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

in awe. What did he just do? And how? For a moment, I wonder how many other anomalies are out in the world, what kinds of strange things they can do.

He turns around to look at me. “We can leave now.”

I nod. I understand why his room was rubberized now. “Let’s go,” I tell everyone. We slip through the door one by one into the cold night air. Once we’re outside, I realize that we have a problem. There’s no way all of these people will fit in Maverick’s car. And where will we take them?

I pull Maverick aside. “I don’t know what to do,” I tell him.

“What do you mean?”

“Your Corolla isn’t big enough to hold everyone.”

“Oh,” he replies. He didn’t even know his car was here, I realize. He glances around at the group. “A lot of these kids… don’t have families anymore,” he says. Because their families don’t remember they exist. “We’ll have to take them to my house.”

I nod. Maverick definitely has room. “But how do we get them there?”

Maverick doesn’t have to respond because someone is pointing. “Look!” a girl says. “We can escape in that!”

I follow her line of sight and there, parked along the edge of the parking lot, is the Suburban. What a convenient reunion.

“Alright. That fixes that. Maverick, your car is parked through the woods, back there,” I point. “Take my parents and whoever will fit with you. I’ll take the rest in the Suburban. We’ll meet at your house.”

He nods, then gathers Mom and Dad. The dark-haired girl—Veronica—goes with him, along with two younger boys. The rest of them follow me toward the Suburban. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but we’ll have to make do.

When I get to it, the boy who had opened the door earlier appears at my hip. “You might need my help with this, too,” he tells me. He strides up to the car and touches it. The doors unlock, and the car hums to life.

I stare at him. “What is your name?” I ask him. I think he’s someone I want to remember.

“Angelo.” He holds out a hand. I hesitate. “Don’t worry, I can’t hurt you,” he tells me. So I shake his hand.

Then we all pile into the car and I glance through the rearview mirror at Alice’s laboratory, up in flames, as I drive us away. She’d locked us inside and sent the entire place up in flames. Her own laboratory, gone just like that. Why would she do that? Was getting rid of me really worth the sacrifice of her entire building? And where is she now?

Wherever she is, we have to find her. And we have to stop her.

Maverick and his group beat us to his house. When we pull up next to the stone fountain, they’re already walking inside. I climb out and follow them. Inside the house, Maverick is already talking to Jacob. “Get them all rooms and tell Paula to start some food. Whatever they want, they can have. They’ve been through a lot.”

Jacob nods once, then gets to work, counting the people in the group. Then he takes a young girl and tells her to follow him up the stairs. I wonder if he has questions about who all these kids are and where they come from. But I guess if you get paid enough, you don’t really need to ask questions.

“We’ll have to explain to them why they’re here, once everyone gets settled in,” Maverick tells me. “Most of them don’t know that their families don’t remember them.”

“You’re right,” I reply. That’s not going to be an easy task. Then, looking across the room, I spot my parents. Dad looks intense, almost angry, and Mom just looks bewildered. They have no idea where they are, who any of these people are. At least the anomalies know why they were locked up and that they’ve been rescued. My parents are just blank slates.

What are we going to tell them?

And then, in one moment, I see the answer clearly: we can’t tell them anything.

I grab Maverick and pull him into the hallway. “I need to ask a favor,” I tell him.

Chapter 36

I drive through the darkness, the path from Maverick’s house to my own almost familiar now. Maverick sits in the passenger seat and my parents are in the back. Dad had questioned me relentlessly about what was going on, why they had been kidnapped, why we weren’t going to the police. I told him I was going to explain it all soon, and eventually, he had accepted it. Mom was just quiet, in shock.

Eventually, we reach my house. Maverick gives me a surprised look. “You live near my old house?”

I think of the echo I heard that first night when I originally met Maverick. How that was the moment this whole thing started. “It’s how we know each other,” I tell him. He looks thoughtful but doesn’t reply.

I push the car door open, and Dad stares at me, puzzled. “What does that mean? How do you know where we live?” he asks, and it squeezes my heart.

“I’ll explain inside,” I reply, knowing that it’s a lie. One I wish I didn’t have to tell.

When we get inside, I stare at the family photos on the walls. I don’t know if we’ll ever be that smiling family again.

I turn to Maverick and with all of the courage I can muster, I say, “It’s time.”

He nods to me, then he walks over to Mom and Dad, who have stopped in the entrance of the kitchen, confused. He places his hands on both of their arms, and I watch as the same look that had appeared in the receptionist’s eyes at Alice’s office crosses their own.

We lead them upstairs and my parents follow