Read Online Tethered 01 - Catalyst by Jennifer Snyder - Free Book Online Page A

was all I got in reply.
    “Well, I should probably go. I think Vera wants to go to breakfast or something,” I lied, because I didn’t feel like being on the phone with her anymore. It was awkward—something it had never been before between us.
    “Breakfast? It’s eleven thirty.”
    I had no idea what time it was. Obviously. “Brunch then.”
    She chuckled a little. “All right, well I love you, sweetie. Have fun, but please stay safe.”
    “Always, love you too. Bye, Mom.”
    “Bye.”
    I hung up with a weird feeling floating through my gut. Things had changed between us and she had no clue. I wanted to question her on what she knew about my biological parents, but didn’t know how to broach the subject. I was hopeful the time would come one day.
    Vera stood at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the doorframe with a piece of burnt toast in one hand and a Mountain Dew in the other. Her tank top was inside out and backward, and her hair was in a rat’s nest-looking bun on top of her head. Mascara smeared beneath her eyes, creating a severe raccoon effect.
    “God, you look like shit,” she said, eyeing me up and down. “And I was the one hammered last night, how is that even possible?”
    I chuckled at her jab at my looks, wondering if she’d taken the time to look in a mirror yet this morning. I continued past her and into the kitchen for a glass of orange juice and a heaping bowl of Peanut Butter Cheerios.
    “I didn’t sleep well,” I said.
    There was no way I was telling her what happened between Kace and me last night. She’d think I was nuts for sure. Everyone would. Even I was still on the fence about it.
    “Why is that? Did you have a little action going on last night?” She grinned at me wickedly and followed me into the kitchen. “Is that why there’s some guy’s number on the dry eraser board?”
    I shook my head and smiled as I got a glass from in the cabinet. My stomach knotted at the memory of Kace scrolling his number across the board. “How do you know it’s a guy’s number? There’s no name.”
    “A wild guess.” She leaned against the counter and took a tiny bite of her toast. “But, I know it is now.”
    I poured some orange juice and put the container back in the fridge without looking at her. “How can you be so sure?”
    “Because of the shit-eating grin on your face right now.”
    “What shit-eating grin?” I asked, trying desperately to downgrade my grin to a small smile without much success.
    “That one right there.” She laughed, pointing at my mouth. “So, is it Kace’s number?”
    I nodded. “Yeah.” Damn she was good.
    “He came over?” She set her burnt toast on the counter and twisted the cap of her Mountain Dew off. “Did you guys do the dirty?” She raised an eyebrow at me as she took a swig.
    “I had to have someone help me get your drunk ass up to your room last night. And no, we didn’t.” I would have, most likely, but we didn’t and that was all Vera needed to know.
    “I was bad off, wasn’t I?”
    “Oh yeah.”
    She leaned against the counter and forced herself to take another small bite of toast. “I feel it this morning, that’s for sure.”
    “I bet you do,” I said, taking my bowl of cereal and glass of juice into the living room where I’d left the newspaper. I still needed to see if there was anyplace hiring, because one thing was certain—now that I knew what was inside of me, I needed to stay in Soul Harbor to figure out more about it, and that meant getting a job.
     

 

    There were only a handful of places hiring in the entire paper. If I wanted to be a telemarketer, a truck driver, or a person who sold stuff off some sketchy website online, then I had it made. Unfortunately, none of those seemed to be up my alley. That left me with Ingles stocker, gas station attendant, table busser at Fisherman’s Brew, or cashier/stocker at Spellbinding Reads.
    Fisherman’s Brew table busser was out. For sure. I didn’t even