Read Online A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney - Free Book Online Page A

everything okay? Why didn’t you call me? I’m a wreck! Is Michael all right?” Michael had run downstairs to signal yet again that he did not want to talk.
    Lily did not know how she could do more to protect Michael. But protecting Michael had hardly begun. Lily could not let the school system have any idea what had happened. Was anything more vicious than a gossipy teacher? Yes.
    A gossipy counselor.
    Schools lived for that word “dysfunctional.” It was right up there with the all-time favorite phrase “low self-esteem.” Teachers loved to say to each other, “Little Michael comes from a dysfunctional family, you know. Predictable result. Low self-esteem.” He’d be in Special Needs in a heartbeat. He’d spend his life with people whose idea of kindness was to rip open a wound every week, so it never healed, but bled in front of everybody. Lily had seen what the Self-Esteem crowd could do to a kid.
    Perhaps counseling had its place. The problem was, it didn’t keep its place. It spread like a virus, infecting a kid’s whole school year, and creeping into the next year, and the next, invading every classroom and lodging in the mind of every teacher. Once said out loud, it would go with Michael all the days of his school life: divorce issues; abandoned by father; subsequent reading problems; low self-esteem; needs counseling.
    â€œMichael’s asleep, Mom,” Lily told the teacher she loved most in the world. “And I’m asleep on my feet. We’ll see you in the morning.”
    â€œLily, I want details!”
    â€œThere aren’t any details. And Mom, don’t wake us up early tomorrow, okay?” Tomorrow was Sunday. Usually Lily complained about church, but this week it would serve a purpose. It would postpone conversation. “Wake us up with exactly enough time to get dressed,” she said.
    â€œFirst you’ll need a sturdy breakfast.”
    Lily never needed a sturdy breakfast. Lily liked weak, fragile breakfasts—a sip of orange juice and a single blueberry pried out of a muffin. “See you in the morning,” she said, and disconnected. With any luck, even at this hour, Mom and Kells would run into traffic and Lily really and truly would be asleep before they got home. She dragged herself upstairs, but the sleep that had flattened her on the plane did not come. She couldn’t even get her eyes to close unless she weighted them with her hands. After a while, she got up and went into Michael and Nathaniel’s room.
    â€œI can’t sleep either,” Michael whispered.
    She sat on the edge of his bed and they held each other in the dark.

chapter
6
    S unday morning, Mom kept flinging her arms around Michael and kissing him all over, the way she would kiss Nathaniel. “Oh, Michael! You just told your father you were coming home? Coming back to me? Oh, Michael, I’m so glad to see you! This is so wonderful!”
    Michael slid out of her grasp and onto a chair, facing his glass of orange juice.
    â€œMiikooo’s home!” Nathaniel kept yelling. “Got Miikooo atta airport!”
    â€œYes, you did,” said Kells. “You and your big sister went on a long taxi ride, didn’t you?”
    Nathaniel frowned. “No, Daddy. Went onna pane.”
    His father swung him in circles. “Michael went on the plane, didn’t he? Did you see it land?”
    â€œMichael, darling,” said Mom, “I can’t find your suitcases. Where are your things?”
    Michael studied his orange juice.
    â€œOnce Michael decided to come back,” said Lily, “there weren’t many flights to choose from and there wasn’t enough time for packing. Dad’s going to ship his stuff.” I, who hate him, she thought, am giving Dad an out.
    â€œI think some drawers in your bureau never got emptied, Michael,” said Kells. “I’ll find something for you to wear. Come on,