Breaking Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

should have been in the bin. Sometimes I feel like Perry’s mom expects me and my parents to take care of him.
    Normally I like it when his mom has gone and we have the house to ourselves. Even though it gets incredibly boring with no cable and just a pair of rabbit ears and bad reception. This time is different. I justdon’t want to stay as long as I used to. I want to go so much that it shows.
    After we finish our lunch of toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, I become restless. I don’t want to appear restless, but I do suck at hiding it. Just when I am about to tell him I am ready to leave, he takes my hand and pulls me up off the couch, where we are eating and watching fuzzy television.
    ‘I want to show you something,’ Perry says.
    I follow him to his room. He has a small bedroom. Clothes cover the floor, and vintage movie posters plaster the wall –
Pretty In Pink, St Elmo’s Fire, The Breakfast Club
, and just about everything with Molly Ringwald in it. His bed is a mess of sheets, clothes and magazines. Off in a corner is an old desk with small piles of paper. He has been writing a story about his life – about being a gay teenager and coping with an alcoholic mom. He wants to show me that he’s finally finished it. All 387 pages.
    ‘I want you to be the first to read it and give me your opinion.’
    I smile. I’m happy that he’s finished it. He’s been working on this for two years. Perry is a good writer and I always enjoy reading the things he writes about. I used to try to encourage him to work for the school newspaper, but he hates just about every student on the newspaper’s staff. If he could only get over hating those kids, he would be a great asset for the newspaper. He’d have to get them to like him too.
    ‘Can I take it home with me? You know I can’t read all this right now.’
    ‘Yeah, go ahead. Just don’t let anyone else see it. There’s some really personal stuff in there that I don’t want anyone else to see.’
    ‘It won’t leave my bedroom.’
    Brian comes over later that night. He has a social studies assignment that he says he needs help with. Actually, this is just the excuse he needed to get out of babysitting hislittle sister. And to spend some time with me in my room. We lay out the books and papers on my desk and as far as my parents are concerned, it’s just homework. We actually spend the time making out, with the radio on to cover all the giggling. After a couple of hours I step out to get us drinks from the kitchen. Mom is at the sink washing the dishes.
    ‘How’s it going up there?’ she asks.
    I don’t know if GUILTY is printed boldly on my forehead or if she has a sixth sense, but I get the feeling that she knows we’re not studying.
    ‘It’s good.’ I avoid eye contact as I dive into the fridge to pull out two cans and check out the shelves for snacks.
    ‘I was a teenager once too, you know,’ Mom says.
    I risk a glance her way. She knows and it’s obvious. I wonder if I can pick up where I’ve left off with Brian, knowing that she knows.
    ‘I know.’ I just want to make a quick exit without giving her a reason to follow me back upstairs or to come knocking on the door. ‘You know, as teenagers go, I’m pretty responsible.’
    She drops the dishcloth in the sink and looks at me, forcing out a half smile. ‘I know.’
    Before I can make my escape, the phone rings. It’s Perry. He wants to come over because he’s lonely in an empty house. He sure has rotten timing. I talk with him for a few minutes and tell him that Brian and I are studying up in my room. He goes quiet.
    ‘For how long?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ I’m tired of cutting my time short with Brian, just for Perry.
    He is silent for a long time. I don’t know what else to say. I just want to go back up to my room to continue where I left off with Brian.
    ‘Fine. Go have your fun, I’ll be okay onmy own.’
    I’ve had enough of the emotional blackmail and I snap. ‘You