The Remedy by Suzanne Young Read Free Book Online Page B

through the file, studying the journal entries that were included and her parents’ interviews. Turns out it’s only two weeks until her eighteenth birthday and there was a party planned. A big bash that the mom can’t seem to get past: I already ordered the cake. It’s chocolate raspberry—her favorite. What am I supposed to do with her cake? It’ll still be her birthday. The therapists thought it would provide the needed closure if I stayed until this party, let the parents say good-bye on their terms. It’s a little morbid, but I guess I get it. I’ll be out the door right after having a huge slice of chocolate raspberry cake.
    There’s nothing else out of the ordinary in Catalina’s file, so I practice her smile until I get it right. I find the links to her different social media accounts, the passwords provided by the therapists. Before I can open up my laptop, though, my stomach growls, and I go downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal.
    My father isn’t in the kitchen, and I’m about to call for him when I realize that it’s Thursday. He’s probably at the hospital. My days are mixed up, and I’m only half aware of what I’m doing as I pull out the box of Frosted Flakes and the milk.
    “I’m Quinlan McKee,” I murmur, repeating Marie’s words from last night. “I live at 2055 Seneca Place in Corvallis, Oregon. I’m seventeen and I drive a beat-up old Honda that my father won’t replace.” I sit at the table and stare down at my bowl. “I’m Quinlan McKee,” I whisper.

CHAPTER FIVE
    MY FATHER WORKS UNTIL NINE on Thursdays, so around six—after a well-deserved nap—I pull on the black Rolling Stones T-shirt and a pair of jeans to head over to Aaron’s apartment. I’m feeling altogether miserable at the thought that this will be my last time hanging out for a while. It’s hard for a noncloser to understand how difficult our lives can be. Tomorrow I give up my life for someone else’s. The first time I’ll talk to a friend will be when Aaron calls to check on me, and then again when he sets up my extraction. Aaron is supposed to be my first contact because we try not to change the variables of real life. These sorts of things always have to stay the same. Soon Quinlan McKee won’t exist. That’s my life—half the time I don’t exist.
    I grab my keys off the entry table and go outside to start my car. When the check-engine light comes on, I sigh, and then back out of the driveway. The day after one of us returns, Aaron, Deacon, and I usually meet up to talk about anything other than our assignments. We eat and drink and act stupid to feel normal. Tonight I’m far too logical, but I’m willing to go through the motions. I do my best to put on my happy face when I park in front of Aaron’s apartment complex. I toss my car keys into my bag and head up to the second floor.
    On the open landing, I glance around. The sky is still bright, not even dusk. Right now it feels like I’m in an hourglass filling up with sand, waiting to be flipped over. I knock on the door before opening it and walking in.
    “There she is,” Deacon announces the minute I appear in the entry. He’s on the couch in the living room, and he holds up an oversize blue plastic cup in cheers. He takes a sip, his eyes trained on me like he can already tell something’s wrong. The girl next to him casts a curious look in my direction and then laughs and touches his thigh to get his attention. Deacon flinches, but turns to her and smiles—charming as ever. A little farther down the wall I find Aaron, his phone in his hand as Myra sits beside him, prattling on about something close to his ear. Aaron hits a button and music starts to play. He notices my shirt and snorts, and I offer him a sarcastic wave. Awesome—guess I’m fifth-wheeling it. Aaron could have told me Deacon had a girl tonight.
    Without speaking out loud, I turn and stroll down the hallway toward the kitchen. There’s a pizza box, empty except for two