Harp's Song Read Online Free PDF

I love both Connors—the goofy teenage narcissist and the mature guy—thank you for being my best friend, and for being so great. You’re the best … ya know?”
    “Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean have you seen this face?”
    I rolled my eyes and left Mr. Conceited to admire himself. I had to wash my face and make myself as presentable as I could.
    We did exactly what Connor had planned for us. We came back to his house after getting a new phone, and were in his basement where he spent an hour showing me all the features on my phone. It was a little overwhelming, but he was patient. I loved that I could read books on it whenever I wanted, and access all the music I loved. After we had been sitting there for a while—Connor playing his PlayStation, and me messing around with my phone—he paused the game and looked at me.
    “Hey, you want to come to Florida with us next week?”
    After what had happened with my mom the night before, leaving her for a few weeks sounded like a dream come true, but I knew there was no way she was going to allow it or that I could afford it. I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know, I would like to, but I don’t think she’ll let me.”
    Connor sighed and turned to me, “I know you’ve been avoiding going on vacation with us, but I’d really like you to think about it this time. It would mean a lot to me. And well … um … I don’t want to leave you here. So, just make it easy on yourself and say yes because I’ll figure out a way to get you to go. I won’t leave you here while I’m gone.”
    “I know, and thank you for the invitation, but honestly, I can’t afford it. Plus, I need to be able to practice every day, and I’m sure that would get annoying. Not to mention how would we get my cello down there?”
    With a mischievous grin, he said, “I’ve got an idea.”
    “Oh God, that can’t be good,” I responded and rolled my eyes.
    Pretending to be offended, he threw his hand across his chest and sucked in a large breath of air, “I can’t believe you just said that.” Then he left the room with a devious grin.
    Connor came back a little bit later with two cans of Coke, giving me one before rejoining me on the couch. Connor’s little brother, Patrick came running downstairs right behind him and they started a new PlayStation game. The normality of the situation was not lost on me, especially considering the last twenty-four hours. I relished it.
    “Harp, can you come here for a sec,” Catherine hollered from the kitchen. Connor and Patrick were too engrossed in their game to pay any attention, so I ran up the stairs to see what she wanted.
    “Oh good, you’re here,” she said with a smile across her face. She was wearing jeans, flats and a plum button down blouse that accented her green eyes. She and Connor really did look a lot alike. “I just got off the phone with your mom and she agreed to let you come to Florida with us. Isn’t that great news?”
    I had to pick my jaw off the floor after processing what she had just told me. “How?” squeaked out.
    “Well, I told her that our family babysitter backed out and I was desperate to get someone I could trust to help with Patrick. And that you both would be doing me a huge favor by agreeing to let you come with us,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
    Connor! Crap. I figured it out now— great idea my ass —and started to turn back to yell at him, but Catherine stopped me.
    “Harp, this is a good thing. He meant well and it’s not entirely false. Although I think with you there, Connor will probably stick around more, so Patrick won’t be alone as much. But if he does leave to work out while we aren’t there, then I will need you to keep an eye out for Patrick. And, that means we can guarantee your safety.”
    “But, I …”
    “I know, this is overwhelming, but let us do this for you. We have plenty of room for your cello, so don’t worry about anything,” she said before turning me around and