How I Got Here by Hannah Harvey Read Free Book Online

big sister lecture me like I’m a kid.’ He looks up to gauge her reaction; a faint smile paints itself on her face.
    ‘What is it that’s distracting you?’ She raises an eyebrow with a bright smile, ‘Girl trouble?’ She finds it far easier to tease him about his life, than talk about her own.
    ‘Well – I suppose you could call it that,’ he glances at her briefly, and then lowers his eyes, ‘it’s complicated.’
    ‘Isn’t it always?’ She leans back and stares at the ceiling, ‘I like talking to you.’
    ‘Yeah I like talking to you as well.’
    ‘So here’s the thing, I’m going a little crazy in here.’ She holds his gaze, ‘Yeah I know I’m here because people think I’m crazy, it’s a vicious circle really.’
    ‘What’s your point?’ He stifles a laugh, aware that a nurse is passing by, River remains quiet until they are alone again, she moves her left arm, which has a drip going into it.
    ‘I need to get out, get some fresh air.’
    ‘I could take you down to the front entrance; hook your drip up to a wheelchair.’ He offers.
    ‘Not what I meant.’ She taps her fingers on her leg, her gaze drifting to the window, outside it is bright and sunny, and the sky is a bright vibrant blue and she long s to be out there.
    ‘What did you mean then?’
    ‘There’s this place in central park, it’s so quiet there that you don’t believe it’s New York, everything here is so noisy all the time, there are always people rushing by, noise and voices, it can be so suffocating at times,’ she pulls her hair up into a top-knot, securing it with the band that was on her wrist, ‘when I first started receiving the emails and things, I craved silence so much, I just wanted to be away from everything, and then one day I was walking through the park, and I found this little path, it led to this secluded pond, hidden in a dip and surrounded by trees, in the summer the sun hits it and the whole place just glows. I spent so many hours there, and it’s amazing, nobody ever comes there, and you can’t hear the noise of the city, it’s like it’s contained in this little bubble, that’s where I want to go.’
    ‘River,’ His voice carries all his uncertainty; she looks away, ‘I can’t take you there, not with your drip and everything.’
    ‘Then take it out!’ River lifts up the arm with the drip in, ‘This thing is meant to be rehydrating me right?’
    ‘Yeah,’
    ‘Well then unhook it and take me to the park, and I’ll let you buy me a drink.’ She smiles brighter than she has in months, he can’t help but laugh, his eyes on the pages in his hand, ‘Come on, nobody here understands apart from you, I need to get out and you can help me, I can’t do it on my own, I don’t want to do it on my own. I promise you can bring me right back, as soon as the sun starts setting.’
    ‘How about I think it over for a bit, and when I come in tomorrow I’ll tell you what I’ve decided.’
    ‘Sure.’ She nods raising an eyebrow at him, ‘So going home to your sister? Or do you fancy a game of scrabble?’
    ‘I’ll get the board.’
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
    Letter 3
    I know that after that last letter I gave you, you might think that I would stop going to school. I mean of all the reasons to bunk off school, being constantly bullied, and finding out that your mother has been fixing your grades, is a pretty good reason for staying away from the building. Maybe it would have been the smart thing to stop going, or to beg my parents to let me move to a different school. I didn’t do either of those things, though I did start skipping days. I would take a day or so off, then I would go back into school for a few days and people would ridicule me, I’d keep going in until I couldn’t stand it any longer, then I would take a few more days out, just wandering the city, sitting by the pond in central park, the one I want to go to, see I didn’t forget about the park. I still want to