Read Online Need by Joelle Charbonneau - Free Book Online

won’t balance. She closes her eyes. Takes a deep breath and starts one more time. The lead snaps again as one of the dogs howls.
    She crumples the paper, throws it to the floor, and tries to concentrate. All she has to do is concentrate and she’ll be able to finish this assignment. Her father won’t be upset. She won’t have to tell him that she’s not smart. That she’s in the wrong-level classes. That her teachers know it. They know he always fixes her homework. Everyone knows.
    Those damn dogs. If they would just stop barking. She could concentrate. She’d be better.
    â€œStop.”
    Breathe.
    â€œStop.”
    Concentrate.
    A tear drips onto the page as she erases again, wishing there was a way to make the noise stop. Those dogs just need to stop. Maybe that website will help her figure out a way.

Amanda
    â€œY OU SAID YOU WERE GOING to wear the blue sweater, Amanda.”
    Amanda hops onto one of the kitchen island stools and smiles at her mother, who is wearing a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt. “Aunt Mary sent this to me for Christmas. I thought maybe you could take a picture of me wearing it tonight at the party so she knows how much I like it.”
    â€œThat’s a wonderful idea.” Her mother puts down the knife she is using to cut vegetables for the party and comes around the island to give Amanda a hug. “There are days I find it hard to believe you aren’t in pigtails anymore. But when you do something like this, I realize what an amazing young woman you’ve become.”
    Amanda grimaces. She hates when her mother says things like this—because she isn’t amazing. When her mother suggested she wear the heavy, chunky-knit blue sweater, Amanda only pretended to agree with the choice, knowing full well she was going to wear the lower-cut, more flattering red one her aunt had sent.
    Not that the blue one isn’t okay. It is. Just not for her sixteenth birthday party. Sixteen is supposed to be special. She’s supposed to feel more like an adult. Less like a child. So far that hasn’t happened, but at least Amanda has avoided fighting about the sweater. She hates making people feel bad. Which is why she can’t get Bryan out of her mind.
    She hurt him. And she hadn’t meant to. But she was so surprised when he called. She didn’t even know he had her cell number. If she’d had time to think, she could have come up with an excuse that would have let him down gently. Instead, she told the truth, which is so strange it might as well be a lie.
    â€œAre you okay, honey?”
    Amanda looks up. Her mother is looking at her with concern.
    â€œI’m fine, Mom.” She smiles to prove it. “I guess I’m just nervous about tonight. We’ve been planning the party for so long, I’m worried it won’t go well.”
    â€œIt doesn’t have to be perfect as long as you have fun.” Her mother wipes her hands on a towel and brushes back a lock of blond hair that in length and color is just like Amanda’s. “I’m going to go upstairs and hop into the shower. Do you want a snack or something before I disappear for a while?”
    â€œGo shower, Mom. I can get my own snack if I need one. I think I’m old enough to handle that.” She laughs.
    â€œOkay.” Her mom tucks the towel on the oven door and gives Amanda one of those weepy looks that makes her wish she had worn the blue sweater. “But there are all sorts of crackers and munchies in the cupboard if you change your mind.”
    â€œThanks.”
    When her mother disappears, Amanda grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and tries to decide what to do about Bryan. Someone posted on the new networking site that he needs to figure out what he did to make a certain girl dislike him. That has to have been Bryan. How awful is that?
    Even if she explains why her mother won’t let her go to the movie theater, he might not