Super Nobody (Alphas and Omegas Book 1) by Brent Meske Page B

wanted something out of left field every few
weeks. Mostly he just wanted to watch Charlotte be very animated,
like the way her eyes slid halfway down whenever she put on a
really groovy record, and she wiggled her shoulders back and forth.
Sometimes she'd snap her fingers.
    That was the best.
    Everybody else at school had no idea what
real was. They only listened to the new music because that's what
they saw on TV, that's what got advertised all over the internet.
Charlotte was more solid than the rest of them, pulsing with life.
Everybody else was willing to give up on a bullied fifth grader.
They were afraid of a sixth grader who'd beaten up the bad guy. Not
Charlotte. She wasn't afraid of anything.
    He thought maybe the numbers were a zip code,
but he looked it up as soon as he got home, and discovered that it
was the code for Ramona California. Even if she was there, it would
have taken her like an hour by suborbital shuttle. And if, by some
reason she'd given the note to Jared and he was there, he would
have had to drive for like four days just to get to town. Ramona
California was a bust.
    Grandpa was waiting for him when he finished
his route, with a tall glass of IBC in one hand and a beer in the
other.
    “Guess which one's for you,” he said.
    “Umm...” he said.
    “You're right, I couldn't just give you a
beer. Wouldn't be responsible of me. How you doing kiddo? Got some
time to chew the fat with your old grandfather? How was
school?”
    Michael had never been a super quick kid. He
was smart, sure, books and all, well-read too, but he hadn't won
any battles of wits, ever.
    Still, when Grandpa looked at him like he
did, it set off a warning bell in his head. His grandfather did not
look at him with that eager twinkle in his eye. He also did not
meet Michael at the door to his house. These were special
circumstances.
    “It was alright,” he said. “Where's mom?”
    “Off shopping. She sent me over to see you
didn't set anything on fire. She told me the school called her to
tell her that Jared was in today, which she thought was pretty
strange.”
    “Yeah, he was in and out.” Michael grinned,
remembering the look on Mr. Wozniak's face. “You should have seen
Mr. Wozniak.” He knew right away this was the wrong thing to
say.
    “Mr. Wozniak might have been in danger.”
    Michael's face fell. “Yeah I know.” Grandpa
was the last person in the world he wanted disappointed with him.
“He was fine. Jared didn't come back.”
    “And nothing else happened?”
    “No...it was just school as usual.” Except it
wasn't. There were some numbers he needed to piece together. He
hadn't learned anything all day, and he had some homework he didn't
really understand that needed doing.
    “Well, let's crack them books kiddo. Finish
up homework by the time your mom gets back and I'll talk to her
about ordering a pizza.”
    “Alright,” Michael said, with an inward whoop
of excitement. He was going to do his homework anyway. Bonus pizza?
Letter from Charlotte? It was the best day of the week so far.
    He still had the feeling, over bonus pizza,
that Grandpa was trying to get something out of him. It was almost
like Grandpa knew about the letter from Charlotte and just wanted
Michael to admit it so he could take a look. But then he told
himself it was just his imagination, and that he just felt guilty
for holding something back from Grandpa.
    The little thought popped back up into his
head. Yeah, it said, but your grandfather is holding things back
from you too.
    Not that Grandpa owed him explanations for
everything he did.
    “Shut up, gah,” he muttered.
    “Something wrong Michael?” his mother
asked.
    “No,” he said, and shook his head. “I'm going
to head to bed.”
    “This early?” She looked really worried about
him, which worried him.
    “I can read in bed,” he said.
    “Well okay...say goodnight to your
grandfather.”
    He dreamed about numbers that night. He
dreamed he was flying above the