Transparent by Natalie Whipple Read Free Book Online Page B

“Maybe you’re sick of doing your dad’s dirty work?”
    For a second I wonder if Seth’s a mind reader, but then he would have known for sure I had a learning disability without the worksheet. “Look, I just hate the way people talk about my dad. You don’t know him. You have no right to judge him or me. So if you start telling people—”
    I go rigid when he puts a hand on my shoulder like it’s no big deal. Maybe he really doesn’t care about abilities. “Chill. No threats necessary. I’m not gonna spread rumors about you. But for what it’s worth, if you were escaping, that’d be pretty amazing.”
    I can tell he means it, and that throws the entire horrible conversation on its head. It’s official—Seth confuses the hell out of me. “Swear you won’t.”
    “I swear it. Now let’s get to work.” He heads into the classroom, leaving my head spinning.

Chapter 8
    Math tutoring may have been awful, but at least it was a decent distraction. As I pack up my things, all I can think about is Graham. I can’t help but picture him at the house, perched somewhere high waiting to scare the crap out of me. His sick laugh plays in my head, and I shiver.
    Maybe I should make for the desert now, except I don’t have food, a way to contact Miles, or survival training. The little things.
    “You didn’t have to come just because I yelled at you,” Bea says. “Not that I’m complaining.”
    A smile creeps onto my face. I still don’t get why she wants me around, but maybe I shouldn’t ask anymore. “Sorry. I’m not used to people being … nice.”
    She sighs like she knows what I mean. “What are you doing now? More library time, or you wanna hang out?”
    “Oh, sure.” I stuff my notebook in my bag, a flood of relief washing over me. This is perfect. I have a place to go, and I can at least stretch it out to the evening. Maybe I can form some kind of plan by then.
    Bea’s eyes narrow. “Are you sure? You sounded … hesitant.”
    “No! I want to.” My face warms. People always have a hard time interpreting my intentions without facial expressions to guide them, which is handy when I don’t want them to. Not so much right now. “Um, I just need to go to SuperMart. You wouldn’t mind going, would you? My mom took the car for the day.”
    She laughs. “That’s fine! C’mon, I have a feeling you’ll love Sexy Blue.”
    “Sexy Blue?”
    She smiles wide. “You’ll see.”
    Sexy Blue is a beat-up Bronco with no windows except the windshield, which is cracked. Bea is dressed well—cute,
short
shorts and a billowy teal tunic—so the dusty black seats and tacky giant dice on the rearview mirror surprise me. “My brothers totally beat her up, but she’s still hot, huh?”
    “Of course.” I snap the tough, grimy seat belt over my waist. “So you have brothers?”
    “Three older, one younger. My parents are hard-core Catholic, which means no birth control. Mom was basically pregnant for five years, had us all one after the other.” She jams the key in the ignition, and Sexy Blue roars to life like a tiger.
    “Wow, big family.”
    “Yeah, we’re a regular litter.” She laughs. “Actually, some people call us The Pack.”
    “Really?”
    She nods. “We’re really close, since a lot of kids in town weren’t allowed to play with us. That’s what happens when you come from a gifted family, right?”
    “I guess so.” Most of the people I knew in Vegas were from gifted families, but I can understand a community of mostly normal people discriminating against the more gifted population.
    “Anyway, what about you?”
    I tense, unsure of what to say. It’s not like I can tell her all about that time I went to California to help kidnap one of Valerie Sutton’s brainwashers, just because Dad said we needed one and Val had too many. It’s bad enough I’m a syndicate baby. She’d think I was horrible if she knew what I really did. “What do you want to know?”
    She shrugs, a casual movement