Extraordinary October Read Online Free PDF Page A

her tall, skinny boyfriend. They tossed the Frisbee back and forth as they walked toward us.
    â€œWhat is she doing here?”
    â€œShe’s part of the experiment,” Walker said.
    I sighed. Next to Luisa’s shiny dark hair and lovely long legs, I faded away.
    â€œYou didn’t think you’d be the only one, did you?” Walker asked. “What kind of experiment would that be?”
    Across the park I saw the puking kid from the nurse’s office riding his bike in our direction. “Him too?”
    â€œChris Lee. Yes.”
    â€œYou just took everybody who went to the nurse.”
    â€œPretty much.” He smiled at me and stood up. “I need you all to have something in common.”
    â€œLuisa wasn’t even really sick. And I just had an itch. And this kid is too young for college. Plus he’s going to give us all the stomach flu.”
    â€œTrust me,” Walker said.
    I took a step away from him and crossed my arms in front of my chest, but he moved closer.
    â€œDon’t worry,” he whispered. “You are why we’re here.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œOctober.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œAnswer a question?”
    â€œIs this finally part of the experiment?”
    He nodded, but I was not prepared for the question. He looked into my eyes and asked, “When you have your first kiss, what should it be like?”
    I blushed to my toes. Was it so flipping obvious that I’d never been kissed? How did he know? The itch was tingling, threatening to erupt again.
    â€œTell me,” he said. “What do you want it to be?”
    His blue eyes had darkened into pools of inviting water. I could fall into them. I could fall in and never come up.
    â€œI don’t want much.” I shrugged, tried to laugh, tried to be so much cooler and experienced than I was. “When someone kisses me, I expect the earth to move.”
    â€œThe earth to move,” he repeated. “Not much at all.” He didn’t smile.
    â€œHey. Let’s get this party started.” It was Jeb.
    The connection between us broke and he turned to the others. I hoped no one noticed my red, embarrassed face. And then, worse, my stomach growled. I was flustered and suddenly I was starving and to top it off I had to pee. His experiment didn’t make any sense. What did first kisses have to do with going to college? I waved at Luisa and motioned I was going to the bathroom. Walker didn’t seem to notice as I walked away. He was busy shaking hands with Jed and little Chris, or Green, as I would forever think of him. I was cold and hurried over to the stucco park building. A gust of wind whipped my hair into my eyes blinding me.
    I stumbled over a rock and somehow startled two crows. They flapped up in front of me, squawking. “Hey!” I cried as they circled my head and landed right in front of the door to the women’s room. “Scram!” I waved my arms.
    They just cawed back at me and in my imagination I heard them teasing me, “we’re gonna get you.” Why would a crow want to get me? I thought of the crow in my yard, pecking at the dead cat. Crows are my least favorite bird, and one of the most common. They are everywhere in the United States. Corvus brachyrhynchos, a fancy Latin name for a flying rat. So black, so big, and they make that horrible noise. I know they steal the eggs from other birds and sometimes even kill and eat the young chicks. That makes them cannibals. Disgusting. But I was never afraid of a crow until the two in front of the bathroom. They stared at me, turning their heads this way and that to see me from each beady black eye. I stamped my feet. They didn’t move. I really had to go to the bathroom. They were just a couple of birds. I stepped toward them reaching for the door handle and they attacked. They flew at me, wings beating the air. One of them landed on my shoulder and then hopped up