Sunshine by Nikki Rae Read Free Book Online Page B

with at my job, they don’t go to Lucky?” I ask. It’s better than this silence.
I glance at his face in the rear-view. He smiles. “They don’t live around here.”
“Oh.”
And more silence.
“Turn here,” he says after a while.
And more silence.
“So…do you like it here?” I ask. Of course that’s a trick question. No one likes living in South Jersey.
“It’s okay. Better than where I was.”
“Where were you before?”
“Turn here,” he says again.
We pull onto a street of a bunch of older houses.
He doesn’t answer me.
“So aren’t you cold?” he asks out of nowhere.
I look at him again in the rear-view as we slow to a red light. “Uhm, no. Why?” It’s a weird question to ask someone in the beginning of September.
“Well, I just thought you were maybe one of those people who, you know, are always cold.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You’re always wearing that huge coat,” he says like it’s obvious.
Oh. I forgot. I’m a walking side show.
The light turns green and I keep going.
I could tell him now, but I don’t want to. If he knows I have something wrong with me, then he’ll treat me like there’s something wrong with me.
“Yeah,” I say stupidly. “I am cold a lot. But not now.”
I check his reaction behind me. He looks unconvinced, but he says, “Oh, okay,” anyway.
“Here,” he says as I start to pass his house. It’s a white one story. It looks out of place on this street. Like it was once an old house like the rest of them, but someone decided to make it something that it’s not by painting glossy white paint over it. I pull over and park.
Myles opens the door to get out, but pauses. “So I guess I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”
“Yup.”
“I’m glad you invited me over to hang out with you guys,” he re-starts the conversation.
Haven’t I talked to him enough for one day? I limit the rest of our talking to one word answers.
“Yeah?”
“I was kind of lonely. I didn’t think I would ever make friends.”
I nod.
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he says as he gets out of my car.
I try not to watch him as he disappears into his house, but I do.

Chapter 5 The Real Thing “Send transmission from the one-armed scissor.”-At The Drive In
    It’s Saturday morning and Laura is in my room yelling at me.
    I pretend I don’t hear her. Maybe if she keeps it up, she’ll lose her voice altogether and I won’t have to listen to it anymore.
“Wake up, you freak!” she screams again.
Violently shaking off my blankets, I sit straight up. “What?” I shout the loudest I can, but my voice is scratchy from sleep.
Laura just smiles, like I’m the funniest thing she’s ever seen. “Mom says you have a doctor’s appointment, and you have to go.”
“I told her, I’m not going there anymore.”
Not that she was listening. Not that I expected her to.
Laura crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Well, Mom’s going to make you.”
I place my hand on my hip, trying my best to imitate Laura this early in the morning. “Well,” I say as I flip my hair, “Mom like, can’t make me do like, anything.”
Then Laura slams the door in my face, no doubt running to Mommy. A few minutes later, my suspicions are confirmed. “I told you!” Mom shrieks.
“Don’t say that,” Adam’s voice says back. I’m sure Mom has called me some name by the tone of his voice, but I don’t catch it.
“I’ll say whatever I want about her. She’s mine, not yours.”
I can guess how Adam is feeling right now. It’s probably a lot like being punched in the stomach. I’ve always thought of Adam as my father, or at least the closest I would get to one. I know that he thinks of himself that way too.
“At least I treat her like a daughter!” Adam's voice booms so loud that I'm surprised the house doesn't shake.
Mom makes a huffing sound. The front door slams. Adam’s going to work.
Then I hear her stomping up the stairs to my room.
Now that Adam’s left, she’ll be