The Eye of the Stone Read Online Free PDF Page A

same.
    And she was taking one of his hands in hers. “Help us,” she said, her voice now as soft and warm as her fingers. “Please.”
    â€œUh—well,” Jackson stammered. Never in his life had a girl held his hand. Girls had always acted like he didn’t even exist.
    The girl stood and moved close to him, her autumn-sky eyes gazing deeply into his. “You have the Power,” she said, grazing his cheek with her fingertips. “I can feel it. Use it to help the people of the Vale and you’ll be a great hero.”
    â€œA hero?” For a moment the image of himself as someone important, someone famous, filled Jackson’s head. He could see it all: the cheering crowds, throngs of people singing his name, lines of fans begging for his autograph. He’d give anything for even just a day of that. Anything! Imagine the feeling. Just imagine. Wow!
    But then, as if turning a corner to find himself facing a mirror, Jackson almost laughed aloud at his own ridiculousness. This was just more unreal craziness. A hero he was not. Never had been, never would be. He was Jackson Cooper from Oregon, not the Otherworld or wherever she thought he was from. He shook his head.
    â€œLook,” he said, “I’d like to help—”
    â€œWonderful!” The girl broke in, grinning with delight. “Dedron said not to give up hope! He knew!” And before Jackson could say another word, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him right on the mouth.

5. Jackson Cooper—Jackson Cooper
    At the touch of the girl’s lips, Jackson felt as if a cage door had been flung open and he’d floated out and up into the air. The fear, the anger, the heaviness of only a moment before all vanished, replaced by a lightness so startling it made him dizzy.
    Could it be? Had it really happened? Had he actually been kissed? He’d spent hours dreaming that one day a girl might notice him, want to talk, really talk, something more than “Can I borrow a pencil?” or “What’s our math homework?” He’d imagined them eating together in the cafeteria, meeting at her locker between classes, going downtown for fries at the Dairy Queen after school, or just for a walk by the riv
er, or maybe even to a movie on the weekend. But to really actually be kissed? No matter how hard he’d tried, he’d never been able to conjure up in his mind what it might feel like. It had seemed beyond dreaming, unreal.
    And yet now a lovely warm, tingly sensation lingered on his lips. He put his fingers to his mouth. It sure felt real.
    Jackson blinked at the implication. But if the sensation on his lips was real, then that meant he had really actually been kissed. And if he had really actually been kissed, then that meant this particular girl had really actually kissed him. And if this particular girl had really actually kissed him, then that meant this particular girl really actually existed. And if this particular girl really actually existed, then that meant …
    Jackson plopped down on the plank bench, his mind a whirlwind of wonder. He felt as if he were on a roller coaster, hurtling one moment through a dark tunnel, the next out into blinding light. At any second there could be another sudden drop or wild twisting turn.
    A part of his brain kept crying, “Red alert, bozo! No way! Absolutely impossible! You’ve gone crazy, loony, mental, flat-out bonkers!”
    But all the rest of him vibrated with a startling certainty: As unbelievable as it seemed, this particular girl really actually did exist. And if this particular girl really actually existed, then that meant her whole world, the Vale, really actually existed, too. And if the Vale really actually existed, then that meant … well, it had to mean that he was really actually there.
    Before in his life, a conclusion as wild and improbable as this would have filled Jackson with sheer panic. In a heartbeat he