Finding Purgatory Read Online Free PDF Page B

had thought it would be. “I’m leaving. Tomorrow.”
    Shock and then dismay colored Brook’s features. “But how?” Tori could tell she was trying to keep her reaction under control, but her chin trembled. “Why? It’s the middle of the semester. Where? Are Stacey and Jeffery kicking you out? Did they seven-day you?” She crinkled her eyebrows. “Wait. If they seven-dayed you, Shane has seven days to find you a new place. It’s your birthday. You can’t leave on your birthday.”
    “It being my birthday is exactly why I’m leaving. They can’t stop me. But I’m going to finish school.” She felt shitty about leaving Brook behind. “So I’ll be close by. And unless Stacey decides to be a bitch, I’ll come see you sometimes, just like we talked about.”
    “But where are you going? Who are you going with?”
    Tori grimaced. “You remember my sister?”
    Brook nodded. “The one you said you hated? You’re going with her?”
    “Yeah, well. The thing is, I’m going to have a baby.” The words came out in a rush, and she blushed scarlet as she stared down at the comforter. Saying it aloud made her feel dumb. Dumb and overwhelmed. She started to shake again.
    “Oh. Oh, wow. That’s so awesome.” Brook bounced up, throwing her arms around Tori again.
    “B.” Tori held the other girl at arm’s length. “This is not cool. This isn’t good. It’s fucking horrible, actually. It’s really fucked-up.”
    Brook’s glee turned to confusion and then horror. “Is it . . . was it one of the boys?” She gasped. “Or Jeffery—”
    There wasn’t a foster kid on the planet who wasn’t familiar with rape in all its permutations. Brook’s roommate, Helena, who rarely ever spoke, had been raped by her stepfather, so it was no small wonder that Brook couldn’t figure out why Tori was having fits if she hadn’t been touched that way.
    “No. Ew. God, no. Jeffery’s a prick, but not that kind of prick.” Tori shuddered. “And the boys wouldn’t know what to do with a girl if they ever got one.” Two of the other foster kids in the house were brothers—Sebastian and Declan. They were obnoxious little turds, but they weren’t perverts. “I’m pretty sure Sebastian likes guys, anyway.”
    “Well, was it someone else like that?”
    “Brook.” The word came out as a whine, her voice gaining an edge of desperation. “I don’t want to talk about that, okay?” She had to brace herself against the dresser, lightheaded as her breath became thready. Maybe this was what Brook felt like when she was about to have a panic attack.
    “Okay, okay,” the other girl said. “I don’t get it. If it wasn’t bad, then babies are good things, aren’t they?”
    “Why do you think this is a good thing?” Tori shouted. She clamped her hands over her mouth, knowing her voice had risen to an unwise decibel. Brook was one thing, but she didn’t want anyone else in the house knowing about her little problem.
    They were both still as they listened. When they were sure they hadn’t called attention to themselves, Brook spoke again. “Babies are so cute. I got to hold Madeline’s baby once.” Madeline had been Brook’s roommate before Helena. “He was so little.”
    Brook’s cooing was making Tori sick to her stomach. She almost retched when her foster sister turned to her with a wistful smile and said, “I’m kind of jealous.”
    When she was sure the little bit of dinner she’d managed to choke down wasn’t going to come back up again, Tori gripped the other girl’s shoulders and shook her. “This is not a good thing. Babies suck. They cry, and they whine, and they poop, and they . . . cry. They suck. And they just get more sucky and needy as they grow up. Eventually, they become us. Come on. What would you do with us?” She shook her head. “Just promise me, okay? You’re too smart for this shit. Promise me you won’t be stupid like I was.”
    “You’re not stupid. And besides, it’s not