Read Ascension (The Ascension Series) for Free Online Page B

I’ll make a fool of myself.”
    “Donny,” Clark corrected him, “In this state, you’ll make a fool of yourself if you ask her out while you’re not drunk.”
    “Well that’s why I’m not gonna ask her out.”
    “Not right now, you’re not. This weekend will be a different story.”
    After an attempt at playing matchmaker during school hours, Clark was ready to have dinner with Sarah’s parents. When the final bell rang, Clark quickly met up with Sarah and hopped aboard the bus that she regularly took. He called Charles and made arrangements to be picked up from Sarah’s apartment when the family dinner was over. Charles, always happy to take his car for a spin, told Clark he’d be there at the drop of a dime.
    The school bus stopped at a street corner and Clark made his exit as he followed Sarah hand-in-hand.
    “Why don’t I ever come to your place more often?” Clark asked.
    “My parents can be a little strict,” Sarah told him. “They like me focused on school work and athletic programs… not boys.”
    “Yeah, well now that scares me.”
    “Don’t be. They’ll like you. Well, is your GPA still 3.0?”
    “I think so ,” Clark answered. “I did pretty well last year. Don’t know how much I can keep that up though.”
    Still holding hands, they turned right at the street corner and straight ahead of them was a very we ll kept apartment building across from a pristine park. Clark and Sarah headed for the apartments.
    “This is really nice,” Clark said.
    “I prefer your place,” Sarah told him.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, I just like houses more than apartments. We lived in a house until my two older sisters moved out for college. Then we made the downgrade. That way my mom can put more money into her business as a fitness instructor.”
    “Doesn’t she have a place?” Clark asked.
    “Yeah,” Sarah answered. “She has a little place downtown but she does house visits too. Y’know, my mom actually served as the fitness instructor for Charles’s mom once.”
    “What happened?” Clark asked.
    “She told me Charles’s mom, Mrs. Walsh, was too demanding.”
    “How can the client be too demanding on the instructor?” Clark asked.
    “Oh, you have no idea,” Sarah told him. “Mrs. Walsh goes through fitness instructors like red bottom shoes. If the regimen doesn’t keep her at the perfect size, you’re gone.”
    “Wow,” Clark said. “Rich people problems.”
    “Uh huh,” Sarah nodded.
    They made their way into the entrance of the refined apartment complex but only after Sarah looked around the parking lot.
    “I didn’t see my parents’ cars outside,” Sarah said as they entered the complex. They made their way up to the third floor via the elevator and entered an extended white hallway. Sarah directed Clark down the hall and they stopped at the door labeled “3-14.” Sarah pulled out a small ring with a single key on it and used it to unlock the door. They went into the apartment and Clark discovered a beautiful pad of white furniture, glass tables, and frame-less paintings on every wall.
    “Wow, this is really nice,” Clark told her.
    “Thanks. Mom did all the decorating,” Sarah said before turning her attention down one of the halls in the apartme nt. “MOM!” she yelled out. “DAD! Are you here?”
    While still in the living room, they took a glimpse at the tv which was televising the local news.
    “Negotiations continue in the potential reconstruction of the John A . Roebling Suspension Bridge,” said the newscaster. “In other local headlines, violent crimes have reportedly spiked over the past month in the Cincinnati area of Hartwell.”
    Sarah grabbed the remote and quickly turned the television off. She told Clark her parents had yet to arrive so they were alone together.
    “So we just wait on them?” Clark asked.
    “Really?” Sarah asked him, “We’re alone in an apartment and you ask if we should just sit around and wait?”
    “You’re right,”