Read Online Disconnected by Lisa M. Cronkhite - Free Book Online Page A

creating red puffs of smoke in mid-air. I watch the red rings ripple wider and wider and soon disappear. It’s as if I’ve released something growing inside of me and now it’s growing inside the water, escaping me—my way to be free. To just disappear for a while.
    I am calm in this moment—calm enough not to worry about all the things that have been bothering me so deeply. I opened up that deep wound within me. I have so longed to escape from Amelia.

Chapter Ten
    I go back to my room to clean up the mess. When I open the door, I’m amazed at what I see. There’s not a single thing out of place. The drawers aren’t open. Clothes and papers and everything else I threw around the room aren’t on the floor. It’s all put away. Who cleaned up? Milly, you’re losing it again, we cleaned it up, remember? I don’t know if Amelia’s right or if she’s just playing tricks on me again. I certainly don’t remember cleaning it up before I left the room. God, how could I forget that? I just left it minutes ago. Then when I glance at the clock, I realize I’m wrong. It’s now 6:05p.m. Two hours I spent in the garden.
    I look down at my stained hand and run to the bathroom to wash it off. I can’t believe I was out there so long. Thank God my wound clotted, or I could have bled to death—I mean, well maybe, but still.
    I run my hands under the faucet and watch the sink fill with red. It reminds me of the droplets of blood in the fountain. It isn’t as deep as I thought. Shoulda tried harder, Milly, Amelia slithers out.
    I look up into the mirror and straight through her eyes. I can see how much she hates me. I feel like she could jump out from the other side and scratch my own eyes out for even looking at her. And the worst part of it all is that I don’t really hate her, like I thought I did. Right now, I feel sorry for her, that she’s locked up inside my head, just waiting and wanting so badly to get out. But I fear that if she does, she will hurt me to the point that I’ll die because of it.
    â€œYou can’t keep me here forever,” she says with my lips.
    â€œWhy do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?” I say back to her.
    â€œJust look at yourself. You’re ugly, Milly. Sick, sad, and just plain ugly. No one will ever want you,” Amelia uses my hands to touch my face, and uses them to dig into my skin.
    â€œJust stop! Please stop!”
    My hands then release off my face and gravitate to the mirror. We are both touching hands now. I watch the red marks on my cheeks flare up. “See? See what you’ve done now?” I say to her.
    Luckily it isn’t deep enough to leave any marks, but my cheeks are still blushed.
    â€œMilly? You home?” Aunt Rachel yells from downstairs.
    â€œWe’ll continue this later,” Amelia says through the mirror.
    I look at myself in disgust. She is ruining my life and controlling me as much as she can. How do I get myself out of this madness?
    I rub my cheeks again, trying to get the sting out, open the door and yell back to Aunt Rachel, “Yes, I’m home, I’ll be down in a minute.”
    Quickly I compose myself, taking a few deep breaths, and head downstairs. As I enter the kitchen, I see Grandpa George cutting up some onions while Aunt Rachel does the dishes.
    â€œI wanted to talk to you,” Aunt Rachel says, turning her head toward me as she stands there by the sink.
    â€œYeah? What is it?” I’m hoping it has nothing to do with me taking her diary. I want to read more of it.
    â€œGrandpa George and I were thinking of getting you a pet,” she says out of the blue. “Maybe a cat. Would you be interested?” She stands there awkwardly shifting back and forth, like she’s uneasy about what she said.
    At first I think, awesome, then Amelia whispers through my mind. She wants something from you. You think