After Forever by Krystal McLaughlin Read Free Book Online

see us soon. Both I, and the animals would like that very
much.” She waved to me as I walked down the sidewalk and around the
corner, back towards my house.
    After that day, I spent every weekend there,
and almost every day after school. I just couldn’t stop myself. I
never saw my friends any more. They were starting to worry about
me. I told them they were crazy, that I was just volunteering at
the animal shelter. They really thought I was crazy then.
    “The animal shelter!?” my best friend Rania
exclaimed. “You know better than that Crimson! Do your parents
know? Because if they don’t, they should know about this. How could
you?” She shook her head at me.
    “I just can’t help it. You know how much I
love animals. Since I can’t have one, this is the only way. Please,
please don’t tell my parents about it. You know what they would do
to me if they found out.” I looked at her, my eyes pleading her to
keep my secret.
    “Oh, alright,” Rania said with a sigh. “But
this has got to stop. You can’t be spending every waking moment
there. Promise me that, please.” She gave me her trademark Rania
look, the one that meant she means business.
    “Yes, yes, I promise.” I would have said
anything at that point, just to get her off my back. “Maybe one of
these days you could come with me?” I asked, hoping that maybe if
she spent some time there, that she would understand.
    She looked at me, skeptically, but then
nodded. “Alright, if it will make you happy, I’ll go with you this
weekend.”
    I was beaming. I couldn’t wait for Saturday
to come. It was going to be great. Or so I thought.
    Rania met me at my house Saturday morning.
This time, I had enough sense to eat something before we left.
    As we walked down the street, I was happily
chattering away about all the animals that were there. I don’t
think she was actually listening to me, but I didn’t care. I was
too excited to even notice.
    When we walked in the door, Branna looked up
at us. “Hi Crimson, it is always a pleasure to see you.” Then she
saw Rania standing next to me. Her smile faded. “Who is this?” she
inquired, trying to hold back her anger.
    “Oh, this is my best friend Rania. I asked
her to come with me, since she was upset I was spending all my time
here. I hope it’s okay,” I replied, trying not to show my
nervousness.
    Branna then put a smile on, that was
obviously as fake as they come, but I made no comment. “Of course
it’s alright. The animals will get twice as much attention now.
I’ll leave you to it; I’ve got some paperwork to do. Enjoy
yourselves girls.” She didn’t look up at us again.
    “What was that about?” Rania asked me once
we were out of Branna’s earshot.
    “I have no idea,” I remarked. “I’ve never
seen her act like that before.” It had me beyond perplexed.
    “Well, I don’t like her. She makes me very
uncomfortable. I don’t want to be here any longer than I absolutely
have to, so let’s get this over with.”
    I tried not to let Branna’s peculiar
behavior ruin our morning. After a while, I had forgotten all about
it. When I looked at my watch, it was almost noon. I was surprised
that Branna hadn’t come to let us know, but then I remembered her
rudeness from earlier. What did she have against Rania? I mean, I
know she could be arrogant and cranky sometimes, but still. There
was no way she could have known that. I shrugged it off though, and
started getting ready to go.
    Rania was captivated by Biscuit, so she
hadn’t noticed. I cleared my throat, trying to get her attention.
She looked up at me, beaming. “Goodness, he is the cutest thing I
have ever seen. I just want to take him home with me!” she
exclaimed.
    “Someone seems to be enjoying herself. A lot
more than she said she would.” I giggled. “But it’s almost noon. I
think we should go get some lunch. Branna showed me this amazing
diner. How about we go have lunch there?”
    Rania got up off the floor, and