Read Online Brittany Bends by Kristine Grayson - Free Book Online Page A

have one is, quite frankly, a surprise.”
    “But, shouldn’t I keep it? If everyone’s expected to have one, wouldn’t they wonder why I can get out of mine?”
    Mom looks at me. The light from the garage makes her pale skin seem even paler. Her eyes look a little washed-out too.
    “I just worry about you,” she says. “I know we’re throwing a lot at you, and you’re handling it really well, but it has to be hard.”
    I shrug. “It’s okay.”
    “It’s not,” she says. “I know you miss your sisters.”
    I nod.
    “And I know everything seems strange here. You can talk to me, you know.” She squeezes my hand again. I have no idea how her fingers are staying warm when mine are about to freeze off.
    “I’m all right,” I say, which is what I always say when she offers to talk to me. I don’t know what I’d say to her. That I’m glad I’m here? I kinda am, but I’m kinda not. I like seeing Mom in her native environment, and meeting my half siblings is cool, but this town is so strange, and school is hard, and now this job….
    “Do you want to quit the job?” Mom asks.
    “I haven’t even tried it yet,” I say.
    “It’s okay if you do,” she says.
    “No,” I say, firmer than I expected. “It’s not. I gotta try, right? I mean, otherwise, I’m just a quitter.”
    She frowns at me. “Where did you learn that word?”
    I’m not going to lie to her. “Ivan.”
    “Because you won’t play video games with him?”
    I nod.
    “Good for you,” she says. “Life is too short.”
    Then she frowns even deeper. She knows that life isn’t too short for me. And it probably isn’t for her either. My dad usually doesn’t get involved with mere mortals. He can tell when someone’s going to come into magic one day. Mom will have magic. She just doesn’t want to deal with that yet.
    “If the job turns out to be too hard for you or if you can’t keep up in school or if it’s all too overwhelming, you’ll tell me, right?”
    “Yes,” I lie. Because what else can I do? I’m already overwhelmed. “I absolutely will.”

 
     
     
     
    SIX
     
     
    DESPITE BEING CRAMMED into my little closet, the next morning I wake up cold. Shivering, in fact. I put on my robe and slippers and manage to get into the bathroom just after someone steamed it up. Then, instead of taking my shower, I head to the kitchen to see if someone can turn up the heat.
    As I walk into the living room, a weird white and gray light coats everything. I look out the windows. White blankets the yard and clings to the trees.
    My breath catches.
    That has to be snow.
    I’ve never seen snow before. It’s dripping out of the sky, even as I look. Big thick flakes of white, like bread plates.
    The house is cold and we’re going to get snowed in and even though we have a lot of food, there are eleven of us, and some are boys, and they eat too much, and that doesn’t count the dogs and the cats and—
    Something bangs in the kitchen. I’m not the only one up.
    I make myself look away from the windows and head into the dining room. Some Fruit Loops sit in drops of milk on the placemat in front of Hilde’s spot. The dogs haven’t gotten to that yet, but one of the cats—a sleek little black and white named Pixie—is standing on the bench, licking something off the placemat beside Hilde’s.
    Pixie doesn’t even look up as I go by. I’m supposed to yell at the animals when they get on the table, but technically, she’s not on the table; she’s on the bench.
    I slip into the kitchen. Leif is scrambling eggs. Ingrid sits at the kitchen table, a book open beside her spot. Ivan is making toast. The smell of eggs makes my stomach growl.
    “Hey, Brit,” Leif says. He’s just starting to hit his full growth. His shoulders seem to have gotten broader since I arrived. He has the same wheat-blond hair as the rest of Mom’s children, but his face is square like Karl’s. “I’ll make bacon if you want. These two dweebles don’t like