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

Mom smiles brightly. “Of course I do. You were so excited.”

I smile back. “I was. This house was so great. It still is. I love living here.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” she replies, a shine glossing over her eyes.

“And it’s such a great neighborhood, too. With friendly neighbors. Didn’t some of them drop by to welcome us?”

Mom nods. “They did, didn’t they? Riko dropped by a few days after we moved in, I think. He’s such a nice man. And then I think Kate stopped to chat with Dad once while she was walking her dogs.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” I chime in, remembering. “And then, wasn’t there another family that stopped by? A woman and her son?”

Mom pauses, thinking. “You must be thinking about Lily and her daughter—I can’t remember her name. They live next door, and they’ve always waved, but I don’t think we’ve ever spoken to them.”

My stomach drops. Mom doesn’t remember Annie and Maverick either. How could that be?

“Yeah, that must be who I’m thinking of,” I add softly.

“Well, anyway,” Mom stands up from the bed suddenly. “I was thinking we should do something special for dinner tonight, to celebrate a year in our new life. What would you like to have?”

“Didn’t you prep a casserole yesterday?”

“I did,” she drawls. “But I was thinking, maybe we can go out to eat, or something?”

“You know I hate restaurants,” I say, realizing where this is going. Mom’s trying to get me out of the house because she’s worried that I’m going to be anxious about hearing the echoes.

“We could eat in the car, of course,” she quickly adds.

“Mom, it’s fine. We can eat here,” I say firmly.

“I know. I just don’t want you to—”

“To hear the echoes? The ones I hear all the time? You can’t protect me from those. They’re not going to magically disappear,” I tell her. It isn’t until I see the hurt look on her face that I realize I might have been a little too firm. I quickly pull her into a hug. “I’m used to them anyway. Sometimes I like listening to them. It’s totally fine, Mom. You don’t have to worry about me.”

She squeezes me tight. “That’s the thing, though. I will never stop worrying about you.”

I bury my face into her shoulder, trying to ignore the tug of guilt that flashes through me. I know how long Mom and Dad waited to have a child. And I know that they wanted to give me a sibling or two as well, but couldn’t. They got one kid, and that one kid came with an inexplicable ability that makes living a normal life ridiculously hard.

I can’t let myself be more of a burden for them. All I want is for them to be happy, to enjoy their only child and the life they always dreamed about. I want to make them feel like normal parents, raising a normal teenager that does normal things. And for putting up with me the past seventeen years, they at least deserve that much.

Chapter 3

The next morning before school, I get a call from Grace.

“The Beast won’t start,” she says. There’s a click, then a low, stuttering sound somewhere in the background. “I think he’s gone.”

“Like, really gone?”

“Yes!” she exclaims. I can feel her excitement through the phone.

“Finally! I’ll be over in a few.” I hang up and call goodbye to my parents, shuffling out the door. The Beast is Grace’s car. Her parents, though they were definitely not short of money, bought it straight out of the nineties thinking it would help their daughter “build character.” The only thing it really built was a never-ending list of problems. Grace has been waiting for the thing to die for months now, hoping her parents would get her a new car when it did. This is her chance.

“I was beginning to think that old piece of crap was immortal. Thank goodness I was wrong,” I say when Grace gets into the car.

“They’re taking it to the shop tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.”

“Trust me, I will.”

When we get to school, our friend Leo is standing next to our lockers in sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, his eyes bloodshot and his shaggy red hair untamed. He waves, calling something out to us that looks like a simple, “hey,” but with the hallway noise from this year, last year, and the year before echoing all around us, I can’t hear him.

When we reach where he’s standing, Grace looks him over, barely trying to hide the disgust on her face. “Where have you been, it looks like you haven’t slept in weeks!”

“I had the flu, thanks a lot for checking up on me,” he deadpans. We’re close enough now that I can hear him a little bit better, but he’s always had a quiet voice, so even standing next to him I have to listen carefully.

“Gross!” Grace screeches, taking two big steps back, then using me as a shield between her and Leo.

“Hey!” I protest, backing up, too. “I don’t want to get sick, either.”

Leo throws his hands up like a peace offering. “I’m not contagious anymore! Promise. The doctor said I can come back to school today.”

Grace doesn’t look convinced, but she relaxes slightly, allowing herself to stand a few inches closer to him.

“Sorry we didn’t check in when you were absent yesterday,” I tell Leo, shooting a glance at Grace. “We were a little bit… preoccupied.”

“Brace yourself, Leonardo. I have big news,” she says, pausing to make sure his attention is completely on her.

He lifts an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest.

“Andy and I broke up.”

“That’s big news?” Leo scoffs. “Okay, sorry, wait.