Before I Break Read Online Free PDF Page A

exhausted with school. We were hanging out and he just kind of fell asleep.”
    Mom seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “Well, alright. I met the Branson’s the other day, actually. They seem really nice, though I haven’t met their son. Maybe you can invite him to Youth Group tomorrow?”
    I doubted that Avery was the church-going type but I didn’t tell her that. “Sure,” I said. “Can I go now?”
    When I was finally able to leave, I went to the cars and put on the radio as I drove down the road, turning left onto Main Street. Avery’s house wasn’t too far from here, so it would save me a bit of gas, and when I pulled into his neighborhood, I suddenly felt a little nervous. But why would I be nervous? He was just another guy. Though I had a little bit of something deep inside of me that was telling me otherwise, I tried to ignore it.
    He lived in a nice condo just like most of the people I knew. It was painted a light blue and two cars were parked in the driveway, so I had to park on the side of the road. I got out of the car and walked up to the door, and that took me about five minutes because my nerves were really getting to me.
    What is wrong with me? I thought as I stepped up to the porch. Relax.
    A woman answered the door a moment after I knocked, smiling at me. “You must be Cyril,” the woman said, holding out her hand. “My name is Tina, Avery’s mom.”
    Whoa. With one quick look at her, I realized either she had Avery really young or she was doing really well for her age. Tina looked as if she couldn’t have been a day over thirty, with her dark brown hair curled and not a wrinkle on her face. I swear, she could have been his sister. Leading me into the living room, I saw that it was nicely decorated with pictures all over the wall. The house was practically spotless, and I would have paid money to someone if they could have found a speck of dust. I assumed that Avery was upstairs getting ready to go, so I took a seat on the couch at the far end of the room, facing away from the stairs.
    “Would you like something to drink?” Tina asked.
    “No thanks,” I replied. “How long do you think Avery will be?”
    She laughed. “Who knows? Could be two minutes, could be twenty. If I were you, I’d get comfortable.” Sitting down beside me, she said, “I really appreciate this.”
    “Appreciate what?” I asked. This wasn’t the usual talk I got from people’s mothers, even my girlfriend’s—well, ex girlfriend. I should have taken the warning then, but how was I supposed to know what was going to happen?
    “Being my son’s friend. He…doesn’t have many.” Tina looked a little sad, continuing with, “It’s not my place to tell you, and I’m sure when he gets comfortable enough, he’ll tell you the truth about why we moved here. Please, just be nice to him. He needs it.”
    “Are you lecturing him?” a voice asked from the stairs.
    Avery.
    He changed into something more comfortable looking—straight fit blue jeans with a blue Aeropostale shirt. His Sperry’s had a little green patch at the top of each shoe, matching the blue thing he had going on.
    “I’m not,” Tina said. “I was just telling him to be nice.”
    There was something else going on here that I apparently wasn’t catching on to. Avery looked kind of mad, but I could tell he was trying his best to hide it.
    “Well, okay then, why don’t you two get going,” Tina said. I’ll see you later, Avery. And it was nice to meet you, Cyril.”
    “You too,” I said, not really sure if I meant it. Something weird was going on here, and I was beginning to regret my decision.

    When we left, we headed to Town Centre, where I’d show him all of the stores and possibly get some ice cream if I had the money. Along the way, we talked about nothing in particular, just random little things here and there, up until we arrived at the Centre. As we got out of the car, I asked, “Do you like living in Mount