Read Online My Forever by Jolene Perry - Free Book Online Page A

crumpled ones. There’s some quarters in my backpack for the vending machines at school. I buy a cheap muffin left over from breakfast at the deli and get a cup for water. I sit down in the small café chairs until the store’s nearly closed.
     
    It seems like very little’s occupying my brain. Time goes by and nothing else comes. I must be in shock. I push myself out of my seat and walk out the door into the co ld, realizing t here’s no way I can stay outside tonight. It might be April , but it’s still freezing.
     
    I’m back on the sidewalk when I see Denny’s. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that first. How long will they let me stay if I only buy a few dollars worth of food? What will I do tomorrow? It’s too much to think about.
     
    I have all night, all the time in the world. Barnes and Noble is across the street so I wander in. Bookstores are made for wandering, lounging and sitting. This is perfect. This is what I can do. I’m like a pro at lounging. The thought almost makes me smile. Almost.
     
    The rows and rows of books relax me . I sit down on the floor in the photography section and start thumbing through books . I wonder if I’ll ever be able to take pictures like these. I realize as I take book after book from the shelf that it’s the people pictures I’m drawn to. It’s what I take in school , but it seemed like most famous photographers take pictures of trees or urban art or something.
     
    I smile, for real, realizing that my brain has finally found something to think about. Something to drown out my father’s angry voice and my inability to process what I’m going to do with myself. I’ve never stolen anything before
,
but I grab a small book of portrait photography and put it in my coat. I’ll find a way to pay them back later, or sneak the book back in. I read through a few more books and then get up to look around somewhere else. The store is open for another hour. Until midnight.
     
    When the bookstore closes, I head back across the street to Denny’s. I’m starving again and only have a few dollars left. It’s just after midnight. O nly six and a half more hours until I can get into the school. I realize that I’ll need to save a little money for the city bus. School is too far to walk from here. My bagel arrives , and I dig through my backpack to see what I have. My math text, two blank spiral noteb ooks, my few dollars, my camera , a pack of gum, tic- tacs and a few stray hair ties. Too bad I don’t have gym this year, at least that would be one change of clothes.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Denny’s is going to be an all-nighter. The worst is at just after two am, when the bars close down. I ignore looks from the waitresses. I insist I’m waiting for someone. We all know I’m lying, but it doesn’t matter anyway. I pull out my stolen book and do my best to lose myself in it. I do not want to fall asleep in a booth at Denny’s. I have the book memorized by the time I feel I can start the trek to my high school. Denny’s booths are not made for pregnant girls, who are afraid to sleep, for six hours. At all. I’m stiff, sore, hungry and tired.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    9
     
    My life feel s too horrible to face. I don’t know w here I’m going to sleep tonight because there’s no way I’m spending another night in Denny’s. Maybe I could sneak into the weight room before they lock up the school and sleep on the wrestling mats.
     
    The school doors open at six thirty , and I’m there waiting. I haven’t looked in a mirror , but I can feel the dark circles under my eyes. I’m tired. Beyond tired, and I’m sure I look terrible. I open my locker, set my bo ok down and pull out my camera.
     
    Walking around the school in semi-darkness makes me feel like I’m up to no good. Kinda cool, like a super-spy or something. The teachers arriving start to pull me out of my fantasy. I take pictures of the empty hallways. Maybe a third of the teacher