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

“No, Laura. You stay right there,” Mom’s echo calls back from her office. Footsteps go to the door. “Come on in,” Mom says, then the footsteps come back, followed by another pair. “She’s in here.”

Someone walks over to the couch while Mom heads back into her office.

“Oh, you pitiful thing,” Maverick’s smooth voice says, a hint of a smile in it. This time, unlike all the other times I’d heard echoes of him, I actually have a face to picture with the voice. Two bright, hazel eyes. Dark hair, short, but long enough to hang down over his forehead a little bit. I’m still frustrated with the situation he’s put us in, but I can’t stop the heat that forms in my cheeks when I imagine him being my boyfriend. He’s definitely not hard on the eyes.

“Don’t say that,” the last two words are choked out, followed by a fit of coughing. “Okay, yeah, I’m pretty pitiful.”

“Luckily, I brought you some stuff to help,” Maverick’s echo says, and I hear the soft creaking of the couch as he sits down. Then the sound of a plastic bag rustling. “Peppermint candy canes for your sore throat—can you believe they’re already selling them in stores?”

“Wow, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet,” My echo chimes in.

“A cheesy romantic comedy that you can watch while you’re holed up in here.”

“And I haven’t seen that one yet!”

“And last—but certainly not least—your very own tub of cookie dough ice cream.”

“Oh. My. Gosh. You. Are. Amazing.”

“I’m what, now?” Maverick teases.

“I was talking to the ice cream. Now hand it over.” Both of our laughter fills the room, and then I hear the couch shifting again. “Woah, not too close now. Trust me, you don’t want to get this bug,” my echo warns.

“Trust me, I think it’s worth the risk,” Maverick mumbles, his voice closer to where mine was. Unexpectedly, I feel my stomach flutter as if I was there, experiencing the situation myself.

“Let’s put in the movie,” my echo says. I hear the shuffling of Maverick getting up, walking to the TV, and turning on the movie.

The sounds of the movie we’d watched start echoing back to me, and I just sit there, listening. I remember seeing this movie, but not with Maverick. In my memory, it was someone else. Grace? But perhaps that was just my mind filling in the gaps after Maverick removed the memory.

About twenty minutes into the movie, I hear the couch creaking again. Footsteps cross the room, and then the movie cuts off. They cross back, hovering by the couch.

“Good night, my love,” Maverick says, barely above a whisper. Then his footsteps leave the room.

The second I hear the door click close, I know what I need to do.

I stand, half stumbling, half running through the house, up the stairs, into my room. With trembling hands, I pull my cell phone out, scrolling through the contacts list.

On my bed, breathing hard, I touch Maverick’s name, then hit the call button.

Chapter 25

The phone only rings once, and then Maverick’s voice is on the other end.

“Laura? Is everything okay?” he asks, urgent.

“Yes,” I say, clutching the phone in my hands. I take a deep breath, building the courage to say my next words. “I want to talk. Can we meet up somewhere?”

There’s a brief pause. “Right now?”

I glance at the clock. 8:08. My curfew is ten on weeknights, which means we might have a little over an hour to talk. Not nearly enough time. “Yes.”

“Where do you want to meet?” His answer is instantaneous. No questions, no hesitations.

“Somewhere quiet.”

“A park?”

“Shorewick City Park, do you know it?”

“Yes.”

“Meet me by the bathrooms, at the first entrance.”

“I’ll be there,” Maverick assures me.

When I end the call and set down the phone, my hands are shaking the slightest bit. Hearing the echo of Maverick coming to my house and bringing me gifts when I was sick had sent me over the edge. Back then, he and I had meant something to each other, and if we’d dated for so long, then it must have been something good. I’ve never felt like I needed a boyfriend to be happy, but something about hearing his echo and knowing that he really does exist makes me want to know more about him. Obviously, we still have a long way to go in the trust department, but how can I pass by an opportunity to get to know someone that I’d already liked in the past?

It takes me ten minutes to get to Shorewick City Park and when I arrive, Maverick’s car is already parked in the lot, his dark figure standing just outside of the bathrooms. I wonder how he got here so fast if his house is so far away, but I don’t think too much about it.

I hop out of my car and walk over to him, stopping before I get within an arm’s distance. I listen to the quiet evening air, the sound of the wind rustling through the last leaves still attached to their branches. Some of the noise comes in echoes, but most of it is from right now.

“Hi,” I say, my breath forming clouds of mist in the air. A chill runs through my body; I’d forgotten how cold it was starting to get at night and in my rush to get here, I hadn’t put on a coat.

“Laura,” Maverick regards me, watching my movements. “You’re freezing.” Immediately, he starts to shrug out of his coat.

I put a hand up to stop him, “I’m fine,” I say, but he doesn’t listen. He gets the coat off, revealing another, thinner coat underneath.

“I don’t need it,” he tells me, holding it out to me. I hesitate, then cautiously step towards