Echoes by Marissa Lete (best books for students to read txt) 📕

“Only the best,” he’d replied.

If it was the best, then it definitely isn’t anymore. Maybe he was the only good cook? That would explain why it was so busy on this same day last year, but a ghost town today—they lost their best cook. But why wouldn’t his name have been on the Employee of the Month board? It had empty slots back to last October. There could be numerous explanations, but I decide the best way to find out is to ask.

When Grace and Leo are finished with their food, we all get up to leave, and I let Grace pay for their food first. When they finish, I toss her my keys. “Go ahead and start the car, I’ll meet you out there.”

Grace doesn’t bat an eye when she takes the keys and walks out the door. Leo follows, too.

Penny smiles at me. “That’ll be eight twenty-three, darling.”

I smile back, pulling out my money to hand to her. I try to come up with a discreet way to get the information I want, but all I end up saying is, “Is there someone named Maverick who works here? Or used to work here?”

Penny focuses on counting out my change before she answers. “Not that I can remember. Mostly just Tony and me working these days.” She jabs a thumb towards the kitchen. I see an older man in the back through the little window she’s pointing at.

I think, quick, trying to process the information. “How long have you been here?” I ask, hoping that maybe she’s new and that this Maverick guy worked here before her and that I’m not going crazy.

“Longer than you’ve been alive, hon. Tony and I bought this place thirty-seven years ago. We’ve had employees come and go, but I don’t think I’ve ever hired a fella named Maverick.” She hands me my change and my receipt.

“Oh, okay,” I respond, shooting her a smile. “Thanks anyway.”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

As I drive Grace and Leo home, I wonder how any of this makes sense. How can I be hearing myself talk to someone I’ve never met? How can this person exist at all, if there’s no evidence that he did? Perhaps it's possible that it did happen, that this Maverick guy was lying to me about working at Louise’s, and that my memory isn’t as good as I thought.

But maybe it’s not my memory screwing up. Maybe it’s my ability to hear the past. Maybe it’s less of an ability and more of an illness.

Chapter 5

“Hellooo, earth to Laura, are you in there?” Grace has a finger to my forehead, tapping rapidly across the lunch table.

My eyes snap into focus and I pull away with a jolt. “What are you doing?”

“We’ve been wondering the same thing about you,” Leo says from my left.

“Seriously, are you okay?” Grace puts her hand on my forehead. “You feel a little warm, are you sick? Is that why you’ve been acting so strange lately?”

“What do you mean, strange?” I snap, pushing her arm away a little too forcefully.

“That’s what I mean. These past few days you’ve bounced between Laura the snapping turtle, Laura full of paranoia, and the most annoying, Laura who’s on some other planet.”

“I’m fine,” I tell her. It’s a lie, of course, because it’s been two days since I heard myself talking to a stranger that morning, and though I’ve been trying hard to listen to all of the echoes from the past since then, there haven’t been any further conversations or clues that would hint to his existence.

“You were just zoned out, staring at the table for like five minutes straight. That doesn’t look fine to me,” Grace replies.

I sigh. “It’s just…” I trail off, pretty sure saying “I think I’m going crazy because I’ve been hearing things I’m pretty sure never happened and I’m also pretty sure someone is following me” is not the correct plan of action.

“Oooh, is it that time of the month?” Grace gives me a sympathetic look.

It’s not, but it’s a good enough excuse, so I roll with it. “Is it really that obvious?”

“Kind of,” she gives me a small smile. “Do you need an aspirin or anything?”

“I’m fine. I just need some rest, I guess.”

“Well, you’d better rest up. Because we need to get into serious planning mode this weekend. The Halloween dance is coming up soon, and neither of you are skipping out on me for this one.” Grace looks between me and Leo, ensuring that we’ve heard her statement.

Leo responds first, hands up in defense, “You know I’m always down to party. The only reason I missed the last one was because of that scheduling conflict with the SAT. But this time I’m clear. Promise.”

Grace shifts her gaze to me. “That’s the kind of attitude I want to hear.”

I sigh. Parties, dances, or any kind of place that involves loud music and lots of noise are not my kind of thing. Going out, in general, isn’t my kind of thing. I usually prefer to spend my free time somewhere quiet. “I don’t know, I don’t think I’ll be going.”

“No, no, no! You’re not getting out of this one,” Grace presses. “It’s our senior year, and since you moved here you’ve never come with us to a single dance or party. You’ve got to do it just once. And Halloween is the perfect time because no one even has to know it's you!”

“But—” I try to protest, even though I know it’s probably futile.

“No buts! I already paid for your ticket.”

“How much was it? I’ll pay you back.”

“Come on! Laura, please.”

“Please?” Leo chimes in. They both give me a puppy dog look.

I look between them, contemplating. I want to