Read Online Rowan by Josephine Angelini - Free Book Online

sat on Lily’s bed. “She said another Lillian was planning on taking her Lillian.”
    “That’s—” Lily stopped, overwhelmed.
    “—the way she explains her hallucinations to herself,” Juliet finished for her. “The hallucinations aren’t wrong if they really happen somewhere . She isn’t crazy if there are multiple versions of people and multiple worlds that only she knows about.”
    “Yeah.” Lily agreed reluctantly. Something about this explanation bothered her. She knew her mom made stuff up, but how had she known about Miranda nearly starting a fight with her in the hallway? It hadn’t happened, but it almost had. It certainly could have happened if one or two things had worked out differently. “But it’s spooky how close to true her lies sound sometimes.”
    “Yeah. I know.”
    “And it keeps getting weirder.”
    “Schizophrenia is a degenerative disease.”
    Juliet said things like that sometimes. It wasn’t to edify Lily, who already knew the ins and outs of their mom’s condition. It was to remind herself that no matter how much of a nightmare all of this seemed, it was still considered normal in some textbook somewhere. Feigning normalcy didn’t help Lily much. Cracking a joke usually did, though.
    “Ah, schizophrenia. The gift that keeps on giving.”
    Neither of them laughed, but they both smiled sadly and nodded in unison. It helped to have someone to nod with. That’s how Lily and Juliet survived. A textbook answer, a bad joke, and a sister to lean on, and so far they’d managed to keep their dysfunctional little family from going completely down the drain.
    “So what’s all this about a party?” Juliet asked.
    Lily sat down next to her sister. “It’s the only one I’ve been invited to since junior prom. Which I missed because I got sick,” Lily said quietly. Juliet wanted to interrupt. Lily took her hand and kept going before her sister could argue. “Look, I know what’s happening to me. I know that soon I won’t be able to go to school anymore. I’m out of time, Jules. And it’s okay. Well, no, it isn’t okay, but I’ve accepted it at least. I just want to go to one high school party before I’m stuck inside a plastic bubble for the rest of my life.”
    “So. Tristan’s taking you,” Juliet began cautiously.
    “Yeah.” Lily looked down, smiling softly. “And I’m pretty sure we’re going as a couple.”
    “But he doesn’t care if you don’t go to parties. You know that.”
    “I also know how long I waited for this. How long I waited for him. I can’t miss this party, Jules.”
    Juliet tilted her head to the side and rested it on Lily’s shoulder. They sat together for a while, comforted just to be close to each other.
    “Want me to blow out your hair?” Juliet asked after a long silence. She sat up and looked Lily in the eye, smiling.
    “Would you?” Lily jumped off the bed and pulled her sister up with her, as if the melancholy exchange they’d just had was miles away already. “I can never get the back.”

CHAPTER 2
    Three and a half hours later, Lily had luxurious, bouncy, Hollywood-starlet hair. She even managed to get some all-natural, nonirritating makeup on her face and a slinky dress on her bean-pole body without getting too overheated. The dress wasn’t fancy, but it did compliment her slender build and tricky coloring. Lily didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard, but she still wanted to look good.
    “You and Tristan are easing into the whole relationship thing, right? Taking it slow?” Juliet asked a little too casually.
    “We have sex six times a day, and we’re thinking of making a porno together,” Lily said, poker-faced, while she rubbed almond oil on her bare legs. She glanced up to see Juliet glaring at her. “Yes! We’re taking it slow. Maybe a little too slow.”
    “Good!” Juliet shoved Lily playfully. “I love Tristan, but he has a really bad track record with girls. He’s hurt a lot of