her hand turn warm
under his fingers. “I can’t play darts,” she squeaked.
    He smiled. “So I’ll teach
you.”
    She fervently shook her head. “No, I’m
serious. I can’t play. I’m a total
disaster. You could be Phil Taylor himself and still fail to teach
me.”
    “I can attest
to that,” Axel agreed. “Last time I played darts with Julia, one of
her darts ended up in my shoe instead of the
board.”
    “S ince you already had a narrow
escape from death this week, I wouldn’t risk it,” Florian added
with a wink.
    “Yeah,
speaking of which, how is your
head?” Axel inquired curiously. “Are you allowed to go out again? Is the
doctor okay with that?”
    Michael nodded. “Yep. The wound is almost healed. They called it
a miracle in the hospital. That’s why they discharged me this
morning.”
    In the
silence that followed, the entire group gaped at him in disbelief. Axel cleared his throat,
sounding as though he was about to ask more, when Michael