Read Online Bittersweet Hope by Ryann Jansen - Free Book Online Page A

care what this kid dressed like, though. I had my mother to thank for the fact that I did. I’d had to be her for so long, most of the time I forgot how to be me. Being a normal teenager felt like the most foreign thing on the planet.
    Tori’s bottom lip jutted out so far I thought she would trip over it. She looked at me through narrowed eyes. I returned her stare, my gaze even.
    “ Whatever. I’ve got to get to class, Sadie. I’ll meet you after first period to see if your schedule matches mine at all. The bathroom by the front of the building, okay?” Tori whirled around and headed down the hall.
    After she left, Sadie turned around to face me. “ Way uncalled for, Audrey.”
    Sierra kept laughing. “Oh come on, Sadie! Did you get a good look at her face? She looked like she fell out of a clown car and landed in a strip club.”
    G iggles spilled out of my mouth, but the enraged look on Sadie’s face stifled my laughter.
    She glanced in the direction Tori had gone. “She’s my friend.”
    “You’ve known her for like two point five seconds. Besides, I don’t get a good vibe from her.” I said.
    “Okay, Audrey. Quit momming it up. For real.” Sadie rolled her eyes.
    “Momming it up? Since when do you talk like that?” My hair bounced on my shoulders as I shook my head. “I just mean she seems kind of…self-destructive, I don’t know. She goes around at home trying to scare the Gable’s, and then she comes to school trying to catch an STD?”
    Sadie’s face flamed red. “You’re not my mother, Audrey, so stop acting like it.” She looked at the floor. “Tori is all I have right now.”
    That wasn’t true. She had us. She had her sisters. Why would she feel like she only had Tori? Daggers of emotion pricked my skin, the worry inside of me threatening to come out in an eruption of word vomit. Hold it together, Audrey. Don’t let her see you about to reach your boiling point.
    “That’s not true. You have us.” Simple was probably my best line of defense right now. Because to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was fighting. Just in the few minutes I’d seen her I could tell Sadie seemed slightly different. But it wasn’t a good different, like Sierra. She was more defensive, more determined. Warning signals blared in my head.
    “Not really. You guys aren’t there. Tori is.”
    My breath caught in my throat and I straightened.
    “We’re here now.” Sierra said.
    Sadie shrugged. “Yeah, but not all the time. I’ll get to see you guys for a few minutes at school during the week.” She shook her head. “Look, it’s not a big deal, alright? Just don’t be mean to her. She’s my friend, and if you guys don’t like her I really don’t care.”
    “Sadie—“
    “That’s enough. Seriously.” She turned on her heel and headed into the office. Sierra followed, raising her eyebrows at me as she walked by and twirling her finger in a circle beside her ear. I sighed. Sadie was not crazy. But something was off.
    A dark haired woman sat behind a big glass counter, and my sisters stopped in front of her. I caught the side of the wooden door in my hand and watched the two of them for a second.. Sadie looked back at me, but didn’t smile.
    At least the thud of the closing door behind me covered up the sound of my shattering heart.
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    I chewed on the inside of my mouth, ignoring the stinging feeling as the phone rang in my ear. The dull sound seemed to echo throughout my brain. I couldn’t calm my restless fingers. I played with the hem of my skirt, then scratched at my arms even though they didn’t itch. Finally, someone picked up on the other end of the line.
    “Rocky Creek Police Department, can I help you please?” Her voice had a distinct southern drawl to it, thick and syrupy.
    “Uh…yes, I mean yes ma’am. Is Officer Cane or Officer Wilder available?”
    I didn’t really want to speak to Officer Wilder. He wouldn’t be any help, judging by his lack