Scarlet Awakening (Sweet Secrets #2) by Taylor Henderson Read Free Book Online Page A

scanned over the first entry, which was about how her doctor had given her this journal and told her to write her feelings down each day. She thought the idea was stupid at first, and she didn’t understand how this would help.
    Ella flipped to the second page. The entry began with the words:
     
    I guess I will give this “keeping a journal” idea a chance.
     
    Then it continued by talking about her day, and small decisions that she had to make. It wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, so we flipped past it. Ella held the book open and I was leaning in close, scanning the page. We stood like that for a while, just paging through the journal. The first entries were basically her just getting use to writing in the journal daily. It wasn’t until about a month or so of using the book that she started putting in real thoughts and feelings.
    Finally, after what felt like a half an hour of looking, the entries began to mention the twins. Specifically she started to write about her feelings toward having to give them away. She thought her depression stemmed from their adoption, and that she couldn’t live without knowing all of her children. That was definitely something I could relate to. No, I had never had to give up my children, but I had experienced the feelings that came with not knowing your siblings.
    My mom would never be a part of the twins’ lives, just like I would never be. Her youngest children may never know her name, or what she looks like, or even who she is as a person. All of her accomplishments wouldn’t matter. They might even grow up resenting her for giving them up for adoption, but in her case, at least they’ll know she exists, or existed at some point. In my and Ella’s case, who is to say that they would ever know that they have sisters? A mother is a fact because everyone who is brought onto this Earth has had one, whether they knew her or not. Siblings are different. Siblings are out of sight, out of mind. They are not guaranteed.
    Near the bottom of the page were the words:
     
    I hope that John takes good care of them. Taylor and Cameron will forever be in my heart and mind, but giving them up was probably the best for them. At least, I hope it was.
     
    “Taylor and Cameron,” I said, the names feeling unfamiliar and odd as they rolled off my tongue. I had gone nearly a year without knowing the names of the twins, and now that I knew their names, it felt strange.
    Ella met my gaze, and said, “Is it just me, or are those names both unisex?”
    I nodded, an annoyed feeling overcoming me at the realization.
    “Well, at least we know their names now. That must mean that John is the guy from the picture.”
    I opened my mouth to respond, just as the sound of the front door opening met our ears.
    Ella sprang into action. She closed the book and put it back in place, and we hurriedly exited the room, just as the sound of our grandfather’s voice called out that he was home.
    As Ella and I headed to greet our grandfather, Ella whispered back to me, “At least we found what we were looking for.”
    I couldn’t agree more.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
     
    The smile that was plastered onto my mom’s face was a good indication that she had enjoyed her spa trip. It wasn’t one of her forced smiles, either. This one reached all the way up to her eyes. She was walking around the house exuding happiness. The last thing Ella and I wanted to do was burst her bubble, so we decided the best thing to do was split up and have one of us hang out with Mom while the other did a search for any Johns in our area that may be connected to our mom in any way.
    Since I was the one who was the worst at lying, Ella took the first ‘shift’ with Mom. I heard them clanging around the kitchen with Grandma, helping make tonight’s dessert as Grandma got dinner prepared. My mom used to love baking, but now she only did it occasionally. It was nice to see that she was in a cheerful enough mood