Battlefield Read Online Free PDF Page A

said it like this kind of thing happened all the time. Truth was, their parents hardly ever contacted their own children. They had far more important things to do apparently.
    â€œOkay, that's nice,” he said and took his plate from her. He waited for her to join him before starting to eat.
    â€œYou don't even want to know what it said?”
    â€œNo, the same old stuff as usual right?”
    â€œActually, no. They're coming home for a little while. Sometime—”
    â€œSoonish, right. Which will mean they'll have something else come up before they even get this far and send us some other new thing or toy to make up for it or whatever.” He nodded again and took a large bite from his heaping serving of the cheese and beef lasagna she had made.
    â€œI think they mean it this time. It sounded urgent. I mean, with how much you can tell from an email,” she said quietly.
    â€œI’ll be more surprised if they follow through on what they claim,” he said. Orlando stabbed at his plate. He did not enjoy the mind games his parents played on them, nor the great amounts of secrecy and run around to keep the two of them in the dark. “Anyway...”
    He had a great topic in mind, but it became lost when he saw the saltshaker slide across the table and into his right hand without anything touching it. “I'll mow the lawn tomorrow.” He continued to fill the awkward silence, but that wasn't what he originally wanted to say.
    How did that happen? He hadn't even been thinking about grabbing the salt. Wanted it, sure, but this had been a completely subconscious thing. He also wanted a glass of water.
    Slowly raising his blue eyes, he took a nervous glance at the refrigerator’s filtered water dispenser. Sure enough, there was a glass floating its way across the kitchen to be filled. He stared with wide eyes. Lyssa, thankfully, sat with her back to the kitchen. Her eyes were focused on her plate as she ate, and she was oblivious to it all. That is, until she looked up at him and noticed the shock on his face.
    â€œIs something wrong?” she asked. His concentration broke, and the glass shattered on the kitchen floor with a loud crash. Lyssa jumped in the chair. “What was that?”
    â€œThe cat,” Orlando said with a swallow. “One of the cats batted it off of the counter. Probably just wanted some attention and then ran off. I'll clean it up.” He'd be sure to make it up to their two large, long-haired tiger cats later with extra treats and affection.
    He had his dinner wolfed down soon after, and then went to get the dustpan and broom. It didn't take him long before he had the mess cleaned up and the floor spotless. “All clean. I'm going to my room to think about what a naughty boy I've been today.”
    â€œRight you are,” Lyssa said with a roll of her eyes.
    â€œOkay, you caught me. I'm going to read.” He waved, then ran up the stairs to his room grabbing one of the cats on his way and shutting himself in. After a bit of debate, he decided to lock his door. They never locked the doors within the house. Neither he nor his sister believed in it. More often than not, she was good about knocking before entering, but there was the off-chance she wouldn't.
    â€œAll right Timmy,” he said to the tiger cat in his arms. “Where did I put my yearbook from last year?”
    He had to look up Cadence or JD's number and tell them what happened. Hopefully their alien encounter at the Plaza hadn't been some kind of hallucination. The problem he had was remembering their last names. Once he found what he was looking for, Orlando nervously dialed Cadence's home phone. She's going to think I'm crazy.
    Knowing the kind of luck he had, he probably imagined the whole encounter, and had been hit harder than he originally thought by Jesse's gang of thugs. Forcing Timmy to stay and cuddle with him, he hugged the large cat tightly and waited for her to pick