Aberration Read Online Free PDF

software, right?"
    "Well, yeah."
    "He's not computer illiterate. They know, Brit. They have to know, whether they've told you or not."
    I mull over Evan's words slowly. She's right. I'm in denial if I think that just because I've been a good daughter, my parents haven't Googled me.
    "I haven't met your parents," she continues, “ so I don't exactly know the relationship you have with them. But I know you. You love your work. Don't be ashamed of yourself just because you're afraid of Mommy and Daddy. Let's have a kickass summer, Brit! I get to see you in two weeks. Who cares if we're all staying at your parents?"
    I grin. She's right. "Okay, okay. You may be right, but for the sake of my sanity, I really hope the publisher covers the cost of decent location housing for you guys so all of you don't have to crash at Mommy's and Daddy's."
    When I'm off the phone with Evan, I shoot an email to Beatrice and get her caught up on the situation. I change into leggings, a tank top, and tennis shoes, hoping a run will clear my head, and head for downstairs when floating voices on the second floor stop me in my tracks. Cam and Dad. They’re in Dad's office.
    "You can't be serious," Cameron says. "He stole from us!"
    He sounds pissed. I don't think I've ever heard Cameron speak to Dad that way. Dad has never let him get away with that tone of voice.
    But when Dad responds, he doesn't scold Cam. In fact, he's gentle with him. "We don't know that, son. There was never any evidence proving Jaime was the one who took the fifty grand. It wasn't in his accounts. There wasn't even a paper trail."
    I hold my breath and freeze in the hall, listening closely.
    Dad sighs. "I let anger cloud my judgment when the money went missing. Firing Jaime felt just and right. It felt like I was doing something to fix the situation, even if it meant that I couldn't find that money. But Britain's right. Jaime doesn't even want his job back. He only wants to make amends with our family. And I think that's honorable."
    "Unless he's playing you," Cam says. "Unless he's trying to weasel his way back into the family to... I don't know... steal again."
    Why was Cam so against giving Jaime another chance? They had been best friends for years. The situation feels like I'm in another dimension. It should be Cam begging to give Jaime another chance, not Dad.
    I slip away before either of them step out of the office and notice that I've been listening. But when I head out for run, I can't stop thinking about Jaime and Cam. They were practically inseparable in high school. If they worked in the same department together, maybe there was something that Jaime did that Cam isn't telling Dad.
    I run around the block a couple of times and come back home sweaty and disgusting. Before I hop in the shower, I text Jaime:
    Ready to play Prince Charming again? Or Romeo, or whoever the fuck sneaks into the Princess's room via the window like a creepy bastard?
    Jaime: Lol. Wasn't that whoever Rapunzel was banging? Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair.
    Yeah, him.
    Jaime: Time?
    I tell Jaime not to come until late and decide to skip the shower. After a late dinner with my parents and Cam, I slip into my red bikini, the one I've had since high school — the one Jaime remembers—and head to the pool.
    I swim for what feels like hours before he shows up. He hisses my name from the hedges at the far side of the pool. I wonder if that's where he watched me bang Nate. I should be totally creeped out and disgusted that Jaime was there to witness that tragedy, but he was right: I did entice him to climb up to my room. I also enticed him with this bikini.
    I nod toward the bushes and make my way to the shallow end of the pool. When I walk up the steps, I am very aware of the way the water drips off of my exposed body, and the way my old bikini fits all too snugly. But I have to take a line from Evan's book. She's like my spirit animal when it comes to guys and not being bashful.