Kindred Spirits Read Online Free PDF Page B

already know what happens.”
    Gabe sat up straight and held both hands up between them. “
Turmoil has engulfed the Great Republic . . .
”
    When Troy woke up from his nap, he didn’t even ask what they were doing. He just joined in. His Yoda impression was
uncanny
.
    “I knew you hadn’t seen the prequels,” Troy confided in Elena. “There were some pretty obvious gaps in your understanding of the Galactic Senate.”
    Troy’s girlfriend, Sandra, brought them all pizza that night, and when she got there she joined the dramatic re-enactment. She said they had to rewind so she could elaborate for Elena on
how dashing Obi-Wan was. “
Ewan McGregor
,” she groaned. “I made Troy grow a beard after the second movie.”
    “I also grew a Padawan braid,” Troy said.
    Troy and Sandra and Gabe acted out a lightsaber battle that brought tears to Elena’s eyes, probably because they were all three singing the John Williams music. (Elena knew the prequel
music; she’d listened to all the scores.)
    Some movie-goers stopped on their way out of the theater to watch. Elena snapped a photo when Gabe fell to the ground. (
#Epic #KnightFall #OnLine)
Everyone clapped.
    When the crowd cleared, Elena noticed her mom parked at the curb. Elena jumped up and ran over.
    “Are you coming home?” her mom asked.
    “Nope,” Elena said. “Do you want to get in line?”
    “No way. You get this craziness from your dad, not me.”
    The night was clear and cold. Sandra had talked Manager Mark into refilling Elena’s hot-water bottle at the coffee machine. Elena hugged it under her sleeping bag.
    “Hey,” Gabe said, “I got you something.”
    “What?”
    He handed her a movie-theater cup, one of the new Star Wars ones. “Tonight you can pee in a collector’s item.”
    “Ha ha,” Elena said. “Did we eat all the cupcakes?”
    Gabe handed her the box. There was one left. A very lonely C-3PO. Elena picked up her phone and took a photo of it. Then went to Instagram.
#LastDroidStanding
    Her phone battery was still seventy per cent charged, and she only had twenty-four hours to get through, so Elena decided to indulge herself by thumbing through her Instagram feed, reading the
comments on her posts from the last few days.
    Her friends had all hearted them and left funny comments. God, Elena missed her friends. (Not that Troy and Gabe weren’t great. She’d definitely miss them.) (Even Gabe.) (Especially
Gabe.)
    Her first post, from Monday, had the most comments. The photo of the line.
    “
Is that Gabe?
” someone had posted.
    “
GABERS
.”
    “
It’s Geekle!
” Elena’s friend Jocelyn had posted. “
ICKLE GEEKLE
.”
    Geekle?
Elena thought.
    She quickly texted Jocelyn: “
Who’s Geekle?
”
    “
Geekle!
” Jocelyn texted back. “
From Spanish class. He sits at the back. He’s kind of geeky.
”
    “
Is that why you call him Geekle?
”
    “
IDK
,” Jocelyn sent. “
ICKLE GEEKLE. Tell him I said hi.
”
    Elena looked at Gabe. He did look sort of familiar. Now that she thought about it. Jocelyn had nicknames for everyone, usually mean ones. Ickle Geekle, whatever that meant, was mild. Jocelyn
herself wasn’t very mean, once you got to know her. She just thought she was funnier than she actually was. And she couldn’t stand silence. She’d fill every second with stupid
jokes.
    Gabe. From Spanish class. Elena pictured him without his peacoat . . . While she was staring, Gabe took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
    “You don’t wear glasses!” she blurted.
    “What?” he said, putting his glasses back on.
    “In school,” she said. “You don’t wear glasses.”
    Gabe’s face fell. “No. I don’t.”
    Gabe. Geekle. His Spanish name was
Gabriel.
She’d never talked to him; she’d never really looked at him. (Which sounded worse than it was—Elena
didn’t go around
looking
at people. She minded her own business!)
    This was bad. This was very bad.
    “I’m sorry,” she said.
    “Why?”
    “I didn’t