Read Online The Weight of the World by Amy Leigh Strickland - Free Book Online

hadn’t
been one of those girls who held hands with boys in middle school so
that she could call them her boyfriend. It took her some time to pick
out an outfit. Her wardrobe had once been very girly and pink.
Everything new that she bought for herself was the opposite. It
wasn’t conducive to composing a cohesive ensemble.
    Celene
knocked on her daughter’s door at six. “You got your cell phone?”
She called through two inches of pine.
    “ Yeah,
Mom.” Penny tied her blonde hair back, then changed her mind and
let it down.
    “ And
you’ll call and tell me where you are every step of the way?”
Celene leaned her head on the door.
    “ Yes,
Mom.”
    Celene
was imagining Penny through the door. In her mind she wasn’t
fifteen. She was five and playing dress-up in her mother’s
clothing. She supposed this wasn’t the end of the world. Sure,
things would never be the same now that Penny was dating, but she’d
expected this since September. At least it was Teddy.
    What
was she thinking? Teddy could make liquor with a touch! That made for
an incredibly dangerous influence. Celene knew she was really
thinking, at
least it wasn’t Peter.
    Teddy
left his car parked on the side of the road and approached the door,
dressed in a white dress shirt and a purple, well-tailored vest. He
smoothed his hair and popped in a breath mint strip before knocking
on the door.

    Teddy
chose the drive-in theater. He had a nice car, free of screaming
children and sticky floors, and he could bring his own snacks. The
movie he wanted to see was in its last weeks and had sparse show
times at a traditional theater anyway.
    They
pulled through the gate in his little purple Jaguar. Teddy had a bag
of snacks stashed under Penny’s feet. He parked at a prime spot and
tuned in to the station to pick up the sound. They were early, and so
the station played 90’s soft rock while they waited.
    “ So,
what have you been up to this summer?” Teddy asked. He didn’t
want to sit in uncomfortable silence.
    “ Babysitting,
mostly. I watch Dr. Livingstone’s kids.”
    “ Cool.”
    “ How
about you?” she asked.
    “ Sleep,
drink, party. Sleep, drink... it’s a vicious cycle.”
    “ That’s
it?”
    “ What
do you mean, that’s it?” Teddy frowned. “Most people wish that
could be their summer.”
    “ Hung
over and unproductive? A party every day?”
    Now
that she pointed it out, Teddy was rather bored. Parties just weren’t
special anymore. Going to parties had once made him feel like a king,
but when he slept until after lunch and didn’t brush his teeth
until dinner time, he felt kind of like a loser.
    “ So,”
he said, trying to divert her attention from his sad way of life,
“What do you do, you know, besides being Persephone?”
    “ I
read. I listen to music. I grow plants in my room.”
    “ What
do you read, Twilight?”
    She
laughed, “God, no! If you want vampires, read Anne Rice.”
    “ I’m
not really turned on by the undead.”
    “ Well,
yeah. That’s the thing. It’s deeper than sexy super-powered
immortal romance. It’s mortality, survival, how you cope with
powers and how you marry that with immortality. Do you live as a God
and prey on mortals or try to hold on to humanity? How much of our
personality and behavior is dictated by a fear of death or delusion
or immortality?”
    Teddy
felt his throat close up. The only time he’d ever examined the
theme of a book was in Lit class and he never had been able to relate
to Mark Twain or Earnest Hemingway. This, though--everything Penny
had just said-- was exactly what he imagined both of them were going
through.
    “ Wow,”
he said after a long pause. The tension in his throat relaxed enough
so that he could speak again, “You really think about this stuff.”
    “ I
do.”
    Teddy
fiddled with the volume buttons on his radio. They had moved from
soft rock to local ads. It was almost time for previews.
    “ So
what do you do besides Drama Club and hosting parties when