Before The Storm by Kels Barnholdt Read Free Book Online Page A

with my aunt’s contact, but almost protected in a way. “Her parents are okay with her coming home now,” Mrs. Newington continues. “They have thought about this all very carefully and agreed to take our recommendations into account. However, they also have the power to revoke this decision at any time. You are still a minor Victoria, which according to state law forbids you from making certain life-altering decisions for the next year and a half.”
    Hearing the words aloud sounds like such a long time to me. Having to live a year and a half of my life in fear of getting sent back here? It’s a thought that would be scary to anyone, a thought that I fear will be haunting me somewhere in the back of my mind every second of every day for a very long time.
    “Any type of inappropriate contact with her brother will result in exactly that happening,” my dad says, speaking for the first time since we stepped into the room.
    Stepbrother, I think to myself, wanting to rip the hair out of my scalp.
    Stepbrother! Why the fuck does everyone keep using the word brother like I’m committing some type of incest?!
    “She knows that, don’t you Victoria?” my aunt says, looking at me as if she’s my best friend in the world and not someone I just met five minutes ago. It kind of makes me wonder exactly what they told the staff here about our previous relationship.
    “Yes, I know that,” I respond. “I’ve learned a lot here and I’m positive it won’t be an issue.”
    “Also,” my dad says, looking a little nervous for the first time since I’ve seen him,
    “no one knows where she has been the past three months. Not the school, not her friends, no one. They all think she was going through a tough time and just needed to get away for a while. That she’s been with her Aunt Jenna here, figuring herself out.”
    “And it’s in the child’s best interest to keep it that way,” Mrs. Newington says.
    “No use in airing out anyone’s dirty laundry all over town.”
    “Exactly,” my dad says sternly. “Now if there’s nothing else, I have a late lunch with a client.”
    “Of course, of course,” Dr. Morgan says, placing a stack of forms on the desk, “I just need all of you to read these over carefully and then sign them.”
    I force my body to lean over and pretend to look at the forms. I find myself picking up a pen and scribbling my signature on them effortlessly.
    My mind is going insane, replaying something my father said over and over again. No one knows where I’ve been. No one. I believe he probably didn’t tell Angelina, since he hasn’t liked her for as long as I can remember, but surely Nathan must know.
    Nathan has to know. There’s no way they could keep something like this from him. No way, right?

    * * *
    My aunt Jenna’s apartment is exactly like her, well put together. The first thing I notice when I step through the door is the smell, strawberry with a hint of vanilla. I immediately search the entranceway for candles, but see nothing. It’s almost as if the aroma is coming out of nowhere.
    The entranceway and living room are basic, nothing flashy. The colors represent a light brown theme and the walls are completely bare. The couch is a large sectional that takes up most of the room, with a large flat screen T.V. plastered against the wall on the other side of the room.
    “I haven’t really gotten around to decorating,” My Aunt Jenna says as if she’s reading my mind, “but let me show you around.”
    I follow her small frame into the large kitchen that’s off the living room. It’s much bigger than the one at my dad’s house, which I didn’t think was possible. The same brown color scheme that appears in the living room is plastered on the walls in the kitchen as well. It has all the latest appliances, and a large island in the middle of the room with high stools surrounding it. Against the wall, in one of the corners, is a large table. It makes me wonder why one woman needs