Forever Ours by Cassia Leo Read Free Book Online Page A

out about us and I were placed in another home.
    When we’re done with the dishes, Chris and I join Jackie in the living room to open presents. Chris gets an expensive motorcycle jacket and a gift card to his favorite music store from Jackie. Chris and I give Jackie a silver bracelet with three emeralds, which makes her cry for some reason. And Jackie gives me a gift card to my favorite book store and a new winter coat.
    When it comes time for Chris and I to exchange gifts, my stomach is in knots. I know Chris wouldn’t give me anything too expensive or personal. He doesn’t want his mom to know about us anymore than I do. But I’m nervous about what he’ll think of my gift to him.
    “You go first,” he says, and I shrug like it’s no big deal.
    I tear open the wrapping paper on the small box and my heart races. Lifting the lid on the white box, I find another smaller box inside. I open that box and find a small envelope. When I open the envelope, I find a picture of me and my mom.  
    My mother’s sitting on the same sofa where she died. I’m sitting in her lap, my head nestled in the crook of her neck as she kisses my forehead. The picture is too fuzzy to see the track-marks on her arms. We look like a normal mother and daughter.
    “How did you get this?” I whisper through the painful lump in my throat.
    “I asked my mom to talk to your caseworker and she contacted the lady you used to live next door to when you lived with your mom. This was the only picture she had. Are you upset?”
    I shake my head. “Thank you.”
    “It’s a beautiful picture of you two,” Jackie adds with a gentle smile that actually makes me feel worse.
    Chris begins tearing the wrapping paper away from his gift and I’m grateful for the distraction. When he lifts the lid on the box, he lets out a soft chuckle. He lifts the T-shirt out of the box and holds it up for us to see.
    I had to skip lunch at school for a couple of weeks to save up enough money for the shirt, but it was totally worth it. The black T-shirt has a white silhouette of a guy playing the guitar on the front, and the letters CK on the bottom right. The back of the shirt reads, “Music is my religion.” A quote from his idol, Jimi Hendrix.
    “You made this?”
    “Some guy in my English class designed the image on the front,” I reply.
    “Some guy in your English class?”
    I swallow hard when I realize he’s jealous, but this is not the right place for him to be jealous.
    “Just some guy…. Anyway, I took the design to that T-shirt shop in the mall and they put it on there. Do you like it?”
    He looks conflicted, like he wants to address the issue about the guy in English class who designed a shirt for me, but he knows he can’t do it with Jackie here. Something about this makes me want to laugh.
    “Yeah, I like it.”
    “Oh, please, Chris,” Jackie remarks. “Show a little more gratitude. I think it’s a very thoughtful gift.”
    “It is,” he adds, looking me in the eye. “I love it.”
    He puts emphasis on the word love and it makes my stomach flip.
    Chris and I stay downstairs to watch a movie while Jackie heads to bed early after a long day of cooking. We always wait at least an hour after she goes up before we let down our guards. When that hour is up, I look at Chris and he’s already staring at me from the other end of the sofa.
    “So who’s this guy in your English class?”
    I press my lips together to keep from smiling, but it’s too hard.
    “You think it’s funny?”
    “Oh, come on. It’s just some guy who sits next to me in English. I noticed him drawing some comics and asked if he could draw something for me.”
    “What did you offer him in exchange for the drawing?”
    “What do you think I offered him?”
    He’s silent as he waits for me to answer the question.
    “I offered him five bucks.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Yes, that’s it. Can we change the subject now?”
    He pats the cushion next to him. “Come here.” I