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

Leo. “But you still liked me, even though I didn’t like doing anything?”

Maverick smiles, a real, genuine smile that shows off a dimple on his left cheek. “I just thought you were above the whole scene. You didn’t need to do what everyone else was doing to have fun. You do your own thing. It’s one of the many things I like about you.”

My cheeks burn red at his switch to the present tense. The corners of his mouth twitch up into another smile, but Penny saves me by setting our drinks down on the table.

“Have you two decided what you’ll have?”

“Get the BLT,” Maverick tells me. “You’ll like it.”

I eye him suspiciously. “Guess I’ll have that,” I tell Penny. After Maverick orders one for himself and Penny walks away, I ask him, “So you think I’ll like it because I’ve already had it before and liked it?”

“No,” he replies. He thinks for a second. “I don’t think you ever had the BLT. I just genuinely think you’ll like it.”

“How will I ever know the difference?”

He shrugs. “I guess you’ll just have to ask,” he replies, smirking. Right here, this is the same playful Maverick I remember hearing in the echoes. And with the way he’s looking at me right now, no wonder I liked him.

We sit there for a few beats, contemplating. Then I clear my throat. “Speaking of which, I have a few things I want to ask about.”

“I guess I have a few things to answer. You go first,” he replies, the smirk still plastered on his mouth. I try to ignore it.

“Why haven’t you just erased Alice’s memories? Couldn’t you just… make her forget about being evil, or something?”

Maverick’s face spreads into a grin, the dimple making an appearance again. “It doesn’t exactly work like that,” he laughs.

“What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Well, I can’t just take away a part of someone’s personality.” His eyes go serious, his expression following suit. “Just the memories. The things they’ve experienced.”

“So take away the experiences that have led her to the choices she’s made. Or make her forget about what she’s doing. Can’t you just do that?”

Maverick fiddles with the straw wrapper in his fingers. “I’ve tried.”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t work,” he tells me, his yellow eyes flickering back and forth between mine.

“How come?”

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “I’ve learned how to control my ability well enough. I’ve done it more times than I’d like to admit. But when I do it to Alice, nothing changes. She still remembers everything perfectly.”

My eyes widen. “How is that possible?”

He lets out a breath. “I think she’s developed some kind of way to block it. To become immune to it. I’m not sure.” I think back to being held captive in Alice’s laboratory and having a needle shoved into my arm.

“She gave me this stuff when I was trapped there. It was a shot, and after she gave it to me, I started hearing weird echoes of things just before they happened. It was only temporary, but I wonder if it was some kind of experimental drug.”

“She tested things on you?” Maverick’s eyebrows inch upward in concern.

“I guess so. Then she took my blood. I don’t know why. As far as I know, she doesn’t know about my ability.”

“Maybe she was trying to use you as a control because she didn’t know you’re already an anomaly. But for what?”

I shrug.

To my left, the kitchen doors swing open and Penny comes sauntering through with a plate in each hand. She sets them down in front of each of us, tells us to enjoy, then goes back to the kitchen. I reach for the napkins at the edge of the table, and at the same time, Maverick reaches for the silverware next to it. Somewhere along the way, our hands bump into each other.

Instinctively, I jerk my hand away quickly, and in its retreat, it tips Maverick’s glass over. Water spills out onto the table, dripping off onto his seat.

“I’m so sorry!” I squeal as he stands, then pulls out a wad of napkins and starts wiping up the mess. I grab another wad of napkins and lay them out across the table, but I’m careful not to get too close to Maverick’s hands.

“Don’t worry about it,” he tells me as he returns to his seat, pushing the sopping wet napkins into a pile at the edge of the table. But he won’t meet my eyes, and his lips have formed into a thin line.

“I didn’t mean to jump like that. It’s just…” I trail off. I don’t want to tell him that I’m afraid. That I’m terrified of his ability, of his power. That I’m still afraid of what will happen if I decide that I do trust him.

I don’t have to tell him. The look he gives me tells me he already knows. “I understand,” he says, an expression that I can’t quite read crossing his face.

“I’m sorry,” I say again genuinely.

“It’s fine,” he replies, flashing a hollow smile. Through his eyes I can see him closing in on himself, shutting the doors that were wide open moments ago. I can read the emotion in them clearly now.

Guilt.

Chapter 27

After I finish eating my food, I push my plate away from me, resting my elbows on the table. “It’s loud in here. We should go somewhere quieter,” I say. It feels good to be able to say the words. Words no one else would understand, since it’s definitely not loud today.

“Which places are quiet for you?” Maverick asks.

“Cars,” I say. “New buildings, since they have no past to echo back to me. Outdoors, too—usually.”

Maverick looks through the window at the overcast sky and steady