Dying to Forget Read Online Free PDF Page A

ribcage beneath his frayed grey t-shirt almost passes by us in a flurry, a metal clipboard in hand. He raises a dark eyebrow at me and pauses only slightly to greet Niles.
    “New arrival, Abbott?” He asks.
    “Yes, this is Piper Willow.” He turns toward me and gestures at the rushed man standing awkwardly in the hall. “Piper, this is Mr. Carlson Smith.”
    I smile shyly at Carlson, who is still staring at me with his eyebrow raised in a high arc. I know he's not impressed. He nods curtly at me, before glancing down at his clipboard, hugging it tightly to his chest.
    “I’m late for the gate. Another newbie.”
    “Till later then.” Niles nods a friendly dismissal and Carlson scurries off.
    I follow Niles almost to the end of the hallway, until he opens one of the large blue doors, waving me inside. A wide, blue counter runs the length of the room and there are three privacy walls set up, as well as three individual lines to stand in. Besides Niles and the portly woman with the tight bun sitting behind the counter at the middle partition, there is only one other girl in the room. When we enter, she turns and smiles nervously at me, then resumes her quiet discussion with Tight Bun Lady.
    “Have a seat, Piper. Mrs. Ferdinand will be with you shortly,” Niles says with a smile.
    “Wait, are you leaving?” I start to panic at the thought of being alone with Tight Bun Lady…er, Mrs. Ferdinand.
    Crap.
    “I will see you later, Piper. But now I have other work to do.”
    Double crap.
    He winks at me before closing the heavy blue door behind him. I look around the room, trying to control my nerves and rub at my left forearm until I’m sure the skin is raw. When I glance down, my arm isn’t raw…it’s not even red. Hmm. I tug my loose fitting tank top over my hips, trying to hide the shortness of my cotton pajama bottoms.
    I hear the chair squeak softly on the hard floor in front of me and the young Asian girl with the nervous smile stands and says something to Tight Bun Lady that I can’t make out. When she turns away from the counter, she is hugging a white piece of paper to her chest. She smiles shyly at me as she walks by and I wonder how old she is…at least two years younger than me. Her yellow sundress flows around her knees as she squeezes through the blue door…and then she’s gone. I’m still staring after her when Tight Bun Lady curtly says my name.
    “Piper Willow?” She smiles but it doesn’t show in her eyes.
    I approach her cautiously and clear my throat before speaking. “Um, yes.”
    “Have a seat.”
    She nods at the chair in front of me. I sit down in it a little too hard and she scowls slightly. My cheeks flush and I pin my hands in between my knees to keep them from shaking as I process how terrifying Tight Bun Lady must have been before she came to the Station. She was probably a Librarian. The thought makes me giggle and I clamp my teeth down onto my lower lip to keep the sound in.
    “Not many New Arrivals laugh at my desk, Miss Willow.”
    Oops.
    She is staring hard at me, both eyebrows raised first in surprise and then furrowed together with absolute displeasure. Immediately the urge to laugh is gone and I squeeze my knees harder against my hands.
    “I’m sorry,” I mumble.
    My apology seems to please her and she nods while she shuffles papers around on the counter between us. Paperwork, even after death…how ironic. The thought makes me want to laugh again and I clamp down hard on my lip once more, hoping Tight Bun Lady didn’t catch my near slip again.
    “Did Mr. Abbott explain why you are here, Miss Willow?” She looks up from her paperwork to stare blankly at me. I nod, afraid to speak.
    “Good. I’m sure you have many questions, but first,” she waves one of her hands in front of her face, “…paperwork.”
    I really can’t help it and the laugh is out of my mouth before I can stop it. I quickly bring my hands up to cover it but the look of shock on Tight Bun