Read Online 6 Digit Passcode by Abigail Collins - Free Book Online

problems. They’re worried about me, and they shouldn’t be. I should be worrying about them , especially Fray. His shoulders are far too small to be carrying the burdens of both of us.
    Sometimes it feels like the memories Cyrus summoned in the building he took me to weren’t real until he brought them to life. It’s almost as if they were photographs floating around in the back of my mind that the Digits set on fire and burned into my skull. And even the good memories seem twisted, somehow. Like all I can see are the dark spots in my vision, and all I can think about is this feeling I have that my mother betrayed me.
    “…and I told her not to. It doesn’t even look that bad . Right?”
    Crissy looks at me hopefully, and I wish I was better at pretending to listen when people are talking to me. I’m spacing out more than usual today, and we haven’t even gotten to school yet.
    “Um, right,” I say, praying she doesn’t see through me even though I know she already has.
    She raises an eyebrow at me, but instead of getting angry, she stops walking and pulls me back with her by my elbow.
    “Okay, you know what?” she says, turning both of us around. Her grip on my arm is so tight I can feel her nails digging into my skin. “You need to go home. I’ll go too, if that makes you feel any better. I wouldn’t mind missing one of Mr. N’s Creative Lit sermons, and you look like you could use a good nap. When was the last time you slept?”
    I try to pull my arm away, but Crissy just hooks her other hand onto it and pulls me along harder.
    “I’m fine,” I lie. “I sleep every night. Fray and I go to bed the same time you do, remember?”
    “I know that you go to bed, but you don’t sleep . You ironed a hole in Ivy Landstrom’s pajama pants yesterday because you fell asleep standing up in the middle of the day .”
    “Your mother patched them up and they look just fine,” I retort defensively, even though she’s right. And I can’t see Ivy being the type of woman to appreciate having a smiley-face sewn into the butt of her trousers, as much as I admire Roma’s handiwork. “And I didn’t fall asleep. I was thinking .”
    “About what?”
    “You know…” I say, airily waving my free arm and making circles with my hand. “Things. All kinds of things.”
    Crissy rolls her eyes at me, but her expression is serious. “Like the things the Digit who came to get you asked you about last week?”
    “How did you – ?”
    “Mom told me,” she interrupts. “And Fray said you’re having nightmares. I thought I was just hearing things, but really , Everly? You couldn’t tell me about something like this?”
    “There’s nothing to tell, I swear. They asked me about my parents… and I told them what happened. Which is nothing you don’t already know, by the way.”
    Crissy’s grip on my arm is really starting to hurt. I tug on it and try to get her to stop, but all I do is slow her down and loosen her hold slightly.
    “And that’s what’s got you so shaken up?” she asks skeptically. “A few questions?”
    “They asked me about my parents , Crissy. You know, the dead ones? The ones who died practically right in front of me ?”
    My tone comes out harsher than I intended it to, but it’s enough to make Crissy stop in her tracks and relax her grasp on my arm just enough to let me pull it free. She’s looking at me like she’s never seen me before.
    My heart is pounding and I feel like I’ve just been slapped awake, but the guilt that washes over me when I see the hurt look on Crissy’s face melts away my frustration. I realize that she’s only trying to help, in her annoying-best-friend kind of way. I just wish she would stop, is all.
    “I’m sorry,” I say softly, holding up my hands and shrugging my shoulders. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s just… The way the Digits talked to me, it’s like they knew something I didn’t. And Roma, too. I think it’s about my