Between by Cambria Hebert Read Free Book Online Page B

notice.
    The thought made me snort; then I turned on the game and began shooting people up.
    ***
    I was still in the family room when I heard Dad get home from work. I heard Mom greeting him and the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing as he got out his customary “I made it through another day of work” beer.
    I clicked the game off and flipped on some show on the Disney XD channel. A few minutes later, Dad came into the family room. I didn’t bother turning around to say hello. I didn’t feel like pretending today. In fact, I wasn’t feeling well at all.
    “Hey, son,” Dad said, coming around the couch and standing in front of the TV.
    “Hey, Dad.”
    “How did you do on that paper you wrote?”
    “Got an ‘A.’ ” I smirked because Brent got a “B” on “his” paper.
    “That’s the way to do it.” He took a sip of his beer, watching me. Then his eyes narrowed. “What’s that bruise on your face?”
    I had the story worked out in my head. I was going to say we were playing baseball in gym and the ball bounced off my glove and hit me in the jaw.
    But those aren’t the words that came out of my mouth.
    “I got in a fight.”
    “A fight,” he said the words incredulously.
    “Yup. Some kid had been running his mouth at me for days and I’d had enough.”
    “Then why are you the one with the bruise?” He didn’t ask me who or why. He didn’t ask me if I was okay. He wanted to know if I lost.
    I shrugged. “I provoked him into taking the first shot. It’s the only hit he got in. Not only did he lose the fight, but he got in trouble for starting the fight. I was just defending myself.”
    The lies just poured right off my tongue and my stomach heaved.
    Dad grunted. “Way to take care of yourself.”
    “Dinner’s on the table!” Mom called from the kitchen.
    The thought of food was not appealing at all, but I washed up and took my usual spot at the table.
    “I made your favorite tonight, Logan,” Mom said and sat a heaping plate of spaghetti in front of me.
    Spaghetti wasn’t my favorite. It was Sam’s.
    I looked up to my parents’ faces to see if there was even a flicker of the truth or recognition in their eyes. But there wasn’t. It was like they completely believed the fake world they lived in.
    “I’m not feeling well,” I announced and pushed away from the table.
    Mom’s face clouded over with concern. “What’s the matter?” She got up and felt my forehead.
    “I think I’m just going to go lay down.”
    “What can I get you? Would you like some toast? Some tea?”
    “Don’t baby him, Gwen,” Dad said and I took my chance to flee the room.
    In my room, I flopped down on the bed and stared at the comic book posters that covered the walls. My head was swimming and my vision was a little blurry, which made focusing on the characters hard, but I did it anyway. My skin wasn’t hot, but I felt warm, like my body was sweating on the inside. My stomach roiled and I regretted that cookie I ate earlier.
    I could hear my parents’ voices out in the kitchen as they talked about their day, and Dad went on and on about his job. I never could understand why Mom let him push all of us around. Without really moving, I reached into my nightstand and pulled out my iPod and shoved the ear buds in my ears. I cranked up the music so I couldn’t hear anything else and I closed my eyes.
    But the music wasn’t loud enough to block my own thoughts. Thoughts that scared me pressed in on me and left me feeling confused.
    Underneath it all, one thing repeated like a mantra, eventually lulling me to sleep.
    I wished my brother were here.
    ***
    That night I dreamed of pain. Of wandering down a country back road that seemed to cut right through a wooded mountain. It was so dark that I could barely see three feet in front of me and it was eerily silent.
    Then, from behind, a tree branch snapped.
    I turned, looking over my shoulder, but nothing was there. I kept walking, looking for