Read Enemy of Gideon for Free Online

Was it someone in Gideon or did it come from one of those mysterious lands on the other side of Earth?
    Questions lead to more questions rather than answers. I can’t look at, smell, taste, or touch anything without some question popping up. I used to ask Mom, but when I got tired of her saying, “I don’t know”, I kept the questions to myself. Since then, they’ve mounted and mounted, rising into the sky in my mind like a tower. Arkin’s questions to me now perch precariously at the top. Soon, I fear, the tower will topple.
     
    ►▼◄
     
    I open my paper bag lunch at the cafeteria table. I wish Og and I shared the same lunch period when Arkin’s voice floats across the table.
    “Can I sit here?” he asks, holding a full tray in front of him.
    I nod, still chewing my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
    He settles into the chair in front of me, dropping his backpack down to the floor. I stare at his lunch: a slice of pepperoni pizza, a side salad, and a cup of fresh, sliced fruit. It’s been weeks since I’ve tasted fruit. Mom sometimes brings home a few apples.
    “Do you want my fruit cup?” he asks.
    “Do you mind?”
    He lifts the cup from the tray. “Take it.”
    The fruit looks too sweet and ripe to pass up. “Thank you.”
    He smiles and points at my lunch. “You eat that every day, don’t you?”
    I look down at my sandwich and shrug.
    “I don’t mind sharing,” he says. “My parents keep lots of food in the apartment. Maybe you could finally take me up on that offer to come and visit.”
    My heart thumps hard. A hot guy inviting me over again? Why does he want to be friends with me when he could hang around with the popular kids? But my mind returns to that word again, pray , and his questioning of the Code. He appears so much like the other kids, like the ones who anger me, but he doesn’t act like them. Under the class status and the cute smile, his thinking mirrors mine more than I care to admit. He asked the questions aloud that I keep locked in my head.
    “I know my parents would love to share some pot roast with you tonight,” he says. “How about coming over for dinner? We could study for the science test.”
    Naturally, I forgot about the science test, but I would use any excuse to spend time with him.
    I finish off the fruit cup. “I do need help in science.”
    He grins, and I look away to keep from grinning too big myself. What are his parents like? Do they question the Code too? Do they encourage Arkin’s defiance? Perhaps his parents know nothing about it.
    When the final bell rings at the end of the school day, I search the crowd for Arkin but he’s nowhere to be found. I wait outside where the crowd will thin out faster.
    Ogden walks up to me. “Hey. Who are you looking for?”
    I hesitate to answer. Even though I’ve shared a few nice moments with Arkin, I’ve been careful not to even mention him to Og. If nothing develops between me and Arkin, Og will never let me live it down, but how could I pass up the opportunity to gloat?
    “Arkin, that new guy,” I say.
    Ogden frowns like I spoke gibberish. “What for?”
    “He invited me over to study.”
    He shoots me a goofy grin.
    “Don’t say anything, or I’ll punch you in the kidney!” I smile when I say it, but this doesn’t void the threat.
    “Raissa’s gotta a boyfriend!” he sings, adding a clumsy twirl. “Woo-hoo!”
    “Shut up, you nerd!” I snatch him mid-twirl and lock him in a chokehold.
    “Let me go, bully!” he yells between giggles.
    I release his neck as Arkin emerges from the crowd of students passing us.
    “Hey,” he says to Ogden, offering his hand. “I’m Arkin Pettigrew. You must be Ogden.”
    Og cocks his head at Arkin’s hand. “Aren’t you the polite citizen!”
    “Quit it, Og,” I say with a groan.
    Og shakes Arkin’s hand with his limp-noodle grasp and looks at me, eyes bugging. “Is this seriously Arkin?”
    “Who were you expecting?” I ask.
    “Some freakazoid,”