Betrayal Read Online Free PDF Page A

the suffrage movement was about.” Mrs. Biden’s harsh tone brought me back into the classroom. I answered as best as I could and strategically avoided one of her humiliating and tactless rants.
    For the rest of the morning I went from one class to the next reliving what I recollected from the night before. When it was lunch time, I made sure Bethany and I didn’t sit at our usual table of chatty classmates. If anyone overheard our conversation, I’m betting by the time the final bell rang, the entire student body would label me a freak. I decided to tell Bethany everything, the night of the storm and what I dreamt. Telling her would be a gamble.
    I barely waited for Bethany to sit down with her lunch tray before I began blurting my suppressed emotions. I scooted my chair closer to the table and leaned in toward her. My heart was pounding against my ribs and I felt the perspiration pooling in my shirt. “I’ve had this disturbing dream every night for the past two weeks,” I whispered.
    With a crooked smile, she whispered back, “Why are you whispering?”
    I sighed and shot a look to the ceiling in frustration. If Bethany didn’t let me tell her now, then I feared I may never tell her. Again, in a whisper, I said, “Just listen. I’ve been having a really strange dream.”
    “Every night, for two weeks?” Bethany asked.
    “Yeah, since the thunderstorm.”
    “You mean when you fainted, right?”
    “Well, no… not exactly.”
    Bethany raised an eye brow and asked. “What do you mean by ‘not exactly’?”

    My hands trembled and knots formed in my stomach as I contemplated telling Bethany the whole truth. She raised both her eyebrows and encouraged me to continue.
    “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” I said, as I clasped my hands together in front of my face as if I was about to pray, but blew into them instead. “You’re going to think I’m going mad but…” I stalled again.
    “No, I’m not.” Bethany promised.
    I’ve never been so nervous talking to Bethany about anything before today. I shook with fear because I knew what I wanted to tell her would sound incredulous. She would think I cracked, and then she’d stop being my friend because she’d be afraid of me.
    “How can you be so sure? You haven’t even heard what I’m about to tell you.”
    “You’re right, I have no idea what you’re about to tell me, but I’m your friend, you can tell me anything.” I looked Bethany in the eyes and she willed me to go on. I prayed that she wouldn’t judge me or think that I belonged in a psych ward.
    “Ok,” I sighed. “On the night of the thunderstorm, I didn’t faint. That’s just what my parents told everyone. They didn’t want anyone to know I’d been struck by lightning.”
    Bethany repeated my words, but paused after each word. “ Struck by lightning.”
    “Yeah, but no.” I took another deep breath. “The truth is… I wasn’t struck by lightning. The lightning came… out of me.” I paused as I watched Bethany. She didn’t even flinch. “Long jagged bolts of electricity came out of me.”
    There, I said it. Bethany’s reaction wasn’t what I expected. She just sat there, as motionless as a sculpture, and stared at me, her expression unreadable. Maybe she didn’t hear me.
    “Did you hear what I just said?” I asked.
    Bethany nodded slowly and said, “Yes, I heard you.”
    “I knew it. You think I’m crazy don’t you?”
    “No. The idea may seem crazy, but I don’t believe you are.”
    My hands stopped shaking and the tightening in my chest subsided and allowed me to breathe again. I had told someone, and they didn’t believe I needed to seek a psychiatrist. This was good. Bethany had stopped eating her lunch altogether, but she didn’t think I was out of my mind.
    “So tell me about the dreams.”
    “More like a nightmares, and really terrifying, and … strange. They started the night I came home from the hospital.”
    “Why are they